PRATT – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team survived another slow start to win its ninth-straight Jayhawk West match, defeating Pratt 3-1 on Saturday at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena. HCC finished off the afternoon with a five-set victory over Frank Phillips College to win its seventh consecutive match.

HCC got a combined 38 kills from Shayne Haley, Gabby Rushton, Teresa Wade and Kayla Karmazyn for an 18-25, 25-19, 25-13, 25-15 victory over the Beavers in a Jayhawk West battle. The Lady Dragons had a strong defensive match against Frank Phillips with five players having at least 10 digs in a 25-21, 21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-11 victory over the Plainsmen.

The Lady Dragons (17-5, 9-0 Jayhawk West) also got a little help from the rest of the league when Colby defeated second-place Seward County in four sets on Saturday. HCC now has a two-game lead in the loss column over the Saints.

PRATT RECAP
Saturday’s match against Pratt was strange in the fact that the Lady Dragons just six day ago has Misty Arnold on the Lady Dragon bench as an assistant. On Saturday, she was the new head volleyball coach at Pratt, a position she accepted on Wednesday.

For the second-straight conference match, the Lady Dragons came out slow, hitting just .083 in the opening set as Pratt came out the aggressor in a 25-18 victory.

Getting a spark off the bench from Karmazyn, the Lady Dragons righted the ship and dominated play, hitting a combined .301 for the remainder of the match.

Haley hit .350 with 11 kills to lead the Lady Dragons. Wade had 10 kills. Rushton hit .438 on nine kills and Karmazyn had eight kills on 368 hitting to pace an offensive attack that hit .248 on 47 kills.

The Lady Dragons had seven team blocks. Rushton had four and Megan Heier had three.

Sophomore setter Ashlyn Westerman had 22 assists and eight digs, while sophomore Scout Heizer had 20 assists, five digs and three service aces.

Freshman libero Samantha Lackey had 20 digs. Freshman Taylor Karcher had seven digs.

HCC hit .310 in the second set, .318 in the third set with only one attack error and .281 in the fourth set.

The Lady Dragons swept the season series with the Beavers.

FRANK PHILLIPS RECAP
While the offense hit only .168 against the Plainsmen, Hutchinson defense was solid in a five-set victory.

HCC had 11 team blocks and 77 digs against Frank Phillips, the 77 digs were the second most this season.

Lackey had her second-straight 20-digs match and sixth of the season with a match-high 21 digs. Karcher added 12, while Wade, Westerman and Heizer all had 10 digs each. Rushton finished with six blocks and Heier had five to lead the Lady Dragons at the net.

Westerman had her fourth double-double of the season with 22 assists and 10 digs. Heizer had her sixth double-double of the season with 16 assists and 10 digs.

Haley had nine kills to lead the Lady Dragons offensively. Karmazyn and Rushton added eight kills each and Wade had seven kills.

The Lady Dragons play host to Dodge City in a Jayhawk West match on Monday at the Sports Arena.

(HCC Sports Information)