Hutchinson CC Sports Information

ROSWELL, N.M. – Sophomore Cassidy Crites posted her first career double-double as the No. 17-ranked Hutchinson Community College volleyball team defeated Pima College to open the 2018 season at the New Mexico Military Institute Invitational on Friday.

The Blue Dragons downed Pima in four sets 25-15, 15-25, 25-15, 25-22 in the season opener on Friday. The Dragons then battled Odessa and fell in five sets, 14-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 10-15 to finish the first day of the season-opening tournament 1-1.

After a late Friday night, the Blue Dragons have an early Saturday morning with a 9 a.m. CT match against No. 11 Panola. Hutchinson will close out its stay in New Mexico with a 2 p.m. CT match against host New Mexico Military.

PIMA MATCH RECAP
The Blue Dragons won their fifth-straight season opener and the sixth in Patrick Hall's seven seasons with the Blue Dragons. After splitting the first two sets with Pima, the Blue Dragons took the final two sets to close out the victory.

Crites led the way with 16 assists and a team-high-tying 11 digs to lead the Blue Dragons.

Crites and Payton Gawith, who had 17 assists, set a balanced offensive attack with freshman Eden Hiebert tallying a team-high 11 kills on 30 attacks for a .233 hitting percentage.

Freshman Delilah Vigil finished with eight kills on 15 swings. Sophomore Lexi Hogan had eight kills and just two errors on 19 attacks for a .316 hitting percentage. Lauren Willson hit a team-high .385 with seven kills on 13 attacks.

Sophomore libero Raychel Reed finished with 13 digs and sophomore Clara Creach finished with a pair of ace serves.

ODESSA MATCH RECAP
Willson led the Blue Dragons with 14 kills on 33 swings and hit .242 against Odessa. Freshman Tara Davis had seven kills on .583 hitting. Elena Takova finished with eight kills.

Reed led the Dragons defensively with 24 digs, while Creach added 12 digs.

Crites finished with 17 assists and Gawith added 10 assists.

After dropping the first set and trailing 17-14 in the second, the Blue Dragons closed out the set to knot the match on an 11-3 run.