BLINN VOLLEYBALL GOES 5-0 OVER THE WEEKEND
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The 20th-ranked Blinn College volleyball team concluded its first tournament of the season in dominant fashion.
The Buccaneers capped their unbeaten five-match run at the Cisco/Ranger Tournament with sweeps of Coffeyville Community College and Cloud County Community College on Saturday in Cisco, Texas.
Blinn cruised to a 25-7, 25-6, 25-13 victory over Coffeyville before topping Cloud County 25-19, 25-14, 25-9.
Bucs head coach Gregg Whitis reached deep into the depth of his roster for the majority of the three-day tournament, and that strategy continued Saturday as all 20 players who dressed saw the court.
"The team is beginning to understand how we want to play, the pace we want to play at, and the versatility we want to have in terms of setting everyone on the court," Whitis said. "Everybody's playing, everybody has produced, and I'm excited about that."
In the day's first match, Blinn (5-0) answered Whitis' calls for cleaner play by knocking down 36 total kills with just 11 hitting errors, good for a strong .301 hitting percentage.
Sophomore hitter Olivia Stringer led the way with 12 kills, followed by six for sophomore hitter Kaliko Schilling and five apiece for freshman hitters Annika Brooks and Kassandra De La Garza.
From the setter position, sophomore Leah Hoss and freshman Camden Bizot dished out 15 and 13 set assists, respectively.
The Bucs also had a strong day at the service line with 13 aces, including a team-best four from Bizot.
Defensively, Schilling and freshman defensive specialist/libero Zoey Montgomery hit the floor for 11 and 10 digs, respectively. At the net, sophomore middle blocker Karolina Karabasz had two solo blocks and a pair of block assists, and De La Garza added two assists.
In their final match of the tournament, the Bucs rolled past Cloud County with another dose of strong hitting and a continued emphasis on defense.
Stringer posted a team-best 17 kills and shined with a .464 hitting percentage to go with two solo blocks.
Hoss had 21 set assists and served up five aces.
Montgomery continued her strong play with 12 digs.
Whitis applauded his team's play in serve receive as Blinn prevented any aces from opposing servers across both matches. He also praised the Bucs for taking a step forward in reducing unforced errors.
"We have to be able to handle our own business before we begin homing in on our opponents, and every match we play I believe we'll get a little better at that," Whitis said. "Each match we've played so far we've been a little bit better at that."
Up next, Blinn hosts Vernon College for its home opener at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas. The Bucs will then host the annual Kruse Kickoff Classic, and face five teams in three days. Among those teams will be No. 13 Eastern Wyoming College, perennially ranked New Mexico Junior College, and No. 19 Odessa College. Both Eastern Wyoming and Odessa reached the 2024 NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship tournament along with Blinn.
"Next week, the challenges will be playing six matches and a step up in competition with two ranked opponents coming to our gym," Whitis said. "I'm looking forward to getting back on the court starting Tuesday and seeing how we respond to those challenges."