Hutchinson CC Sports Information
EL DORADO – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team snapped a three-match losing Thursday night, rallying to defeat the Butler Grizzlies in a five-set KJCCC battle at the Power Plant.
Sophomore Lauren Vasquez and freshman Kelsi Maier combined for 30 kills and the Blue Dragons completed the comeback from down 2-1 in sets by scoring the final six points of the match in a 19-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 15-10 victory over Butler.
The Blue Dragons (16-12) solidified their hold on fourth place in the Jayhawk Conference at 8-5. Hutchinson has a three-match lead over Seward County with three matches to play. Butler is now 10-16 overall and 4-8 in the KJCCC.
The Blue Dragons completed their first regular-season sweep of Butler since 2018 and improved to 4-3 in five-set matches this season.
Maier came off the bench to spark the Blue Dragons with a season-high 15 kills, hitting .178 on 45 attacks. Maier added six digs and two blocks.
Vasquez also had 15 kills, hitting .073 on 40 attacks.
Altogether, the Blue Dragons had 52 kills on .120 hitting. Butler had 13 kills on .115 hitting.
The Dragons out-blocked Butler 12-6, led by sophomore middle blocker Mattie Galliher's match-high seven blocks. The Dragons had eight ace serves to five service errors. Butler had 10 aces and 10 errors.
Freshman Julia Macedo posted her first career double-double with 13 kills and a career-high 16 digs. Macedo hit .188 and she added a career-best five blocks.
Freshman setter Luisa Richa finished with 43 assists. Sophomore libero Clara Oliveira had 17 digs and freshman defensive specialist Ashley Scott had a career-high 16 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Arianna Delgado had 11 digs.
Butler was led by Harlee Randall's match-high 21 kills.
The Blue Dragons hit a negative-.026 in dropping the first set, but jumped out to a 16-9 lead in the second on a Galliher/Richa double block. Butler then went on a 9-1 run to lead 18-17. Butler then led 23-21 and closed the set on a 4-0 run with a Macedo kill, Butler attack error, Vasquez kill and a Galliher kill for a 25-23 win to tie the match at 1-1.
The Blue Dragons trailed the entire third set until a Butler attack error tied the set at 21-21. Butler scored the next three points to earn three set points. A Grizzly attack error and a Vasquez kill cut the lead to 24-23, but Butler closed out the deuce set with a Randall kill for a 25-23 win.
Hutchinson's back was against the wall in the fourth set after Butler build a 10-3 lead. Still trailing 15-7, a Macedo kill started what became a 8-0 Oliveira service run. Galliher and Maier teamed up on a block to tie the set at 15-15. The run grew to 12-1 and the Dragons led 19-16 after a Butler attack error. Leading 24-19, the Dragons closed the set with a Richa ace serve.
The Blue Dragons were forced to rally again in the fifth set after trailing 6-3. Maier got a kill for a key sideout and Vasquez had three kills to help Hutchinson eventually tie the set at 10-10. That Vasquez kill started what became a match-clinching 6-0 run. Macedo followed with a kill, then Richa had an ace for a 12-10 lead which forced a Butler timeout. Macedo had another kill and then she teamed up with Maria Eduardo Dias for a block and Richa closed out the match with an ace serve to complete the comeback.