By STEVE CARPENTER - Hutchinson CC Sports Information
PRATT – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team hit .439 on Monday night and swept the Pratt Beavers for its eight-consecutive victory.
Jenna Thorne, Kristina Head and Myracle Lettries all hit .400 or higher as Hutchinson completed a season sweep of Pratt with a 25-13, 25-22, 25-16 victory at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena.
Fresh off a Sunday four-set victory over then-No. 6 Seward County, the Blue Dragons – now receiving votes in the NJCAA Division I Volleyball rankings – improved to 14-5 overall and 7-2 in the Jayhawk West. Now in third place in the league, Hutchinson travels to second-place Barton on Thursday in Great Bend. Pratt falls to 3-13 overall, 1-8 in the Jayhawk West.
Thorne led the Blue Dragons with 13 kills on 29 attacks for .414 hitting. She also had five digs and two service aces.
Lettries hit a career-high .538 with eight kills on 13 attacks. Lettries chipped in four solo blocks. Head had eight kills and hit .400 on 15 swings. She had an ace, four digs and one block. Shadee Briggs had six kills on .363 hitting and Kenna Lane had four kills, hitting .333.
Setter Chloe Price had 38 assists, eight digs and three kills to pace the Blue Dragons to 43 kills on 82 attacks with only seven errors. The Dragons also had 6.5 team blocks and seven aces.
Libero Shelby Reeder had a team-high 10 digs.
Trailing 3-2 in the opening set, a Thorne kill and Lettries solo block started an 8-1 run. Hutchinson built a 10-4 lead on a Lettries kill. Leading 13-8, Head had a kill and Kersti Nelson had back-to-back ace serves to give Hutchinson a 16-8 lead. Then leading 19-13, the Blue Dragons reeled off the final six points to claim the opening set. The Dragons had four aces and hit .523 in the first set.
Despite hitting .400 in the second set, the Dragons had a much tougher time with the Beavers in that set. A Thorne kill gave Hutch a 5-2 lead. Pratt then pulled within 10-9, but the Dragons had three-straight kills – two from Head and from Lettries – for a 13-9 lead. Hutch's lead increased to 16-11 after a Lettries block. Pratt went on a 6-2 run and eventually pulled within 21-20. Briggs had a kill for a sideout and service ace for a 24-20 lead. The Dragons finally won the set on a Head/Price double block.
Hutchinson led the third set 9-7 and slowly pulled away from there. Kills from Thorne and Briggs upped the Dragon lead to 14-9. A Thorne/Taegen Larsen double blocks increased the lead to 17-10. Then leading 22-16, Hutch finished off the match with a Thorne kill and back-to-back Head service aces.