NO. 12 BUCCANEER VOLLEYBALL POWERS PAST HILL, TEMPLE AT KRUSE KICKOFF CLASSIC
Blinn concludes the Classic with matches against North Central Texas and Central Wyoming on Saturday
No. 12 Blinn College volleyball earned two wins and left head coach Terry Gamble thoroughly impressed on opening day of the Kruse Kickoff Classic on Friday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers defeated Hill College (23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-10) before sweeping Temple College (25-11, 25-18, 25-19) for their 11th consecutive victory. Blinn is now 12-1 overall.
“I thought today was one of our best days as far as being coachable, making adjustments, and responding to those adjustments,” Gamble said. “I think we showed everybody that when we can be coachable just how good we can be. Give our players all of the credit for doing what we’re asking them to do.”
Less than 24 hours after the Bucs had to overcome some unforced errors to earn a Region XIV home win over Coastal Bend College, Gamble said his team showed vast improvement in taking care of the volleyball.
“We cleaned up the errors and protected our side of the court today,” the coach added. “That was really encouraging to see.”
Against Hill, Blinn bounced back from a tough first set to claim the next three.
Three Bucs finished with double-digit kills, led by 13 for freshman right-side hitter Kellen Dorotik. Sophomore outside hitter Jaedyn Newman posted 12 kills and sophomore outside hitter Lexi Higgins tallied 11. Sophomore middle blockers Brooke Pattschull and Taylor Glendening chipped in eight and seven, respectively.
Keeping the Blinn attack in motion was freshman setter Elizabeth Tyner, who dished out 31 set assists. Freshman setter Chloe Howard had 14 assists. At the service line, the Bucs knocked down a robust 10 aces, led by freshman libero Cierra Pesak’s four. Tyner had three, and sophomore hitter/libero Kaylen Kruse added a pair.
On defense, Pesak had a team-best 15 digs. At the net, Pattschull was a force with five block assists and two solo blocks.
In their second game of the day, the Bucs made quick work of the Temple Leopards. The victory was Blinn’s second win over and sweep of Temple this fall and its 10th sweep of the season overall.
Dorotik had a big game with 16 kills, while Pattschull followed with eight. Newman and Higgins tacked on five apiece. Tyner had another strong showing at the setter position with 40 assists. Pattschull, Pesak, and Tyner each had one service ace.
Defensively, Pesak and Tyner finished with 18 and 12 digs, respectively. Up front, Tyner tallied a pair of solo blocks and one assist, Glendening had one solo and one assist, and both Pattschull and Dorotik had three assists.
Blinn’s run in the Kruse Kickoff Classic concludes with a pair of matches Saturday. The Bucs take on North Central Texas College at 11 a.m. and finish play with a 5 p.m. matchup against Central Wyoming College.
STORY COURTESY OF:
Joe Alberico
Blinn Sports Information Specialist