BRENHAM, Texas – Blinn College volleyball was entirely too gracious of a host as the Buccaneers dropped their first two matches to Hillsborough Community College and Polk State College to begin the 2015 Premier Tournament Friday inside the PE Building in Brenham.
Blinn dropped the first match 3-1 to Hillsborough by the score of 30-32, 25-11, 25-22 and 25-20 and then followed that with a five-set 3-2 loss to Polk State by the score of 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25 and 18-16. The Buccaneers have now lost three matches in a row with a record standing at 10-6 and 0-1 in conference.
Blinn had enough in the tank in the first set against Hillsborough but then the momentum swayed and Hillsborough took advantage and claimed the next three sets for the 3-1 victory.
The first set was a thriller for both teams as Hillsborough and Blinn could not get much separation from one another. The Buccaneers had a chance to close out the set with four straight points capped by a kill by Eboni Mitchell to make the score 24-22.
To its credit, Hillsborough fought back and forced a long set. Points went back and forth until Haley Howard nailed a kill to make the score 31-30 and a Hillsborough hitting error gave the Buccaneers the first set 32-30.
As close as the first set was the second set, in comparison was a dud as Blinn could not gain any momentum as Hillsborough took the second set 25-11 to tie the match. Blinn dug itself an early hole in the third set and even with a little momentum late was unable to catch up as Hillsborough took the third set 25-22 to take a 2-1 lead.
Blinn continued to struggle in the fourth set as Hillsborough was able to grab a lead late in the set and hold on to that lead to take the fourth set 25-20 and seal the match with the 3-1 victory.
The Buccaneers came close to pulling off the victory over Polk State in the second match of the day as it held a 14-12 lead in the fifth set but Polk State showed resolved and battled back to claim the 3-2 victory.
Both teams had a hard time grabbing momentum in the first set but Blinn was able to grab a 20-18 lead after an ace from Jordyn Keamo. A kill later in the set by Alexis Kingston gave the Buccaneers a 24-19 lead which later turned into a 25-22 first set victory.
Service errors haunted Blinn in the second and third sets and Polk State took advantage and claimed a 2-1 lead in sets after taking the second 25-23 and the third 25-18.
With its back against the wall, Blinn showed some fight in the fourth set. With the fourth all tied at 23-23, the Buccaneers were able to get a block from Kingston and Mitchell to force a fifth set with a 25-23 victory.
After a bumpy start in the fifth set, Blinn put itself in a position to get a victory after a Polk error gave the Buccaneers a 14-12 lead, one point away from a win but Polk fought back and came back to win 18-16 to hand Blinn the loss.
The Buccaneers will look to rebound with two more tournament matches tomorrow. Blinn will open Saturday, Sept. 12 by hosting Pratt Community College at 3 p.m. and then close out the tournament playing Iowa Western Community College at 7 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 32 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit: www.buccaneersports.com.
