BLINN VOLLEYBALL GETS BACK ON TRACK WITH WIN OVER NAVARRO
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
Seventh-ranked Blinn College volleyball got back to its winning ways with a four-set victory over Region 14 adversary Navarro College on Thursday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers dismissed the Bulldogs 25-16, 24-26, 25-16, 25-20.
Blinn is now 34-2 overall and 10-2 in region play.
Thursday’s victory was a welcome bounceback for the Bucs after they suffered a sweep at the hands of region leader and 12th-ranked Trinity Valley Community College on Tuesday.
“It’s always good when you answer a loss with a win,” Blinn head coach Gregg Whitis said. “Navarro has gotten healthy and won several in a row; they have good players and several good hitters with good arms, and I really like Dylan Butler – he’s a good coach. That’s a good team and I’m happy to get out of here tonight with a win.”
The Bucs took the opening set before the Bulldogs rallied to tie the match in the second set.
Blinn then regrouped heading into the third set and got back on track permanently.
“We kept fighting; we’re a competitive team,” said freshman defensive specialist/libero Natalia Silva. “Once we started executing our blocks, playing defense, and hitting the way we’re capable of, we were able to get going.”
The Bucs raced out to a 7-2 lead to begin the third set and never looked back. Sophomore hitter Olivia Stringer later knocked down one of her team-high 22 kills to give Blinn a 13-3 cushion, and the Bucs owned a 24-12 advantage following a Navarro net violation.
The Bulldogs then staged a short-lived four-point rally before failing to return the ball over the net and ending the set.
In the final set of the night, Navarro grabbed an early 3-2 edge before the Bulldogs sent a ball out of bounds. Blinn then pulled ahead for good when sophomore middle blocker Karolina Karabasz tapped a kill over a Navarro blocker and to the floor.
The Bulldogs kept things close and were within 17-13 midway through the set, but sophomore hitter Kaliko Schilling inched the Bucs closer to the finish line with a kill just inside the corner boundary line. Navarro answered, but sophomore middle blocker Jana Cetkovic came right back for Blinn with a kill from the middle of the net. Schilling then added another kill to make it 20-14.
The Bulldogs clawed to within 23-20, but Stringer snuck a kill just inside the back boundary line to set up match point before Navarro sent a hit out of bounds to end it.
“Our goal was to set the pace of the match, and I think for the most part – especially in the first, third, and fourth sets – we did that tonight,” Stringer said. “The difference for us was that we had good passing, we set the ball, and we scored. There was an emphasis on those things, and I think we executed well.”
Behind Stringer was Cetkovic with eight kills, sophomore hitter Shiloh Jones with five, and freshman hitter Annika Brooks with four.
Sophomore setter Leah Hoss helped the offense with 25 set assists, while sophomore setter Camden Bizot chipped in 12.
At the service line, Bizot and Cetkovic had two aces apiece.
Defensively, Schilling and Stringer were effective to the tune of 14 and 10 digs, respectively. Hoss added eight and freshman defensive specialist/libero Zoey Montgomery tacked on seven.
Blinn enjoyed a solid blocking night led by six block assists for Brook, five for Cetkovic, three for Karabasz, and two for Jones. Cetkovic also had two solo blocks while Stringer finished with one.
Following a lengthy layoff, the Bucs will play the penultimate match of their regular season when they visit Wharton County Junior College for a region tilt at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28, in Wharton, Texas.