DRAGONS KEEP PACE IN JAYHAWK WEST WITH ROAD SWEEP

Sophomore Sophie Connor had 13 kills to lead the No. 20-ranked Blue Dragons to a Jayhawk West sweep of Cloud County on Wednesday in Concordia. (Sammi Caprnter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

October 5, 2022

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

CONCORDIA – The No. 20-ranked Hutchinson Community College volleyball team won its fourth-straight match and maintained its place at the top of the Jayhawk West with a sweep of the Cloud County Thunderbirds on Wednesday.

The Blue Dragons hit better than .300 as a team for the 11th time this season with a 25-20 25-18, 25-21 victory over the Thunderbirds at Arley Bryant Gym.

Hutchinson improves to 22-8 overall and 9-1 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons complete a season sweep of the Thunderbirds. Cloud County falls to 6-14 overall and 3-8 in the league. The Blue Dragons will not play in the MSU-West Plains Grizzly Invitational this weekend. The Dragons will play host to Butler next Wednesday at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons hit .351 on 45 total kills against Cloud County. The Thunderbirds hit .255.

Sophomore Sophie Connor led the Blue Dragons with a match-high 13 kills on .458 hitting. Connor added three service aces, two digs and a block.

Sophomore Baylee Miller had 10 kills on .333 hitting. Miller had eight digs.

Freshman Taniya Golden had 10 kills and hit .364.

Sophomore Blondie Penaflor finished seven with seven kills on .333 hitting.

Sophomore setter Andrea Serrano had 36 assists with six digs. Freshman Perrine Blanc had 13 digs and sophomore Morgan Harvey had nine digs.

Doga Eski had 10 kills to lead Cloud County.

SET 1 – A Connor ace capped an early 6-1 run and gave the Dragons a 9-4 lead. Miller's kill upped the Dragon lead to 18-12. The T-Birds won 4 of the next 5 points and pulled with 19-16. A pair of Cloud errors pushed the Dragon lead back to five. The Dragons closed the set with a Penaflor/Miller double block and a Connor kill. The Dragons out-hit Cloud County .255-.194 in the opening set.

SET 2 – The Blue Dragons hit .389 in the set. A Penaflor kill gave the Dragons an 11-5 lead and the margin grew to 14-7 on a Miller kill. Leading 14-9, kills from Chloe Conway, Golden and Connor were part of a 4-0 run to up the lead to 18-9. A Miller kill upped the lead to 24-17 on a Miller kill. The teams traded errors and the Dragons won the set 25-19.

SET 3 – The teams traded the first eight points of the set and took a 6-4 lead on back-to-back Cloud attack errors. The Dragons led 13-10, but Cloud scored three straight to tie the set at 13. A Golden kill upped the Dragon lead to 19-16. The T-Birds pulled within 22-21, but the Dragons scored the final three points on two kills from Connor and a Miller kill on match point The Dragons hit .394 in the final set.