The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team’s Friday funk was replaced by Saturday smiles as the 19th-ranked Lady Dragons rebounded with a pair of victories to close the 2012 Lady Dragon Volleyball Classic at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
After taking the first two sets from Jefferson College on Saturday morning, the Vikings won the third and forced HCC to fight off four set points to avoid a fifth set as the Lady Dragons downed Jefferson 25-21, 25-23, 27-29, 30-28. That victory snapped a 10-match Classis losing streak.
Two hours later, freshman Teresa Wade had a career-high 16 kills to lead HCC to a sweep of Frank Phillips College, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17. HCC finishes the Lady Dragon Classic at 2-2.
JEFFERSON COLLEGE RECAP
After feeling like it should have closed out Jefferson in three sets, Hutchinson dropped the third and trailed 18-14 in the fourth. After a 5-1 run tied the set at 19-all, the Vikings led 24-22. A Wade kill wiped out the first set point against and a Jefferson hitting error knotted the set at 24-all.
Down 25-24, Wade came through again with a sideout with a big kill. HCC led a match point slip away at 27-26 and trailed 28-27. A Jade Nelson kill tied the set at 28-all and then a pair of Jefferson attack errors on points 29 and 30 set off a Hutchinson victory celebration.
HCC hadn’t won a match in the Lady Dragon Volleyball Classic since the third match in 2009, the last time it posted at least a .500 record in the tournament.
Defensively, the Lady Dragons were nails, led by libero Samantha Lackey, who tied a season high with 25 digs. Wade had a season-high 18 digs and freshman Taylor Karcher had 10.
Wade’s dig total led her to her sixth double-double with 12 kills. Gabby Rushton hit .333 and had nine kills and a career-high eight blocks. Sophomore Kayla Karmazyn came off the bench to add seven kills and sophomore Shayne Haley had six.
Sophomore setter Scout Heizer led with 22 assists and Ashlyn Westerman had 14.
Victoria Lavenchenko had 13 kills with four blocks and three ace serves to lead Jefferson College. Jessica Gray had 10.
HCC out-hit Jefferson 53-46, but the Vikings out-blocked the Lady Dragons 13-10.
FRANK PHILLIPS COLLEGE RECAP
Wade paced the Lady Dragons offensively, while Lackey was once again stellar in the back row to lead HCC to its seventh sweep and 12th overall victory of the season with a 3-0 victory over Frank Phillips College.
Wade pounded away with a career-high 16 kills to lead the Lady Dragons (12-5). After hitting a negative percentage against Seminole State, Wade played three-straight strong matches with a total of 42 kills in the final three matches of the tournament.
With Frank Phillips (1-3 in the tournament) possessing a pair of big hitters, Lackey’s defense was once again crucial. She tallied 18 digs. Karmazyn posted a career-high 10 digs and Wade had seven digs.
Rushton finished with five kills and two blocks. Karmazyn was next with three.
Frank Phillips had a 34-33 kill advantage, but HCC out-blocked the Lady Plainsmen 5-0 and had only six attack errors to FPC’s 14.
Alyne Bianchi had 11 kills, while Ramie Hutton had eight and Allison Kiewiet had seven for Frank Phillips.
The Lady Dragons return to Jayhawk West action on Monday night when the Barton Cougars come to the Sports Arena at 6:30 p.m.
(HCC Sports Information)
SATURDAY’S MATCH RESUULTS
Redlands def. Barton 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 25-13
Missouri State-West Plains def. New Mexico Military 28-26, 25-22, 25-23
Hutchinson def. Jefferson College 25-21, 25-23, 27-29, 30-28
Seminole State def. Frank Phillips 25-22, 25-17, 25-21
New Mexico Military def. Barton 25-20, 25-22, 25-18
Redlands def. Jefferson College, 19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 15-6
Hutchinson def. Frank Phillips, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17
Missouri State-West Plains def. Seminole State, 25-20, 25-16, 16-25, 21-25. 16-14
