The No. 8 Blinn College volleyball team endured its first loss of the season by way of a 20-25, 15-25, 18-25 Region 14 setback at the hands of No. 10 Trinity Valley Community College on Wednesday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers (16-1, 0-1 Region 14) never quite found their footing against the rival Cardinals.
“I have to do a better job of having the team ready to compete, especially against the best team we’ve played so far,” Blinn head coach ย said. “We didn’t offer much resistance against a really good opponent and that’s disappointing, but it’s on me. We’ll flush this one and move on and get back at it Friday.”
Offensively, the Bucs got a team-high eight kills from sophomore middle blockerย Karolina Karabasz, while sophomore hittersย Kaliko Schillingย andย Olivia Stringerย added seven and six, respectively. Freshman hitterย Annika Brooksย tallied five.
Sophomore setterย Leah Hossย dished out 17 assists, and freshman setterย Camden Bizotย added 10. Schilling and Hoss had one service ace apiece.
Blinn’s floor defense featured a team-leading nine digs for freshman defensive specialist/libero. Stringer had eight and Schilling chipped in six.
At the net, sophomore middle blockerย Jana Cetkovicย paced the Bucs with one solo block and three block assists, while Brooks tallied two assists.
Blinn’s season continues at the two-day Amarillo Tournament beginning with a tilt against Trinidad State Junior College at 2 p.m on Friday.
The Bucs then face Western Texas at 6 p.m., also Friday. On Saturday, Blinn takes on Otero College at 11 a.m. and Amarillo College at 1 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 53ย national championships since 1987.
