The ninth-ranked Blinn College volleyball team suffered a sweep at the hands of Region XIV rival and 11th-ranked Trinity Valley Community College on Friday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The Cardinals earned a 25-22, 25-22, 25-15 victory over the Buccaneers in a hard-fought battle.
“I thought we played hard, but Trinity Valley was better than us tonight,” Blinn head coach Terry Gamble said. We will learn from this tough defeat and get better because of it.”
(Pictured: Blinn’s Kellen Dorotik spikes the ball during a match against Trinity Valley Community College on Sept. 29, 2023)
Blinn fell to 28-3 overall and is now 7-2 in the region standings. The Bucs and Cardinals are tied for second place in Region XIV behind Navarro. Blinn and Trinity Valley split their two head-to-head matchups this season.
Friday’s matchup saw NJCAA Division I kills leader Kellen Dorotik pace the Buccaneer offense with her 15th consecutive double-digit kill performance. The freshman right-side hitter had 18 kills against the Cardinals and now has 22 matches this fall with at least 10 kills. Dorotik has 398 total kills thus far.
Freshman setter Chloe Howard helped the Buccaneer offense with 25 set assists. At the service line, sophomore libero/hitter Kaylen Kruse had a pair of aces.
On defense, freshman libero Cierra Pesak led her team with 12 digs, giving her 488 on the season as she moved into second place nationally in that category. Sophomore middle blocker Taylor Glendening had a solo block and one block assist guarding the net.
Blinn’s season continues with a region home contest against Tyler Junior College at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 44 NJCAA national championships since 1987.?
