Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Day 1 of the Blue Dragon Volleyball Classic as a mixed bag for the Hutchinson Community College Volleyball team on Friday at the Sports Arena.

After dropping the first set to Jefferson College, the Blue Dragons battled to win the next three set and defeat the Vikings 24-26, 25-19, 28-26, 25-21 in the opening match on Friday.

Defending national champion Iowa Western handed the Blue Dragons a four-set loss, 23-25, 19-25, 25-18, 21-25.

Now 18-6 overall, the Blue Dragons play host to No. 8 Trinity Valley and No. 17 Mineral Area in back-to-back matches at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively on Saturday.

Both matches on Friday were rematches from earlier matches on opening weekend in August. The Blue Dragons avenged a sweep against Jefferson at the Reiver Classic in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Reivers also exacted some revenge on the Blue Dragons on that same weekend. The Blue Dragons and Reivers now own wins on the other's home court this season. Hutchinson defeated then No. 1 Iowa Western in five sets in August.

JEFFERSON RECAP
Sophomore Sophie Connor ignited the Blue Dragon comeback after dropping the opening set to Jefferson. Connor had nine kills in the second and third sets without an attack error. She also had three kills in the fourth set. Connor finished with a team-high 12 kills and two blocks.

Freshman Taniya Golden had 11 kills. Sophomore Baylee Miller had nine points and sophomore Blondie Penaflor with five kills and five blocks.

Sophomore setter Andrea Serrano had 34 assists and eight digs. Freshman defensive specialist Perrine Blanc had four of Hutchinson's nine service aces. Sophomore libero Morgan Harvey had 17 digs. Blanc had 12 digs.

Jefferson's Maureen Matthews had a match-high 17 kills. Jefferson out-blocked Hutchinson 13-7.

IOWA WESTERN RECAP
Hutchinson let several leads slip away against the Reivers on Friday.

The Dragons led 17-11 and 21-17 in the opening set, only to see Iowa Western win a deuce set with an 8-2 run. Hutch led the second set 17-14 and saw the Reivers reel off 10 points in a row in a set-closing 11-2 run. Hutchinson and Iowa Western were tied at 21-all in the fourth set, but the Reivers scored the final four points of the match.

Hutchinson trailed in the third set 16-14, but rallied with their own 11-2 run to claim the set 25-18.

Golden led the Blue Dragons with 11 kills. Connor had eight kills, while Miller, Penaflor and freshman Anna Dean had six kills each.

Penaflor added seven blocks.

Serrano had 29 assists. Blanc finished with 16 digs.