Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The Hutchinson Community College Volleyball team made its bid to return to the NJCAA national rankings with a decisive Jayhawk West sweep of No. 12 Seward County on Saturday at the Sports Arena.
Sophomores Baylee Miller and Blondie Penaflor paced a decisive Blue Dragon attack that hit .384 as Hutchinson defeated the Saints 25-19, 25-14, 25-19.
The Blue Dragons are now 21-8 and 8-1 in the Jayhawk West. The Dragons, Saints and Butler all have one league loss. The Saints fall to 18-5 and 8-1 in the league. The Blue Dragons went 3-0 this past week with victories over Barton, Dodge City and Seward County.
The Blue Dragons earned their fifth victory over a nationally ranked team this season.
Miller hit a career-high .516 with 17 kills on 31 swings with one error to pace the Blue Dragons. Miller had a stretch where she had a kill on set point to close the opening set and then had kills on Hutchinson's first five points of the second set. Miller had eight kills and two blocks in the second set.
Penaflor hit a career-high .727 with eight kills on 11 attacks. Penaflor added nine total blocks (1 solo, 8 assists) to lead a strong Blue Dragon block.
Freshman Taniya Golden had seven kills. Freshman Anna Dean had four kills.
Sophomore setter Andrea Serrano had 21 assists with three service aces and six digs. Freshman setter Giovanna Ravenhani had 12 assists and three kills.
Freshman Perrine Blanc had 18 kills. Sophomore Sophie Connor had 16 kills.
Set 1: The Dragons took advantage of a couple of Saint attack errors and a Connor ace gave the Dragons an early 5-2 lead and force a Seward timeout. A Dean kill gave the Dragons a 9-5 lead and a Serrano ace gave Hutchinson a 12-6 lead. The Dragons built a set-high nine-point lead after a Miller kill made it 16-7. The Saints got back within 20-16 with a 5-2 run, but a Ravenhani setter dump for a kill, another Serrano aces and a solo Penaflor block upped the Dragon margin to 23-15.
Set 2: Miller's torrid start to the second set was six kills in the first seven points and the Dragons got out to a 7-3 lead. The Saints pulled within 10-8, but the Dragons reeled off seven-straight points. Miller had a kill and two blocks as Hutchinson built a 17-8 lead. Dean's ace capped a 3-0 Hutchinson run for a 24-12 lead. Penaflor had the kill on set point for a 25-14 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
Set 3: Three-straight Saint aces capped a 5-0 run as Seward County built an early 6-4 lead. Hutchinson went on a 6-1 run to take a 10-7 lead after a Golden kill. The Saints answered with a 4-1 run and Seward eventually took a 15-13 lead. Hutchinson answered with a 4-0 run to take the lead back. Then tied at 17-all, a Saint service error and a Dean kill gave the Dragons the lead for good. At 22-19, the Dragons finished the Saints off with a Golden kill, Miller back-row attack for a kill and a Serrano service ace on match point.