BUCCANEER VOLLEYBALL ADDS TWO MORE WINS AT BLINN INVITATIONAL

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The 11th-ranked Blinn College volleyball team ended the tournament portion of its schedule with familiar results – victories.

The Buccaneers closed out the Blinn Invitational with sweeps of Dallas College Cedar Valley and Dallas College North Lake on Saturday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas, and put the finishing touches on a 23-0 record in tournament play.

Blinn defeated Cedar Valley 25-8, 25-15, 25-5 and topped North Lake 25-14, 25-13, 25-9.

“It’s good to finish out the tournament part of our season, and to do it without a loss makes me really proud of our kids,” Bucs head coach Gregg Whitis said. “Now we’re excited to get back into Region 14 play and to get ready to go compete on Tuesday.”

Blinn is now 27-1 on the year with 10 matches – all region contests – remaining in the regular season. The Bucs are 3-1 in the region standings.

Against Cedar Valley, freshman hitter Annika Brooks led the way offensively with nine kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Jana Cetkovic added seven kills and hit .875 for the match.

Sophomore hitter Olivia Stringer and freshman middle blocker Kaylie McKinney chopped in five kills apiece.

Sophomore setter Leah Hoss supplied 21 set assists.

Hoss had three service aces, while Cetkovic and sophomore setter Camden Bizot tallied two apiece.

Defensively, Cetkovic and sophomore hitter Kaliko Schilling each recorded seven digs.

At the net, Brooks and Cetkovic racked up four block assists apiece, while sophomore hitter Shiloh Jones added three. McKinney and freshman middle blocker Haley Fojtik each had one solo block and one assist.

In their final matchup of the tournament, Blinn rolled past North Lake to finish the Invitational 5-0.

Stringer had nine kills to pace the Bucs, Schilling added six, and Jones and Brooks finished with five apiece. 

Hoss and Bizot had 14 and 12 assists, respectively.

Stringer paced Blinn’s floor defense with eight digs. Hoss, Bizot, and freshman defensive specialist/libero each pitched in five.

Cetkovic had another strong performance at the net with two solo blocks and one assist. Schilling, McKinney, Fojtik, and Brooks tacked on two assists apiece.

Blinn will return to the court when it hosts Wharton County Junior College for a region match at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Kruse Center.