By Steve Carpenter HCC Sports Information

 

On her birthday, freshman Nina Pevic pounded down a team-high eight kills, but the No. 20 Hutchinson Community College volleyball team owned a decisive advantage at the net as the Blue Dragons swept past Dodge City in a Jayhawk West matchup on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons snapped a two-match losing streak with a 25-16, 25-18, 26-24 victory over the Conquistadors to move to 8-4 overall and maintain their lead in the Jayhawk West at 4-0. Hutchison travels to Barton for a 2 p.m. match on Saturday in Great Bend.

Hutchinson owned an 11-2 block advantage over Dodge City on Wednesday night. Sophomore middle Hinalei Fihaki led the way with six total blocks, including two solo blocks. HCC accounted for a season-high seven solo stuffs. Patricia Joseph had three solos, while Pevic and freshman Shania Werner added solos.

That added net defense helped what became a make-shift rotation for the Blue Dragons on Wednesday. Starting setter Katie Jorn was unavailable because of injury, so in addition to freshman Nicole Rutherford, freshman defensive specialist Kelsey Mulligan stepped in as the second setter.

The Rutherford/Mulligan setting tandem in Hutch’s 6-2 offense combined for 35 assists as Hutch out-hit Dodge Cit y 38-28. Mulligan accounted for 16 assists, eight digs an ace and a setter dump for a kill. Rutherford had 19 assists and two dumps that dropped for kills.

Pevic led the Hutch offense on .375 hitting with eight kills on 16 swings and two errors. Werner finished with six kills. Fihaki and freshman Page Hiebert had five kills each.

The Blue Dragons also racked up six service aces. Freshman McKayla Apo and Hiebert had two aces each. Sophomore libero Mine Cetinoz had a match-high 19 digs.

Middle Alex Bruey had eight kills and Sada Smith added seven kills to lead Dodge City (6-5, 2-2).