The Buccaneers cruised to a 25-16, 25-17, 25-13 victory to improve to 24-6 overall and 5-4 in conference play. The victory came following a pair of five-set region losses for Blinn, and head coach Terry Gamble was happy to see his team get back on track.
“After playing a couple of tough five-set matches, to come home and play like we did tonight was good to see,” Gamble said. “We played really well. I thought this was one of our better team wins of the season.”
Freshman middle hitter Taylor Glendening gave the Bucs a spark from the outset, as she opened set one with three kills as the hosts built a quick 3-1 edge. She finished with nine kills on the night, including back-to-back kills that ended set three and capped the sweep.
“I felt like we really played as a team tonight,” said Glendening. “We ran our middle hitters a little more tonight and took pressure off our outside hitters, and that allowed me to step up. The middle hitters, like me and (freshman) Don’Yah (Cosie), we can do a little bit of everything; we can move around, and I think that allows us to be more effective.”
Blinn never trailed against the Pioneers, taking an opening lead in each set. Much of its offensive success stemmed from the efforts of offensive stalwart Darby Nash, a freshman setter who dished out 36 assists. With Nash’s help, sophomore hitter Kierslynn Wright tallied a team-best 14 kills; Cosier added eight, and freshman LaNeah Lara tallied six.
“It makes my job so much easier when we have this many hitting options,” Nash said. “Having the ability to set to the middle, right side, and the outside is just so much easier for me and makes the game so much more fun just being able to give opportunities to so many hitters.”
Wright’s double-digit kill total pushed her NJCAA Division I-leading total to 430 on the season, while Lara is behind her in second place with 336.
Defensively, national dig leader and sophomore libero Ellie Turner had a team-high 18 digs. She has 669 digs this season. Wright tacked on 11 digs.
Blinn continues its season with a road trip to Tyler Junior College at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, in Tyler, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
