HUTCHINSON — After a grueling nine-match road trip to open the season, the Hutchinson Community College volleyball team will finally be unveiled at the Sports Arena on Wednesday night.
The 19th-ranked Blue Dragons will play host to the Butler Grizzlies in a Jayhawk West battle that begins at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The match will be videostreamed live on the Blue Dragon Sports Network. (www.bluedragonsports.com). The stream will start about 6:25 p.m.
This match will open a stretch of five-straight home dates and 6 of the next 7 that Hutchinson will play at the Sports Arena. Next week, HCC plays host to Dodge City on Monday, Seward County on Wednesday and will play host to the Blue Dragon Volleyball Classic on Sept. 19-20.
Playing one of the most difficult schedules to start the season, Hutchinson has opened the season 4-5. Four matches have come against nationally ranked completion. The Blue Dragons are 2-2 in those matches, defeating both No. 14 Odessa College and No. 17 New Mexico Military in five-set matches and falling to No. 3 College of Southern Idaho (3-1) and No. 7 Salt Lake (3-0).
Most importantly, the Blue Dragons are 1-0 in the Jayhawk West after a 3-1 road victory at Colby on August. 27.
The Blue Dragons play host to a Butler team that that returns to the Jayhawk West after several seasons as a Division II and Jayhawk East program. The Grizzlies have opened the season 6-4 overall and 0-2 in the Jayhawk West after a four-set loss to Pratt and 3-0 loss to Colby. This will be Butler’s first true road contest this season.
Hutchinson continues to search of consistent offense through the first nine matches. HCC is averaging 11.14 kills per set and is hitting just .186 as a team.
One number that has increased dramatically over last season is blocking. The Blue Dragons are ranked No. 13 in the nation in blocking at 2.61 blocks per set.
Freshman Petra Silic is currently ninth in the NJCAA in individual blocking at 1.40 blocks per set. Sophomore Nicole Kinser is at 0.92 blocks per set. HCC had a season-high 16 stuffs in a sweep of Snow College last Saturday in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Kinser leads HCC offensively with 2.95 kills per set and a .368 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Darby is averaging 2.73 kills and is hitting .214. Freshman Jai Chapman averages 2.19 kills, but hits only .092.
Head coach Patrick Hall is also looking to shore up HCCs floor defense. The Blue Dragons are averaging just 11.57 digs per set. Freshman libero McKenzie Steele leads at 3.26 digs per set.
Heading into play on Wednesday, Pratt leads the Jayhawk West with a 3-0 record. HCC is the only other league team without a loss. Seward County and Colby are 2-1 and Cloud County is 1-1. Garden City and Barton are both 1-2 while Butler and Dodge City are both 0-2.