BUCCANEER VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS DAY TWO OF BLINN INVITATIONAL
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
On its penultimate day of tournament play, the 11th-ranked Blinn College volleyball team powered through a morning-afternoon doubleheader to earn two more victories.
The Buccaneers swept Pratt Community College 25-18, 25-13, 25-8 and Dallas College Richland 25-11, 25-11, 25-14 on day two of the Blinn Invitational on Friday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
Blinn picked up its eighth and ninth consecutive victories while improving to 25-1 on the year.
Blinn head coach Gregg Whitis said he was happy to see his team maintain its winning ways but added he wants to see sharper play from the Bucs with the final stretch of Region 14 play around the corner.
"We didn't play entirely clean today, especially early in sets, and we were moving the scoreboard a little too much for the other teams," Whitis explained. "I think we're evaluating our opponent a little too much and trying to determine mid-match how hard we need to play. We have to make sure we continue to play to our standard and not to our opponent, and we have to show respect to our opponent by giving them our best effort."
In their opening match of the day, the Bucs overpowered Pratt behind excellent hitting performances from sophomore hitter Olivia Stringer, freshman hitter Annika Brooks, and sophomore hitter Shiloh Jones.
Stringer posted 12 kills and finished with a .375 hitting percentage; Brooks had eight kills and hit successfully at a rate of .467; and Jones hit .556 with six kills.
Sophomore setters Leah Hoss and Camden Bizot handed out 14 and 10 set assists apiece.
The Bucs served up nine aces, led by three for Stringer and a pair for Bizot.
Defensively, Stringer had a team-best seven digs, followed by six for sophomore middle blocker Jana Cetkovic.
Cetkovic and Brooks led their team's blocking effort with four and three block assists, respectively. Cetkovic and Stringer had one solo block apiece.
To close out their day, the Bucs blanked Richland to earn their fifth consecutive sweep and 19th overall.
Blinn controlled the match from start to finish, allowing Whitis to empty his bench for the second time of the day.
Hoss, one of Blinn's team captains, remained on the court until match point and finished with 15 set assists. Whitis said the second-year Buc has earned the right to remain on the floor through all game situations, while Hoss stated she revels in the opportunity to work with each hitter that steps on the court.
"It's fun," Hoss said with a smile, "and it's also a challenge for me because each hitter is a little different with their style of play. I like being able to set different people and it's always great when we're able to give different players opportunities."
Stringer posted 11 kills and swung at a robust .529 success rate. Brooks added seven kills and registered a .429 percentage.
The Bucs knocked down 12 aces, including three for Bizot and two for sophomore hitter Kaliko Schilling.
Hoss had seven digs, sophomore libero Aly Frias recorded five, and Schilling and Jones tallied four apiece.
At the net, Cetkovic had a pair of solo blocks and one assist, Schilling had one solo block, and Brooks and freshman middle blocker Kaylie McKinney each chipped in two assists.
Saturday will serve as Blinn's final tournament day of the year, starting with an 11 a.m. clash with Dallas College Cedar Valley. The Bucs will then conclude the Invitational with a 3 p.m. showdown against Dallas College North Lake.
Following the Invitational, Blinn will open a season-ending, 10-game stretch of region matchups when it hosts Wharton County Junior College at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Kruse Center.