The ninth-ranked Blinn College volleyball team concluded the Blinn Invitational with a 4-0 record behind two sweeps Saturday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers defeated Dallas College Richland 25-18, 25-3, 25-19 and Dallas College Brookhaven 25-13, 25-8, 25-11 to push their current winning streak to 25 matches.
Blinn is 26-1 overall and produced an impressive 19-1 record across the five tournaments it competed in this fall.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Kellen Dorotik spikes the ball over the net against Dallas College Richland on Sept. 16, 2023)
“I thought the girls played well,” Buccaneers head coach Terry Gamble said of his team’s weekend. “Kellen Dorotik was a standout again today, and I thought Riley Cox played really well. Also, it’s good to go undefeated in the tournament and see us continue to get better.”
Blinn handled both of its foes from the Dallas area in quick fashion, dispatching the Thunderducks and Bears, respectively, for its 18th and 19th sweeps of the season.
In their first match of the day, the Bucs flourished by a big day from Dorotik, a freshman right-side hitter. Dorotik tallied a team-high 17 kills against Richland, while sophomore outside hitter Jaedyn Newman tacked on 10 to propel Blinn. Freshman setter Chloe Howard handed out 38 set assists for an offense that recorded 46 kills. Freshman libero Kirby Kliafas drilled home five aces from the service line.
(Pictured: Blinn freshman setter Chloe Howard sets the ball against Dallas College Richland on Sept. 16, 2023)
On defense, freshman libero Cierra Pesak tallied 16 digs and Kliafas added 11. Sophomore middle blockers Brooke Pattschull and Taylor Glendening finished with one solo block apiece while defending the net, while Pattschull and Howard each had two block assists.
In their final match of the tournament, the Bucs again rode the hot hand of Dorotik, who produced 17 more kills. Dorotik continues to lead NJCAA Division I with 332 on the year. Pattschull had eight kills and Newman added five. Freshman setter Elizabeth Tyner and Howard teamed up to dish out 22 and 12 set assists, respectively. At the service line, Cox – a freshman libero – and Glendening had two aces apiece.
Cox had a team-best eight digs, and at the net, Dorotik had five block assists while Pattschull and sophomore hitter/blocker Don’Yah Cosie recorded three each.
Blinn has 11 matches remaining in the regular season – all Region XIV tilts. The Bucs are currently 5-0 in the region and will get their first chance to build on that record when they travel to fifth-ranked Navarro College at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 19 in Corsicana, Texas. The winner of that bout will take over sole possession of first place in the region standings.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 44 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
