HutchCC Sports Information
Sophomore Page Hiebert and freshman Cassidy Crites both hit better than .400 to lead the Hutchinson Community College volleyball team to a Jayhawk West sweep of the Dodge City Conquistadors on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons won their third-straight match after a 25-17, 25-20, 25-13 victory over the Conquistadors. Hutchinson improves to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the Jayhawk West. Dodge City is now 4-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Hutchinson scored 14 of the match's first 17 points. Despite trailing 15-12 in the second, the Blue Dragons were in complete control of the match outhitting Dodge City 44-21 in kills and racking up 10 services aces.
Hiebert tallied her second-best kill total of the season with 17 kills on .412 hitting. She added eight digs and a service ace.
Crites pounded down the Dragons' first two kills of the match and finished with seven kills on 12 attacks and .417 hitting. Crites added 11 set assists, two total blocks including a solo stuff and a service ace.
Freshman Leonie Weinkaemper finished with six kills, while sophomore Tatyana Ndekwe had five kills.
Sophomore setter Katie Jorn had 19 assists with one kill and one ace. Freshman setter Payton Gawith had nine assists and a team-high three aces.
Freshman libero Raychel Reed had 16 digs and freshman defensive specialist Claira Creach added eight digs.
Dodge City was led by Raquel Valdez and Jaylen Pegues with five kills each.
Crites sparked the Dragons' great start with kills for Hutch's first two points starting a 5-0 run for a 5-1 lead. A double block by Crites and Patricia Joseph increased the Dragon lead to 8-2. A Hiebert kill upped the lead to 12-2 and a Dodge attack error gave the Dragons a 14-3 lead. Hutch had to overcome five attack errors and four service errors in the opening set that allowed Dodge City to pull within 20-15. But a Joseph kill started a 5-2 set-clinching run. Hutch closed the set on back-to-back kills from Hiebert, who had seven kills in the opening set, and Wienkaemper.
The second set featured eight ties and three lead changes in the first 22 rallies. Serving and attack errors continued to plague the Dragons. After a Hutch net violation, Dodge City had its largest lead of the set at 15-12. Gawith came in to serve and spark the Dragons with two aces in a 5-0 Hutch run and a 17-15 lead. The set was then tied at 17, 18 and 19 before a Weinkaemper kill sparked a 6-1 Hutch run to close the set. Crites had a solo block and a kill on set point.
Back-to-back block points on Weinkaemper – one a solo, the second a double block with Joseph – combined with a Hiebert ace gave the Dragons an 11-7 lead in the third set. Dodge closed within 12-10, but Hutch took control with a 5-0 run that was capped by a Jorn ace for a 17-10 lead and a Conquistador timeout. The Dragons scored 13 of the match's final 16 points, closing the match with kills from Joseph, Hiebert and Joseph again. Hiebert was in on six kills in the third set.
The Blue Dragons step out of conference play for the College of Southern Idaho/Starr Classic in Twin Falls, Idaho. Hutchinson will play Snow College and Casper College on Friday and Northwest College and College of Southern Idaho on Saturday. Hutchinson returns home to play Butler next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.