Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The Hutchinson Community College Volleyball team's defense stepped up on Saturday to earn a huge four-set win Jayhawk Conference victory over the Colby Trojans at the Sports Arena.
Backed by a season-high 15 team blocks, the Blue Dragons rebounded from a five-set home loss on Wednesday with a 25-16, 25-19, 16-25, 25-9 victory over the Trojans.
Hutchinson improved to 11-5 overall and 5-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Blue Dragons travel to the Kansas Wesleyan JV on Tuesday and will play host to the Blue Dragon Volleyball Classic next weekend at the Sports Arena. Colby fell to 11-6 and 3-2 in the KJCCC.
The Blue Dragons held a high-powered Colby offense to .082 hitting – all four sets the Blue Dragons limited the Trojans to .175 hitting or lower.
Hutchinson out-blocked the Trojans 13-5 with sophomores Anna Dean and Ashlyn Long leading the way with five total blocks each. Freshman McKenzie Murphy and sophomore Ajejandra Briseno had four blocks each.
Blue Dragon setter Giovanna Ravanhani set a balanced offensive attack with 31 assists. She posted her third double-double with 14 digs.
Sophomore Taniya Golden led the Blue Dragons with 11 kills with .125 hitting on 48 attacks. She had her eighth double-double of the season, adding a team-high 15 digs and a pair of blocks, including one solo block.
Murphy hit a season-high .571 with eight kills on 14 attacks. Long had six of her eight kills in the second set. Long hit .286. Briseno hit .320 with eight kills. Dean finished with six kills.
The Blue Dragons had 72 total digs. Freshman libero Isabella Rollandini had a team-high 15 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Alondra Velez had 10 digs.
Ilaria Chiericati had 13 kills to lead Colby. Lily-Rose Pichon had 21 digs.
SET 1: The first set had two lead changes and two ties. The Dragons held Colby to .108 hitting and had three early blocks in the set. Trailing 3-1, The Blue Dragons went on a small 4-1 run that was had a Golden kill and ace and to take a 6-4 lead. Dean and Long had back-to-back double blocks to go up 9-6. Leading 11-8, the Blue Dragons took charge of the opening set with a 10-2 run. A Golden kill gave Hutchinson a 14-8 lead. A Ravanhani ace upped the lead to 16-9 and a Murphy kill gave the Dragons a 21-10 lead. The teams sided out from that point and the Dragons captured the opening set 25-16.
SET 2: The Blue Dragons trailed Colby 8-4 early in the second set, and that's when Long caught fire for Hutchinson. Long hit .556 with six kills in the set. With the Dragons trailing 11-7, Long had back-to-back terminations to pull within two and start a 6-0 run. A Briseno kill gave the Dragons a 13-11 lead. Tied at 17, the Dragons finally grabbed a lead with a Colby attack error and a Murphy kill. Colby tied the set again at 19-all before Hutchinson scored the final six points with a Briseno kill, two Long kills, a Dean/Briseno block and two Rollandini aces for a 25-19 victory.
SET 3: Colby upped is service game in the third set, accounting for seven service aces. The Dragons hit match-low .125 in the third set while Colby hit a match-high .175. Leading 7-6, the Trojans went on a 4-0 run to lead 11-6 after an ace serve. Another ace upped the Colby led to 18-10. The Dragons got it back to within 20-16 after a Briseno kills, but Colby scored the final five points, the last two rallies on ace serves to a 25-16 victory.
SET 4: The Blue Dragons immediately responded from the third-set loss, taking an early 5-2 lead after a Dean/Long double block. Leading 6-3, the Dragons took control with an 8-1 run. Golden had three kills and Dean had 12 during the run. Dean's second kill of the run gave the Dragons a 14-4 lead. With Hutchinson leading by nine, a Murphy kill, two Ravanhani aces and kills from Ravanhani and Cameron Letcher gave the Dragons a 21-6 lead. The Blue Dragons ended the match with a Briseno kill and a 25-9 set victory. The Blue Dragons hit .393 in the set and were a perfect 7 of 7 in sideout situations. Colby hit minus .051 in the fourth set.