BLUE DRAGONS WIN 4TH IN A ROW WITH SWEEP OF PRATT

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College had another strong defensive night and earned a season-high fourth-straight victory and fifth win in the last six matches with a Jayhawk West sweep of the Pratt Beavers on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.

In front of a crowd of better than 600, the Blue Dragons defeated Pratt 25-13, 25-19, 25-22 to improve to a season-high three games over .500 at 12-9. The Dragons are 7-2 in the Jayhawk West in sweeping the season series from the Beavers. Pratt, which had won 7 of 10, falls to 10-15 overall and 3-7 in the Jayhawk West.

The Blue Dragons held Pratt to .055 hitting. The Beavers hit a negative .040 in the first set and .000 in the second set. The Dragons out-blocked Pratt 9-2 and had 52 total digs. Hutchinson also sided out at a 67-percent clip.

The Dragons were led offensively by sophomore Elena Takova, who had 12 kills with .320 hitting on 25 attacks. Takova added four block assists.

Freshman Eden Hiebert had seven kills and nine digs. Sophomore Lexi Hogan had seven kills.

Sophomore setter Cassidy Crites posted her eighth double-double of the season with 23 assists and 11 digs. She also had five kills on 13 swings.

Freshman Delilah Vigil had a team-high five total blocks, including one solo block. She added a pair of kills.

Sophomore libero Raychel Reed had a match-high 15 digs. With 896 career digs, Reed is four digs away from becoming the seventh Blue Dragon to reach 900 career digs. She is currently eighth. Molly Bergkamp (2007-08) is seventh with 898 digs.

The Blue Dragons hit .243 for the match with 39 kills on 103 attacks. Hutch had five service aces.

Elise Baranco had eight kills on .318 hitting to lead Pratt

Set 1: The Blue Dragons out-hit Pratt .212-(-).040 in the first set and sided out at a 78-percent clip. Tied at 7-7, a Hiebert kill started a 6-0 run. Hogan had three kills and Hiebert added another to build a 13-7 lead. Pratt was able to close to within 16-12 after an Olivia Hessman kill, but Crites/Vigil double block sparked a set-clinching 9-1 run for the Dragons. Hiebert had three kills in that run and closed out the set with a kill.

Set 2: Pratt led 7-5 after a Baranco kill, but the Dragons quickly turned that around with a pair of Beaver attack errors, two Takova kills and a Hiebert kill for a 10-7 Hutch lead. Trailing by no more than three points over the next 17 rallies, Pratt closed to within 18-17 after a Baranco kill. A Crites' kill stopped that run. Then leading 21-19, the Blue Dragons scored the final four points of the set, getting back-to-back Vigil/Takova double blocks to finish the set off. Hutch out-hit Pratt .267-.000 in the second set.

Set 3: Remyngton Green sparked the Beavers in the third set with five kills as Pratt built a 12-7 lead in the final set. The Dragons fought back with a 7-2 run and tied the set at 14 with one of Pratt's six attack errors in the third set. Tied at 16-all, Chloe Partridge registered a kill and Pratt had an attack error to build a two-point lead. A Hogan kill and Reed ace serve gave Hutch a 22-19 lead, but Pratt battled back to tie it at 22. The Dragons finished off Pratt with a Takova kill, a Crites/Partridge double block and an Eboni Sapien ace serve that painted the sideline on match point.