DRAGONS SWEEP INDY IN REGULAR-SEASON FINALE

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team clinched the third seed for the upcoming Region VI Tournament on Wednesday night with a sweep of the Independence Pirates at the Sports Arena.

Freshman Eden Hiebert had 11 kills and the Blue Dragons limited the Pirates to .000 hitting, while sophomore libero Raychel Reed moved up another run on the Hutch career digs ladder after a 25-18, 26-24, 25-13 victory over the Pirates to complete the season-series sweep of Independence.

Hutchinson must wait for an opponent, but the Blue Dragon do know they will play at home in the opening round of the Region VI Tournament at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 31 at the Sports Arena. Official pairings will be released on Monday.

Hiebert hit .241 on 29 swings to get her match-high 11 digs against Independence. She led a Blue Dragon offensive attack that hit .198 for the match and the third-straight match and fifth time in the last six matches the Dragons have hit less than .200.

Reed posted a match-high 10 digs on Wednesday and moved past McKenzie Steele (2014-15) into third place on the Blue Dragon career digs list with 1,061. Reed had two of Hutch's six service aces.

Hutch had only32 kills to Indy's 29 and had six aces to the Pirates four. Independence out-dug the Dragons 45-42, but the Blue Dragons had a 10-3 advantage in team blocks. Freshman Tara Davis had six block assists and sophomore Cassidy Crites added four block assists. Sophomore Lexi Hogan had one solo and two block assists.

Sophomore Elena Takova had eight kills on .227 hitting for the Blue Dragons. Delilah Vigil was next with four kills.

Crites finished with 12 assists and eight digs. Sophomore Payton Gawith had eight assists and Eboni Sapien had seven assists and six digs. Baylee Beck added eight digs.

Independence hit .000 with 29 kills and 29 attack errors in 111 attacks. Destiny Thomas had eight kills to lead the Pirates.

Set 1: Neither team executed well in the opening set with Hutch hitting .086 and the Pirates .000. Tied at 3-all, Takova's kill started a 9-2 run that was capped by a kill by Gawith, whose dig traveled and landed on Indy's side of the net for a 12-5 lead. A Hiebert kill made it 15-8. The next three Dragon points were scored on Indy errors and then a double block by Hiebert and Davis gave the Blue Dragons a 19-11 lead. A Vigil kill gave Hutch a 24-15 lead and then Indy scored three straight before another Vigil kill ended the first season with a 25-18 Hutch win.

Set 2: Indy scored the first three points, but Hutch countered with four in a row and led 4-3 after a Reed ace. That lead grew to 10-5 on a Hiebert kill and 15-7 on another Hiebert termination. Indy then went on a 8-1 run to pull within 16-15 after a Thomas kill. The Pirates continued to charge and led 20-19 after a Shelymar Diaz kill. Hutch countered with a Hiebert kill, a Davis service ace and a Pirate attack error to lead 22-20. But the Pirates tie the set at 22, 23 and 24 before a Vigil kill and a double block by Davis and Hogan closed out the set for the Dragons. Hutch hit .250 in the set while Indy had its best offensive set of the match at .162.

Set 3: Leading 5-3, the Blue Dragons used an 8-1 run to create some early distance. Hiebert had two kills in the set and Hutch led 13-4. A Reed ace gave Hutch an 18-10 lead to halt a small 6-3 Indy run. A Takova kill made it 19-11. A Hiebert kill made it 21-12. Hutch then scored the final four points on a Pirate attack error, a Vigil/Crites double block, Hiebert kill and another Indy attack error finish off Hutch's 11th sweep of the season.