Hutchinson CC Sports Information
With Dodge City leading by four points late in the first set, the Hutchinson Community College Volleyball Team was three points away from facing an uphill battle against Dodge City in the opening round of the Region VI Tournament on Tuesday at the Sports Arena.
Patricia Joseph's kill immediately swung the momentum as the Blue Dragons scored the final seven points of the opening set and went on to sweep the Conquistadors 25-22, 25-13, 25-17.
Hutchinson (25-12) advances to the Region VI Tournament semifinals, which will be played at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Seward County's Green House in Liberal. An opponent for Hutchinson will be determined on Wednesday when Garden City plays at Butler to round out the tournament semifinals. Top seed Seward County swept Pratt and fourth-seed Colby needed five sets to defeat Barton on Tuesday night.
Hutch had an 18-16 lead in the opening set, but the Conquistadors reeled off six-consecutive points and took a 22-18 lead after a Raquel Valdez kill. Three points away from dropping the first set, Joseph pounded a kill for a much-seeded sideout. Three rallies later, Kelsey Mulligan served an ace to tie the set at 22. A solo Joseph block gave the Dragons a 23-22 lead and Cassidy Crites completed the comeback with a kill on set point.
From that point, it was all Blue Dragons. Hutch scored 17 of the first 22 and 23 of the first 31 points of the second set. Hutchinson out-hit Dodge City 30-14 over the final two sets.
For the match, the Blue Dragons out-hit Dodge 45-23 and out-blocked the Conquistadors 4-2 and had four aces to Dodge's one.
The Blue Dragons were balanced on Tuesday with sophomore Page Hiebert leading the way with 11 kills on .300 hitting. She had her 10th double-double of the season 11 digs. She added two blocks and one service ace.
With her fifth kill of the match early in the second set, Hiebert moved past Thais Franca (2004-05) for fourth on the career kills list with 934 kills.
Sophomore Nina Pevic had nine kills on .429 hitting. Sophomore Tatyana Ndekwe had eight kills on .500 hitting. Joseph had seven kills on .333 hitting.
Setter Katie Jorn finished with 27 assists and had five kills on .333 hitting. Freshman Raychel Reed had a team-high 16 digs. Mulligan added seven digs and had two aces. Joseph had one solo and three block assists.
Raquel Valdez had nine kills to lead Dodge City. Rachel Slattery had eight kills.
The Blue Dragons led the opening set 5-3 before Dodge City ripped off five straight points to lead 8-5 after a Slattery kill. The Dragons took a 14-13 lead on a Leonie Wienkaemper kills and led 18-16 after a Dodge service error. Slattery's kill got a big Conquistador sideout and Dodge City rolled off six unanswered points and took a 22-18 lead after a perfect Valdez tip. The Dragons immediately regained control with a 7-0 run to close a tight first set.
Hutchinson immediately took charge of the second set. Hiebert's kill gave the Dragons a 9-3 lead. The Dragons had a 10-point lead on a Jorn setter dump for a 14-4 lead. Hiebert blasted a kill out of the back row for a 17-5 lead. Hiebert terminated again and Hutch led 23-8. Dodge scored on 5 of the next 6 rallies before Pevic finished off the set for a 2-0 match lead. Tied in kills after the first set with 15 each, the Blue Dragons out-hit Dodge City 16-4 in the second set.
The Dragons had another strong start and led 11-6 after an Ndekwe kill. Dodge scored four straight to pull within one at 11-10. Hutch countered with a 5-2 run to lead 16-12 after another Jorn kill. Dodge City pulled with 21-7 after a Sabrina Lowe kill. Hutch scored the final four points on an Ndekwe kill, Dodge attack error, Hiebert kill and another Ndekwe kill on match point.