DRAGONS SECURE 4-SET JAYHAWK WEST WIN OVER GARDEN CITY

Freshman Anna Dean hits .526 on 11 kills to lead the No. 16 Blue Dragons to a four-set victory over Garden City on Wednesday at the Sports Arena. (Billy Watson/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

September 21, 2022

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The No. 16-ranked Hutchinson Community College Volleyball team kept pace in the Jayhawk West on Wednesday with a four-set victory over the Garden City Broncbusters at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons had to overcome a strong Garden City block in a 25-17, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19 victory.

Hutchinson improved to 17-5 overall and 5-1 in the Jayhawk West. Garden City dropped to 15-7 and 3-4. The Blue Dragons play four matches this weekend at the Blue Dragon Invitational at the Sports Arena.

Garden City had 14 team blocks and held the Blue Dragons to .160 overall hitting in the match, but Hutchinson had 55 kills to the Busters' 48. The Blue Dragons also racked up 11 service aces.

Freshman Taniya Golden led the Blue Dragons with 13 kills on .154 hitting. Freshman Alejandra Briseno had 11 kills on .020 hitting and freshman Anna Dean hit .526 with 11 kills on 19 swings. Dean also had one solo block and two block assists. Sophomore Blondie Penaflor had six kills and sophomore Baylee Miller added five kills.

Freshman Samantha Saunders and sophomore Sophie Connor had three serves aces each. Briseno and sophomore Morgan Harvey had two aces each.

Connor had a season-high 21 digs and a block assist to lead the Blue Dragons defensively. Harvey added 18 digs, while Perrine Blanc and Andrea Serrano added eight digs each. The Dragons had 75 digs for the match.

Serrano had 29 assists and Giovanna Ravenhani had 15 assists and four kills.

Jelena Milovanovic had 15 kills to lead Garden City. Appoline Lepuissant and Fiona Arnold had 12 kills.

SET 1: The Blue Dragons trailed 8-7 and 11-10 early. A Dean kill and a Blanc service ace gave the Dragons a 12-11 lead. Tied at 12, Ravenhani scored on a setter dump that started a 9-3 Dragon run. A Connor ace capped the run and gave the Dragons a 21-14 lead. Hitting .212 for the set, the Dragons scored the final three points to take the opener 25-17.

SET 2: The Blue Dragons were out-hit .209-.093 and Garden City had five blocks in the set. The Busters had leads of 8-1, 11-5 and 12-6 before the Blue Dragons started a comeback. A Briseno ace cut the Dragon deficit to 12-9. With Garden leading 15-13, the Busters went on a 6-2 run to lead 21-15. Hutchinson then scored five-unanswered points and pulled within 21-20 with another Briseno ace. Garden City closed the set on a 4-1 run to not the match at 1-1.

SET 3: The Dragons sprinted out to a 9-2 lead after a Saunders ace and a solo block by Dean upped the Hutchinson lead to 12-3. The Dragons had their largest lead of the set at 17-9 after a Penaflor kill. Garden City had six blocks in the set and pulled within 19-14. The Dragons built a 23-15 lead after a Buster attack error. Garden City got back into the set with a 7-0 run to pull within 23-22. The Dragons took the set on a service error and attack error by the Busters.

SET 4: Briseno powered the Dragons in the final set with six kills. She had three kills in a 4-0 run that broke a 4-all tie. The Busters tied the set at 9-all and Hutch went on a 5-1 run with back-to-back Saunders aces and a Dean kill to lead 14-10. Leading 19-17, the Blue Dragons scored five in a row and got to match point on a Chloe Conway kill. The Dragons closed the match with a Golden kill.