The 13th-ranked Blinn College volleyball team put two victories in its win column with a clean sweep of day one of the North Central Texas Tournament on Friday in Gainesville, Texas.
The Buccaneers defeated both Dallas College-Brookhaven and McCook Community College in three sets to improve to 11-2 overall this season.
“I thought the girls played well in both matches,” Blinn head coach Terry Gamble said. “MaKenna Loo and Greta Rakow did a great job on the outside and I thought Sophie Ilagan had one of her better matches defensively.”
The Bucs have won four consecutive matches.
In its opener against Brookhaven, Blinn (11-2) secured a 25-20, 25-16, 25-11 win.
NJCAA Division I kills leader and sophomore right-side hitter Kellen Dorotik paced the Bucs with 17 successful attacks. She now has 215 kills on the year. Loo followed with 13 kills against the Bears. Freshman setters Leah Hoss and Bromli Watson moved the ball around to the tune of 21 and 11 assists, respectively.
At the service line, Loo had three aces. Ilagan and freshman middle blocker Jana Cetkovic chipped in two apiece.
On defense, Ilagan had 21 digs and sophomore libero Cierra Pesak added 18. The Bucs also continued improvements with their net defense, racking up 18 block assists. Rakow had five and Cetkovic tallied four. Dorotik had a solo block.
In its final match of the day, Blinn outlasted McCook 25-18, 25-10, 25-19.
Dorotik was again an offensive force as she knocked down 21 kills. Loo finished with 12 kills and Rakow posted eight. Hoss distributed 26 set assists while Watson finished with 14. Rakow had three aces.
Ilagan’s strong floor defense carried over from the opener as she recorded 20 digs. Loo added 12. The Bucs netted 10 block assists, highlighted by three for freshman middle blocker Karolina Karabasz.
Day two of the North Central Texas Tournament on Saturday will pit Blinn against No. 16 Hillsborough Community College (11 a.m.) and Western Texas College (3 p.m.).
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
