LIBERAL – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team let an opportunity to put a stranglehold on first place in the Jayhawk West slip away on Wednesday night as second-place Seward County rallied from a set down and wiped away a pair of match points against to defeat the Lady Dragons in five sets at the Green House.
Hutchinson hit just .090 in the fourth and fifth sets as the Saints defeated Hutchinson 25-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-27, 11-15 as the Lady Dragons suffered their first conference loss and saw their eight-match winning streak come to an end.
HCC (18-6 overall) is 10-1 in the Jayhawk West with three matches to play. Seward County (14-16 overall) is 8-2 with four matches to play.
The Lady Dragons posted team season highs with 15.5 team blocks and nine service aces and a conference-match high 85 digs in the five-set loss. But for the third-straight match, the Lady Dragons hit less than .200 as a team, hitting just .147.
Freshman Teresa Wade snapped a five-match streak of hitting less than .300 with a 13-kills, .361-hitting percentage performance. He posted her ninth double-double of the season with a team-high-tying 19 digs. She added three total blocks.
Sophomore middle Gabby Rushton had nine kills on 22 swings and she had nine total blocks (2 solo, 7 assists). Sophomore Shayne Haley had eight kills on .029 hitting. Sophomore Kayla Karmazyn and freshman Mariah Dickson had six kills each. Sophomore Jade Nelson had a tough night hitting with only two kills, but she had a season-high seven blocks.
Sophomore setter Scout Heizer had her sixth double-double of the season with 20 assists and 13 digs. She added a career-high five services aces. Sophomore setter Ashlyn Westerman just missed a double-double with 16 assists and nine digs.
Freshman libero Samantha Lackey had 19 digs and tied a season high with three service aces. Freshman defensive specialist Taylor Karcher had a season-high 17 digs.
The Lady Dragons are off this weekend and will play a pair of conference matches next week with Cloud County on Tuesday and Garden City on Thursday. Both matches are at 6:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.
MATCH NOTES – HCC is now 2-4 in five-set matches. … This was HCC’s seventh sub-.200 hitting match for the season. … This was Teresa Wade’s eighth match hitting .300 or better. … HCC is now 6-2 in true road matches and 11-4 away from the Sports Arena.
(HCC Sports Information)
