STEVE CARPENTER
HutchCC Sports Information
Friday, September 3, 2021
McCOOK, Nebraska – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team earned a pair of victory over two Region IX teams on Friday in to open the McCook Community College Tournament at the Graff Events Center.
The Blue Dragons rolled by Otero Junior College in a sweep, 25-20, 25-16, 25-18 in the first match on Friday. The Blue Dragons rallied after dropping the first set against North Platte and had to defeat the Knights in five sets, 17-25, 25-20, 25-22, 13-25, 15-10.
Hutchinson improves to 4-0 overall. The Blue Dragons will play tournament host McCook at 9 a.m. on Saturday and NJCAA No. 1-ranked Iowa Western at 1 p.m.
OTERO RECAP
Melina Christadoulou recorded a season high for kills, Kristina Head had a season-high for total blocks and McKinley Johnson served a season high number of aces in a sweep of Otero in the opening match of the tournament.
Christadoulou hammered home 13 kills to lead the Blue Dragons. Head had nine total blocks. Johnson decimated the Otero serve receive with nine aces.
The Blue Dragons racked up 40 total kills and had 14 total blocks and 10 total service aces.
Head and Blondie Penaflor had nine kills each. Penaflor and Morgan Harvey had four blocks each.
Libero Shelby Reeder led the Blue Dragon back line with 12 digs. Harvey had eight digs and Zoe Schmidt had seven digs.
Johnson finished with 29 set assists.
NORTH PLATTE RECAP
The Blue Dragons moved to 2-0 in five-set matches winning their second five-setter in three days. They did so after dropping the first set of a match for the first time in 2021.
After dropping the first set, the Blue Dragons won the next two sets only to be dominated by the Knights in the fourth set.
Head led the Blue Dragons with 12 kills and five total blocks. Freshman Aubreigh Haxton was a spark with 11 kills and two blocks. Freshman Baylee Miller also saw her first extended action of the season with seven kills and two service aces.
The Blue Dragons utilized a 6-2 offense against North Platte. Amanda Velez had 18 assists and Johnson finished with 16 assists. Reeder had 21 digs to pace the Dragons defensively. Tauja Durham chipped in four total blocks, including one solo stuff.