BUCS TAKE REGION TITLE–NJCAA TOURNEY NEXT
Buccaneers beat San Jacinto for NJCAA Region XIV Tournament Title, 3-2
Blinn dropped first match but battled back to beat San Jacinto in second chance match
TYLER, Texas – It may have taken longer than expected but Blinn College was able to earn the NJCAA Region XIV Tournament Title by beating San Jacinto College-Central in the second match 3-2 Sunday night at Wagstaff Gymnasium in Tyler.
Both teams sealed their trip to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament prior to the title match and no points came easy for either team. By splitting the pair of matches, Blinn’s record moves to 29-10 overall.
After losing the first match 3-2, Blinn was in trouble of losing its grip on the championship, trailing San Jacinto 2-0 in the second match. The Buccaneers were able to muster enough energy after a long tournament to win three sets in a row to win 3-2 by the score 25-27, 23-25, 25-19, 27-25 and 15-11.
“I felt like we were in control for both matches,” said Blinn head coach Kalie Mader. “Sometimes is biggest opponent is ourselves.”
San Jacinto took the first match by the score 21-25, 25-23, 25-27, 25-22 and 18-16 over Blinn.
Eboni Mitchell had a huge match in the championship-sealing match with 22 kills while Abolanle Onipede had 15 kills and a .538 hitting percentage. Both Mitchell and Onipede were named all-region and all-tournament after the match. Jordyn Keamo dished out 45 assists and had 20 digs as she was also named all-region and all-tournament and setter of the year in conference.
Justus Tuiolosega stepped up defensively with 29 digs while Dana Teets had 17 and Danusia Borgeaud finished with 12.
The Buccaneers had their backs up against the wall after dropping the first two sets in the final match but showed fight to get back into to the match. Both the third and fourth sets were tight but Blinn came out on top. Alexis Kingston had some late offense that helped the Buccaneers in the fifth set to win 15-11 and help Blinn bring home the title.
In the match that Blinn lost to open the day for the Buccaneers it was Gaia Gbola stepping in with 20 kills while Onipede finished with 13. Keamo handed out 51 assists and 26 digs in the loss.
Defense was solid for Blinn as Tuiolosega and Teets each had 19 digs while Borgeuad had 17 and Gbola had 15 digs.
Next up for Blinn will be the NJCAA Division I National Tournament on Nov. 19-21 in Casper, Wyo.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 32 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.