#10 BLINN VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS COASTAL BEND FOR 13TH WIN IN A ROW

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

Tenth-ranked Blinn College volleyball rolled to a road sweep of Coastal Bend College in Region 14 play Thursday in Beeville, Texas.

The Buccaneers prevailed 25-11, 25-12, 25-19.

Blinn’s 23rd sweep of the season pushed its record to 29-1 overall with a 4-1 region mark. The Bucs also extended their winning streak to 13 and their string of sweeps to nine.

“I felt good about how we came out; we took care of business tonight,” Bucs head coach Gregg Whitis said.

Blinn benefitted from a stellar hitting performance spearheaded by sophomore hitters Kaliko Schilling, Olivia Stringer, and Shiloh Jones, who finished with 12, 11, and nine kills, respectively.

Blinn’s strong night of hitting was kickstarted by a near-perfect first set in which the Bucs did not record a hitting error. The team posted an impressive .436 hitting percentage for the match.

With the Bucs now on a weekly two-match schedule until the postseason, the team will have ample opportunities to fine-tune its play in the practice gym. Whitis said that time will be spent testing out lineup configurations that will better take advantage of a crop of talented hitters.

“Olivia and Kaliko continue to play well for us, and they had great matches again tonight,” Whitis explained, “and Shiloh continues rounding into form for us as she continues stacking good performances together. We’re going to tinker with the lineup because we’re getting into a position where we can’t have her off the floor.”

Blinn’s offense was boosted by the play of sophomore setters Leah Hoss and Camden Bizot, who handed out 15 and 13 set assists, respectively.

At the service line, Schilling served up four of her team’s seven aces. Sophomore middle blocker Jana Cetkovic had two.

Cetkovic also had one solo block and five block assists at the net. Jones added four assists while Schilling chipped in a pair. 

On the floor, Stringer had a team-high six digs and Jones tacked on four.

Blinn’s season continues with a region road trip to Lee College at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, in Baytown, Texas.