BLINN VOLLEYBALL DROPS OPENER AT NATIONALS TO ODESSA

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information    

The ninth-ranked Blinn College volleyball team endured a first-round loss to No. 7 Odessa College in the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship tournament Wednesday at the Winfield Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn.

The Wranglers earned a 25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 25-19 victory to send the Buccaneers into consolation play.

Blinn (37-4) will now play for ninth place, starting with a match against No. 17 Indian Hills Community College at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

“I can’t fault our effort; our kids played really, really hard,” Bucs head coach Gregg Whitis said. “We gave ourselves chances to win the first and fourth sets, but against good teams, you have to play your best when your best is required.”

Whitis praised the attacking efforts of sophomore hitters Olivia Stringer and Kaliko Schilling, who finished with 15 and nine kills, respectively, against an Odessa defense working specifically to limit them.

Whitis was also impressed with the blocking efforts of sophomore hitter Shiloh Jones, deeming her “as locked in as a blocker” as he’s seen all season.

Freshman hitter Annika Brooks had 11 kills for Blinn, while Jones chipped in seven.

The Bucs finished with 53 total kills to the Wranglers’ 43.

Sophomore setters Leah Hoss and Camden Bizot dished out 19 and 14 set assists, respectively. 

At the service line, Stringer and Hoss tallied two aces apiece.

Blinn’s floor defense out-dug Odessa’s 72-55, anchored by a trio of double-digit performances. Stringer finished with 14 digs, Hoss had 12, and freshman libero/defensive specialist Zoey Montgomery added 11.

At the net, Brooks posted two block assists and one solo block; Jones had one solo block; and Schilling, Bizot, and sophomore middle blocker Jana Cetkovic each had one assist.