TYLER, Texas – Blinn College volleyball was able to recover after dropping its first match of the day to Indian Hills Community College by coming back right after and beating Odessa College 3-1 to split its pair of matches Friday afternoon at the Tyler Junior College Invite in Tyler.
The Buccaneers beat Odessa in four sets by the score 25-16, 22-25, 25-20 and 25-19 but that was after getting swept in three sets by Indian Hills by the score 25-22, 25-13 and 25-22. The split on matches gives Blinn a 16-8 overall record and the conference record stands at 4-1 still.
Blinn showed resolve after getting swept in the first match and came out strong against Odessa in the second match. After splitting the first two sets, the Buccaneers were able to win the final two sets to claim the second match.
Haley Howard and Eboni Mitchell each had 12 kills to lead Blinn while Abolanle Onipede finished with 11 kills. Jordyn Keamo dished out 51 assists, six aces and 12 digs while Danusia Borgeaud, Gaia Gbola and Dana Teets each had 11 digs.
Blinn came out on fire in the first set over Odessa and won that one 25-16 but then dropped a close set 25-22 to lock the sets up at 1-1. The third and fourth sets were close but it was the Buccaneers coming up with the edge and winning 25-20 and 25-19 to close out the match.
“We fought back in the fourth set against Odessa,” said head coach Kalie Mader. “We were down 0-8 and then we really got our offense going.”
The first match was rough for Blinn as Indian Hills won a hard-fought opening set with a 25-22 but then gained a 2-0 lead in sets with a commanding 25-13 victory. Blinn played better in the third set and kept it close but Indian Hills was able to close out the sweep with a 25-22 third set victory.
Abolanle led the Buccaneers with eight kills and had a .444 hitting percentage but as a team, Blinn was only to hit for a .152 percentage against Indian Hills. Keamo had 22 assists in the loss.
“I was pleased with the way that we used our depth today,” Mader said.
Blinn will be back in action in the Tyler Tournament Saturday, Oct. 3 when it opens against Western Texas College at 11 a.m. and then will face Missouri State University – West Plains at 1 p.m. in Tyler.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 32 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
