No. 12 Blinn College volleyball made a big one by way of a Region XIV road sweep of eighth-ranked Trinity Valley Community College on Tuesday in Athens, Texas. ย
ยThe Buccaneers earned a 27-25, 25-15, 25-15 victory over the Cardinals โ their 14th consecutive win โ to improve to 15-1 overall this season. Blinn is also 3-0 in region play.ย ย ย
“That’s a huge win,” Buccaneers head coach Terry Gamble said. “In the first set, we just kept plugging away and found a way to win it. Then we proceeded to play two of the best sets we’ve probably played as a team โฆ the best two complete sets we’ve played all year long. I’m really proud of the team.” ย ย
Trinity Valley entered the season ranked third in NJCAA Division I following a 2022 campaign in which it won Region XIV with a perfect 16-0 mark while reaching the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship tournament. Blinn also reached the national tournament last season and appeared undeterred by Tuesday night’s tough test. ย ย
(Pictured: Blinn College sophomoreย Jaedyn Newman)
“Trinity Valley is a really good team, so to go into their gym with their big crowd and sweep them shows how good we really can be,” Gamble added. “I told the girls that this win raises the bar for us. We got a flash of how good this team can be.”ย ย
Offensively, the Buccaneers used a team-centered attack to clip the Cardinals.ย ย
Sophomore outside hitterย Jaedyn Newmanย and freshman right-side hitterย Kellen Dorotikย each had a team-high nine kills, while sophomore outside hitterย Lexi Higginsย chipped in seven, sophomore middle blockerย Brooke Pattschullย added six, and sophomore middle blockerย Taylor Glendeningย had five. Freshman setterย Chloe Howardย made a big impact upon entering the match during the middle set and finished with a team-leading 21 set assists. Freshman setterย Elizabeth Tynerย posted 11.ย ย ย
(Pictured: Blinn College freshmanย Cierra Pesak)
At the service line, freshman liberoย Kirby Kliafasย recorded one ace. ย ย
On defense, 10 Blinn players recorded at least one dig, led by freshman liberoย Cierra Pesak’sย 26. Howard finished with 11 and Newman tacked on eight. ย ย
At the net, Pattschull shined with a pair of solo blocks and three block assists. Glendening and Higgins had four and three block assists, respectively. ย ย
Blinn gets right back to work with a region home tilt against Lee College at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 6, at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.ย
