DRAGONS RALLY FROM 2 SETS DOWN TO TOPPLE NORTH PLATTE

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

McCOOK, Nebraska – For just the eighth time in program history in the rally score era, the Hutchinson Community College volleyball team completed a reverse sweep after falling down two sets to none.

Outside hitters Alondra Villanueva and Atlyn Proctor combined for 27 kills and the Blue Dragons hit .231 over the final three sets to upend the North Platte Knights 21-25, 15-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-12 in the final match of the McCook Labor Day Tournament on Saturday at the Graff Events Center.

The Blue Dragons finished 3-1 at McCook and are above .500 for the first time this season at 4-3. The Blue Dragons will play host to the Barton Cougars in the 2025 Jayhawk Conference and Hutchinson home opener at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons completed their first reverse sweep since September 30, 2023 when they rallied to defeat Dodge City 3-2. Hutchinson is now 61-61 all-time in five-set matches in the rally score era that dates back to 2001.

Villanueva led the Blue Dragons with her second double-double of the season with 15 kills, 11 digs and had three aces. Villanueva hit .209 for the match with six errors on 43 attacks.

Proctor hit .217 with 12 kills on 46 swings. Proctor also had a season-high four blocks. She had three kills in the fifth set.

Sophomores Priscilla Raschen and Kierny Follmer had six kills each. Follmer hit a season-high .357 and added three total blocks, including one solo block.

The Blue Dragons hit .172 for the match with 44 kills on 139 total attacks. North Platte had 41 total kills.

Sophomore setter Angela Reupena came off the bench to start the third set to ignite the comeback. She finished with 28 assists, two blocks and two aces. Alexandra Garcia had 13 assists and six digs.

Libero Clara Oliveira had a season-high 24 digs. Lauren Vazquez had a season-high 12 digs.

The Blue Dragons had a season-high 10 team blocks. Follmer had three blocks.

SET 1: The Dragons got off to another slow start, not getting their first kill until the 10th rally of the match. North Platte had early leads of 6-3 and 10-6. A Follmer kill capped a 5-1 run to tie the set at 11. But North Platte surged to a 19-13 lead. The Dragons hit .161 in the first set and North Platte claimed the opening set 25-21.

SET 2: Hutchinson hit a negative .077 in the second half as the Knights built leads of 8-3, 12-5 and 14-8. Hutchinson had just four kills in the set to North Platte's nine kills. The Dragons got back within 20-15, but North Platte scored on the final five rallies to take a 2-0 match lead with a 25-15 win.

SET 3: The Blue Dragons scored the first four points of the third set and opened a 10-3 lead after a Knights' attack error. The Knights tied the game at 14-14 after erasing a four-points Dragon lead. Hutchinson took timeout. Out of that timeout, Follmer had a kill, Reupena had back-to-back aces, Villanueva had a back-row kill and Follmer added a kill on an overpass for a 19-14 lead. The Dragons hit .263 in the set and closed out the set with a Villanueva kill and a Knights' ball-handling error for a 25-22 Dragon win.

SET 4: There were five lead changes and four ties in the first 12 rallies of the fourth set. Tied at 6-all, Mattie Galliher and Raschen had a double block to give the Blue Dragons the lead for good in the set. A Proctor/Reupena double block gave the Dragons an 11-7 lead. The Knights pulled within 12-11, but a Follmer kill on the slide stopped that North Platte run. Leading 16-14, Follmer connected again and Villanueva had a kill to help the Dragons build a 20-15 lead. Proctor's only three kills of the set came on the final three rallies of the set as Hutchinson forced a fifth set with a 25-17 win.

SET 5: Hutchinson scored the first three points and North Platte scored the next three to force an early Dragon timeout. The Blue Dragons trailed 8-7 at the fifth-set crossover. Trailing 9-8, the Dragons had a key 3-0 run on a Raschen kill, a Follmer/Proctor double block and a North Platte attack error for an 11-9 lead. A Proctor kill got the Dragons to match point at 14-10. North Platte fought off two match points, but Proctor completed the reverse sweep with a cross-court kill for a 15-12 set win.