BLINN WINS HOME OPENER WITH SWEEP OVER VERNON
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
In front of a packed Kruse Center crowd, the 20th-ranked Blinn College volleyball team dismissed non-region foe Vernon College in three sets Tuesday in Brenham, Texas.
The 25-22, 25-16, 25-12 home win pushed the Buccaneers to 6-0 on the season.
It wasn’t a perfect outing for the Bucs, as they weathered a slow start and battled hitting errors and other unforced miscues against the Chaparrals. But as head coach Gregg Whitis has made clear following each of his team’s six contests, good teams find ways to get the job done.
“In front of a great home crowd, we found a way to win in three,” Whitis said. “Unforced errors, being in the net, hitting the ball out of bounds … we have to stop moving the scoreboard for the other team. When we’ve lost sets, it’s because we’re moving the scoreboard for our opponent. We did enough to win tonight when we stopped making those types of mistakes and made Vernon work a little bit.”
In the first set of the night, Vernon led 4-1 early before Blinn fought back to make it a neck-and-neck affair.
With the Bucs leading the set 23-20, Vernon used a kill and a service ace to pull within one before Blinn responded.
Sophomore outside hitters Kaliko Schilling and Olivia Stringer knocked down back-to-back kills to close the set.
“I think we’ve had a tendency to come out a little slow and feel out the other team when really we should be coming out ready to go from the beginning,” Schilling said. “Maybe the big crowd and playing at home for the first time played into it a little bit, but I think it was good for us to get in here and get the jitters out and get used to playing in our home gym.”
In set two, Blinn never trailed and used a 15-6 run to build a 21-11 cushion late. The Chaparrals tried to claw back with four consecutive points, but following a Vernon service error, sophomore libero Aly Frias got the Bucs going again with an ace. Sophomore hitter Shiloh Jones followed with a kill, and after Blinn stumbled briefly with a service error, it bounced back immediately with a set-ending kill from Stringer.
(Photo by Joe Alberico)
Vernon gave Blinn one final test in the early moments of the decisive third set, pushing the Bucs to a 6-6 tie before the hosts took control.
A Chaparrals serve into the net followed by a net violation pushed Blinn ahead 8-6, and a Vernon kill did little to stop the Bucs’ momentum.
Blinn answered the Chaparrals with a kill from Stringer and Schilling stepped to the line for an ace. Vernon was then flagged for four hits before Schilling served up another ace to make it 12-7 as the Bucs never looked back.
Blinn scored six of the final seven points to complete the sweep, capped by consecutive kills from sophomore middle blocker Jana Cetkovic and freshman opposite hitter Annika Brooks.
“We’re playing six rotations, and everyone is getting set, which takes a little bit of pressure off all of the hitters,” Stringer said. “There are situations where we can sit back and focus on a pass to our setter, who then sets someone in the right spot, and I think we saw a lot of that tonight.”
Stringer and Shilling tallied 12 kills apiece, while Brooks followed with seven. Freshman hitter/setter Kassandra De La Graza followed with five, Cetkovic had four, and sophomore hitter Shiloh Jones and sophomore middle blocker Karolina Karabasz each had three.
Sophomore setter Leah Hoss kept the offense in motion with a team-high 26 assists, while freshman setter Camden Bizot added 15.
At the line, Frias totaled four of Blinn’s seven aces.
On the defensive side, freshman defensive specialist/libero Zoey Montgomery recorded a team-leading nine digs. Stringer followed with eight.
At the net, Stringer, Cetkovic, and freshman middle blocker Haley Fojtik registered one solo block apiece. Cetkovic and Jones each had two block assists.
Up next, the Bucs welcome a host of programs to the Kruse Center for the Kruse Kickoff Classic. Blinn opens its five-game Classic slate with a matchup against No. 13 Eastern Wyoming College at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
The Bucs follow with matches against Western Texas College (11 a.m.) and Collin College (5 p.m.) on Friday, and finish up Saturday with showdowns against New Mexico Junior College and No. 19 Odessa College at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.