DRAGONS OUTLAST SAINTS IN 5-SET THRILLER

Anna Dean (right) and Giovanna Ravanhani go up for a first-set block in Hutchinson's five-set victory over Seward County on Saturday at the Sports Arena. (Andrew Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

September 2, 2023

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Sophomore middle blocker Anna Dean posted career highs of 15 kills and eight total blocks to lead the Hutchinson Community College volleyball team to a five-set victory over Jayhawk Conference rival Seward County on Saturday at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons stayed unbeaten in conference play with a 25-13, 20-25, 25-12, 22-25, 15-11 victory over the Saints, Hutchinson's first five-set victory over Seward County since October 7, 2016 when the Dragons rallied from down to sets to win in Liberal.

The Dragons improve to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson travels to Cloud County on Wednesday and plays next weekend in the Weatherford Tournament in Weatherford, Texas.

Dean hit .444 for the match with 15 kills on 27 attacks. She had two solo blocks and six block assists and she added in a career-best three service aces.

The Blue Dragon sophomore middle had three kills in the decisive fifth set, including kills on the final two rallies of the match.

Dean paced a Blue Dragon offense that out-hit Seward County .203-.145 and was the top Dragon blocker. Hutchinson out-blocked Seward County 13-8. Taniya Golden had five total blocks, while Giovanna Ravanhani and McKenzie Murphy added four total blocks each.

Golden had a team-high 17 kills with .164 hitting on 61 total attacks. Golden had her fifth double-double of the season with 10 digs and had two ace serves.

Sophomore Ashlyn Long was next with eight kills on .182 hitting.

Ravanhani, the Blue Dragon sophomore setter, had 44 set assists and three service aces. She added four kills in 12 attacks.

Freshman libero Isabella Rolandini had a season-high 27 digs to lead the Blue Dragon back row. Alejandra Briseno added 15 digs.

Hutchinson had 13 service aces to Seward's four. Briseno led with four aces.

Seward County was led by Dora Filipovic, who had a match-high 22 kills on .341 hitting. Keala Wilson had 14 kills for the Saints.

The Blue Dragons are now 2-0 in five-set matches this season and 10-4 under head coach Delice Downing.

SET 1: Golden and Dean got the Blue Dragons off to a fast start with six and five kills, respectively. Dean had an early kill and ace serve in a 5-1 run to start the match. After the Saints rallied to take a 6-5 lead, Golden and Dean combined for five kills in an 8-3 run. A Dean kill gave the Dragons a 13-9 lead. Leading 14-12, Long's kill started a 7-0 Hutchinson run that was capped by a Dean/Ravanhani double block for a 21-12 lead. The Dragons scored on 4 of the final 5 rallies, hitting .263 in the set to win 25-13.

SET 2: The Saints took immediate charge of the second set, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. Seward County out-hit Hutchinson .273-.140 in the set. Golden and Long had four kills in the set and Dean added three kills. The Dragons trailed by as many as six points twice, the second time at 14-8. A Dean ace capped a 5-0 run to pull the Dragons within 17-13. A Murphy/Long double block capped a 5-0 run and the Dragons trailed 19-18. The Saints regained control, outscoring Hutchinson 6-2 over the remainder of the set to win 25-20 and knot the match at 1-1.

SET 3: Hutchison hit just .167 in the third set, but held the Saints to a minus-.077 hitting. A Long kill capped a 10-2 start to the set for Hutchinson. A Briseno/Dean double block gave Hutchinson a 13-4 lead and a Briseno kill upped the lead to 17-8. Leading 19-11, the Dragons closed out the set with a 6-1 run with kills from Cameron Letcher, Golden and Dean. Alondra Velez's ace on set point capped a 25-12 Dragon win.

SET 4: Seward's Filipovic caught fire in the fourth set with 11 kills on 14 attacks, hitting .714 in the set. One of those kills gave Seward a 12-9 lead. The Dragons rallied with three kills and a Seward lift violation to take a 13-12 lead. Filipovic had five kills in a 6-0 Seward run to take an 18-13 lead. The Dragons bounce back with a 5-1 run capped by a Golden kill on an over pass to pull Hutchinson within 19-18. The Dragons took a 22-21 lead with kills from Ravanhani and Callie Muff, but the Saints scored the final four points of the set to win 25-22.

SET 5: There were six ties and five lead changes in the fifth set. A Golden/Murphy double block gave Hutchinson an early 5-3 lead. The Saints answered back with a 3-0 run for a 6-5 lead. A Murphy kill tied the set at 6-6 and a Murphy/Golden double block gave the Dragons the lead for good at 7-6. A long kill upped the Dragon lead to 12-8, but Seward bounded back with three-straight point to pull within 12-11. The Saints were called for a lift violation on the next rally for a two-point Dragon lead. Dean finished off her tremendous performance with back-to-back kills to close out the five-set victory, winning the final set, 15-11.