DRAGONS DROP 4-SETTER AT ARENA TO CONQUISTADORS

Blue Dragon freshman libero Addy Foster had a team-high 18 digs in a four-set KJCCC loss to Dodge City on Monday at the Sports Arena. (Billy Watson/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

September 23, 2024

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team couldn't sustain early momentum after a first-set victory over Dodge City on Monday at the Sports Arena.

Dodge City upped its service pressure with an opponent season-high 13 aces and rallied to defeat the Blue Dragons 17-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 in a Jayhawk Conference matchup.

The Blue Dragons fell to 11-10 overall and 2-3 in the KJCCC. The Dragons travel to Pratt on Wednesday and play host to No. 5 Barton on Saturday at the Sports Arena. Dodge City improved to 13-9 overall and 4-1 in the KJCCC.

The Blue Dragons out-hit Dodge City .323 to a minus .032 in the opening set. Over the final three sets, though, the Dragons hit .097, while Dodge City hit .190 and had nine aces over that span.

Hutchinson was led by freshman outside hitter Atlyn Proctor, who had a team-high 12 kills on 43 attacks with an .043 hitting percentage. Proctor had three block assists.

Sophomore middle Precious Johnson had 11 kills on .375 hitting to two with four total blocks, including two solo blocks. Freshman Brooke Galey finished with eight kills on .138 hitting with seven digs. Sophomore middle McKenzie Murphy hit .312 with seven kills on 16 attacks. Murphy also had six blocks, including a season-high three solo blocks.

The Blue Dragons had eight ace serves with freshman Beatriz Carvalho leading with a season-high four aces.

Freshman libero Addy Foster had a match-high tying 18 digs. Sophomore Shelbi Wilson had 10 digs.

Freshman setter Ellie Suber tallied 35 assists.

Hutchinson hit .149 for the match and out-blocked Dodge City 10-7.

Azra Arsalanoglu finished with 16 kills and Tess De Zanet had 14 kills for Dodge City.

SET 1: The Blue Dragons hit .323 in the opening set on 31 attacks and sided out at a .667 clip to dominate the first set. Trailing 3-2, a Galey kill and Carvalho ace sparked a 7-1 Hutchinson run. Wilson's ace serve capped the run and gave the Dragons a 9-4 lead. Back-to-back Dodge City attack errors boosted the Hutchinson lead to 15-7 and a Kierny Follmer kill boosted the lead to 18-10. Another Carvalho ace gave the Dragons a 22-12 lead. Proctor finished off the set with a kill and a 25-17 victory.

SET 2: The second set was back-and-forth with five lead chances and 12 ties. The Dragons saw their hitting percentage dip to .214 for the set, while Dodge City hit .244. Murphy's solo block gave the Dragons a slim 8-7 lead. A Murphy-Follmer double bock gave the Dragons a 16-15 lead. Murphy's kill gave the Dragons a 17-16 lead and a Galey kill made it 18-17 Hutchinson. Dodge City reeled off four consecutive points to take command of the set at 21-18. The Dragons pulled within one points twice, but couldn't complete the comeback, falling 25-22.

SET 3: The third set played out much the save way as the second with seven lead changes and 15 times. The Dragons hit a match-low .048 in the third set to Dodge City's .139 hitting percentage. A Murphy kill, Foster ace and Galey back-row kill gave the Dragons a 12-9 lead. Dodge City answered immediately with three in a row to tie the set at 12-all. With Hutchinson leading 18-17, Dodge City closed the set on an 8-2 run, scoring the final four points of the set to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-20 win.

SET 4: Johnson dropped in a service ace for a 5-2 Dragon lead, but Dodge City went on a 6-2 run to grab the lead at 8-7. Proctor landed a kill for an 11-10 lead, but Dodge City started to take command of the set with a 6-0 run the Dragons couldn't recover from. The Conquistadors sided out 11 of 19 times in the set, including five times in a row after building that five-point lead.