Hutchinson CC Sports Information

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team opened the 2022 season with a pair of losses to nationally ranked opponents on Friday at the Reiver Classic at Iowa Western Community College.

The Blue Dragons pushed No. 19 Indian Hills to the brink in their 2022 season opener on Friday afternoon, falling to the Warriors 29-27, 18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 13-15.

The Dragons got off to a slow start against No. 12 Jefferson College and were swept by the Vikings 11-25, 18-25, 22-25.

Hutchinson (0-2) closes out the Reiver Classic on Saturday with No. 3-ranked Missouri State-West Plains at 9 a.m. and top-ranked Iowa Western, the defending NJCAA National champion, at 11 a.m.

INDIAN HILLS RECAP
The Blue Dragons rallied to win the opening set, fighting off a set point against to earn the victory. Indian Hills won the next two before Hutchinson forced a fifth set after trailing 22-21 in the fourth. The Blue Dragons led 13-12 in the fifth set, but the Warriors scored the final three points to win the match.

Sophomore Baylee Miller had a career-high 15 kills to lead the Blue Dragons. Freshmen Alejandra Briseno and Taniya Golden had 14 and 12 kills, respectively, in their Blue Dragon debuts.

Freshman Anna Dean tallied seven kills, four solo blocks and six total blocks.

Sophomore setter Andrea Serrano had 26 assists with freshman Giovana Ravanhani adding 16 assists.

Freshman Perrine Blanc had nine digs to lead the Blue Dragon back row.

The Blue Dragons rallied from as many as five points down in the opening set, but still trailed 27-26. The Blue Dragons scored the final three points of the set on kills from Miller, Morgan Harvey and Sophie Connor to win the opening set 29-27.

Trailing two sets to 1 and 22-21 in the fourth set, the Blue Dragons rallied with four unanswered points to force a decisive fifth set.

Down 22-21, the Dragons tied the set on a Golden kill off the IHCC block. The Dragons took a 23-22 lead when Miller hammered down a Warrior over-dig. Miller and Briseno teamed up for a block to make it 24-22, and then Briseno completed the comeback with a kill for a 25-22 set victory.

The Blue Dragons led 8-6 at the fifth-set cross over and led 13-12 on a Miller kill and a Briseno/Dean double block. The Warriors scored the next three points to earn the fifth-set victory.

JEFFERSON RECAP
Connor led the Blue Dragons against No. 12 Jefferson with a team-high seven kills.

Briseno had six kills and Miller added three kills to lead the Dragons offensively.

Serrano had 12 assists. Ravanhani and Kaitlin Yoder had four assists each.

Harvey had 10 digs to lead the Hutchinson defense.