Blinn College volleyball padded its No. 12 NJCAA Division I ranking with a pair of victories on day one of the North Central Texas College Invitational on Friday in Gainesville, Texas.
The Buccaneers swept Cisco College, 25-8, 25-13, 25-12, before outlasting McCook Community College in four sets, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-15.
Blinn has now won 17 consecutive matches and is 18-1 overall.
“I thought the girls played really hard all day,” Buccaneer head coach Terry Gamble said. “We still need to learn how to stay focused in a match because at times we made a lot of unforced, easy errors. With that being said, I thought our ball control and defense was good all day.”
(Pictured: Blinn College freshman Kellen Dorotik)
Gamble praised the defensive play of freshman liberos Kirby Kliafas, Cierra Pesak, and Riley Cox, while also giving a nod to freshman right-side hitter Kellen Dorotik and sophomore middle blockers Brooke Pattschull, Taylor Glendening, and Don’Yah Cosie.
In game one, Dorotik added to her team-high kill total with 20 successful attacks against Cisco. Dorotik has 223 kills this season, and entered the tournament ranked third in NJCAA Division I in that category. Sophomore outside hitter Jaedyn Newman added 10 kills, sophomore outside hitter Lexi Higgins chipped in six, and Glendening finished with five. Freshman setter Elizabeth Tyner posted a team-best 26 set assists. At the service line, Tyner and Kliafas each had two aces.
Defensively, Cox, Newman, and Kliafas finished with 13, 12, and 10 digs, respectively. Glendening had one solo block and two assists defending the net, while Cosie, Kliafas, and Tyner had two assists apiece.
(Pictured: Blinn College freshman Riley Cox)
In game two, Dorotik and Pattschull paced the Bucs with double-digit kill totals. Dorotik tallied 18 while Pattschull finished with 11. Higgins posted nine kills and Glendening had eight. Freshman setter Chloe Howard made her presence felt with 28 set assists, followed by 16 for Tyner. Kliafas racked up four aces at the service line, while Glendening recorded two.
Another team-centric defensive effort propelled Blinn against McCook, as three players had 10 or more digs. Pesak finished with 17, Kliafas had 12, and sophomore libero/hitter Kaylen Kruse produced 10. Howard and Tyner each had nine.
Blinn concludes the Invitational with matches against North Central Texas and Hill College at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively, on Saturday, Sept. 9, in Gainesville.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 44 NJCAA national championships since 1987.?
