Ninth-ranked Blinn College volleyball began its final regular-season tournament of 2023 with two familiar outcomes, as the Buccaneers swept College of DuPage and Dallas College North Lake at the Blinn Invitational on Friday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The two wins on the opening day of the two-day tournament pushed the Bucs to 24-1 overall as their winning streak stretched to 23 matches.
Blinn hasn’t lost since Aug. 18 and showed no signs of slowing down Friday. The Bucs defeated DuPage 25-14, 25-14, 25-17 and knocked off North Lake 25-17, 25-12, 25-12.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Kellen Dorotik, 9, and Taylor Glendening, 3, reach up to block a spike against Dallas College North Lake on Sept. 15, 2023)
“I thought the girls played really hard,” Blinn head coach Terry Gamble said. “I thought our ball control was great, and I thought our middle blockers and Kellen Dorotik had a really good day. It’s nice to start the weekend with two wins, and our goal is to go out and play hard again on Saturday.”
The Bucs will wrap up their second home tournament of the season with matchups against Dallas College Richland at 11 a.m. and Dallas College Brookhaven at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Blinn capitalized on its chance to start the tournament with a bang by opening with a strong victory over DuPage.
Dorotik, a freshman right-side hitter, and sophomore outside hitter Lexi Higgins led the Bucs’ offense with 10 kills apiece. Sophomore middle blockers Brooke Pattschull and Taylor Glendening along with sophomore outside hitter Jaedyn Newman tacked on five apiece. Setting up the offense for most of the match was freshman setter Elizabeth Tyner, who tallied a team-best 18 set assists. Tyner also had a pair of aces from the service line.
(Pictured: Blinn’s Jaedyn Newman, 17, spikes the ball during a match against Dallas College North Lake on Sept. 15, 2023)
On the defensive end, Blinn stymied the Chaparrals with a well-rounded effort. Newman and freshman libero Cierra Pesak each posted seven digs, while Tyner, Dorotik, and freshman libero Kirby Kliafas had six apiece. At the net, Pattschull had four block assists.
In their second tilt of the day, the Bucs got right back to work with a decisive win over the Blazers.
Glendening led all Blinn hitters with 13 kills, followed by a nine-kill match for Dorotik. Pattschull chipped in eight kills, Higgins added six, and both Newman and sophomore hitter/libero Kaylen Kruse finished with five. Tyner again shined at the center of the Bucs’ attack with 33 assists. Freshman libero Riley Cox had two service aces.
Pesak and Cox led Blinn’s floor defense with 14 and 12 digs, respectively, while Pattschull and Tyner helped protect the net with four and three block assists, respectively.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 44 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
