DRAGONS CLOSE CLASSIC WITH SWEEP OF MINERAL AREA
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
After two straight Blue Dragon Volleyball Classic losses, the Hutchinson Community College volleyball team finished the weekend strong with a sweep of Mineral Area College on Saturday afternoon at the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragon block and defense returned to form to lead Hutchinson to a 25-21, 25-19, 25-18 victory over the Cardinals. The Blue Dragons finished their third-straight tournament this season going 2-2 and are now 14-7 for the season.
Hutchinson returns to Jayhawk Conference action on Monday with a road trip to Garden City.
The Blue Dragons had 10 team blocks, Hutchinson's 10th match this season with 10 or more blocks. Freshman McKenzie Murphy had a season-high eight blocks to lead the Dragons, including a pair of solo blocks.
The Dragons limited Mineral Area to .040 hitting, the sixth time this season to hold an opponent to less than .100 hitting in a match.
Hutchinson out-dug Mineral Area 43-37. Freshman Isabella Rollandini had a match-high 12 digs. Freshman Alondra Velez had nine digs.
The Blue Dragons hit .240 for the match.
Sophomore Taniya Golden finished with a match-high 12 kills on .182 hitting. Golden had three blocks.
Freshman Callie Muff had eight blocks on 16 attacks for a.500 hitting. Sophomore Ashlyn Long finished a strong day with seven kills on .419 hitting and four digs.
Sophomore setter Giovanna Ravanhani finished with 29 assists, four kills, six digs and two aces.
SET 1: The Dragons got off to a strong start, winning 8 of the first 10 rallies of the match. A Golden ace serve gave the Dragons an 8-2 lead. The Cardinals pulled within 9-8 and eventually tied the set at 11 after an attack error. Mineral Area led 15-14, but a Golden kill knotted the set at 15 and sparked a 4-0 Hutchinson run. A Ravanhani ace gave the Dragons an 18-15 lead. Leading 21-20, a Golden kill and Cardinal attack error upped the lead to three. A Golden kill and Anna Dean service ace closed out the set for a 25-21 Dragon win.
SET 2: The Dragons never trailed in the second set and there were three ties. Tied at 3-all the Dragons scored four straight and led 7-3 after Ravanhani kill. The lead grew to seven at 15-8 on a McKenzie Murphy kill. The Cardinals pulled within 20-16, but a Ravanhani kill stopped that run. The Dragons, who hit .214 in the set and held Mineral Area to .070 hitting in the set. Murphy and Long teamed up for a double-block on set point for a 25-19 victory.
SET 3: The Dragons trailed 6-4 early in the third set, but rallied to take a 13-9 lead with a 9-3 run capped off by a Dean kill. The Dragons slowly pulled away from that point. A Muff kill make it 16-11. A Ravanahani kill pushed the lead to 19-13. Another Long kill gave the Dragons a 23-14 lead. Golden had kills on the Dragons' final two points to close out the set with a 25-18 victory.