BLUE DRAGONS REBOUND TO EARN SWEEP OF CLOUD COUNTY

Setter Giovanna Ravanhani wins a joust at the net in the second set of the Blue Dragon volleyball team's 3-0 KJCCC victory over Cloud County on Saturday at the Sports Arena. (Andrew Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

October 7, 2023

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team served up 12 aces and held Cloud County to .088 hitting to rebound from Wednesday's 3-0 loss at Seward County with a 3-0 victory over the Thunderbirds on Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Hutchinson finished each set strong and rolled to a 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 victory to complete a season-sweep of the Thunderbirds with a pair of sweeps.

Playing their final home match for 18 days, the Blue Dragons improved to 17-9 overall and remained in second place in the Jayhawk Conference with an 8-3 record. The Blue Dragons travel to Pratt on Wednesday. Cloud County dropped to 19-7 overall and 5-5 in the KJCCC.

Hutchinson's service game stressed the Thunderbirds as the Blue Dragons had their 10th match of 10 or more aces. Sophomore Taniya Golden had a career-high six serves to lead Hutchinson at the service line. Freshman libero Isabella Rollandini had three aces and sophomore Alejandra Briseno had two aces. The Blue Dragons had 12 aces to just five service errors.

The Blue Dragons' strong serve helped hold Cloud County to .088 hitting, the eighth time this season Hutchinson has held an opponent to less than a .100 attack percentage. The Dragons also sided out at a 64-percent clip. Cloud County sided out at just 46 percent.

Golden was the only Blue Dragon to reach double figures in kills with 14 kills on .233 hitting. Golden also had five digs.

Sophomore middle blocker Anna Dean hit .429 with seven kills on 14 swings. She had two block assists. Briseno also had seven kills on .182 hitting. She had four digs and two blocks. Freshman Callie Muff had four kills.

The Blue Dragons hit .230 for the match. They had a season-low four blocks, but out-dug Cloud County 54-51.

Sophomore setter Giovanna Ravanhani set a balanced match with 33 assists. She had five digs and two block assists. Rollandini had a match-high 19 digs.

Jacey Schurle hit .417 with a team-high six kills to lead Cloud County.

SET 1: The Blue Dragons trailed 3-0, 6-3, 9-5 and 13-10 in the opening set. Hitting .275 in the first set, a Golden kill sparked the Dragons to a 4-1 run. Dean's kill tied the set at 13-all. A Doga Eski ace serve gave Cloud County a 17-15 lead and the Dragons took a timeout. Muff's kill out of the timeout sparked a 5-0 Hutchinson run. Briseno had a kill and Rollandini had two aces to give Hutchinson a 20-17 run. Leading 20-18, Briseno's kill started a set-clinching 5-2 run. Briseno clinched the set with an ace for a 25-19 victory.

SET 2: Hutchinson built a 7-3 lead in the first 10 rallies of the second set. A Brette Doile service ace pulled the Thunderbirds back within 11-10 and Cloud tied the set at 13 on a Dragon attack error. Tied at 14, A Dean kill started a 4-0 run. Briseno's second ace of the match gave Hutchinson an 18-14 lead and prompted a Cloud timeout. The Dragons outscored Cloud County 11-3 and the Dragons closed out the set with consecutive Golden ace serves for a 25-17 win.

SET 3: The third set was tightly contested with five lead changes and nine ties. The Dragons trailed 11-9 and went on a 4-0 run. Cameron Letcher's kill gave Hutchinson a 13-11 lead. Leading 13-12, Golden's kill started a 12-6 match-clinching run. Golden's six service ace of the match upped the lead to 18-12. Cloud County scored the next three points to pull within 18-15. Letcher and Ashlyn Long had kills for a 20-15 lead. Ravanhani's setter dump put the Dragons up five and a Golden kill made it 24-18. Cloud County's attack error ended the match. Hutchinson held Cloud County to .025 hitting in the third set.