[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

Photo courtesy of Allie Schweizer, HCC Sports Information

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team won its season-high eighth match in a row and in the process captured a share of its fifth consecutive Jayhawk West championship Wednesday night.

The Blue Dragons had one of their best defensive and passing matches of the season in a 25-23, 25-14, 25-20 victory over the Trojans on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.

Now 23-11 for the season, the Blue Dragons won a share of their fifth-straight Jayhawk West championship with a 14-2 conference record. Hutchinson can win the conference outright if Colby defeats Seward County on Saturday in Liberal. The conference crown is the 10th in program history, all coming since 2004.

Hutchinson also clinches the No. 1 seed for the Region VI Tournament, which will be played at the Sports Arena. Hutchinson will play either Garden City or Pratt in an opening-round match at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and then be the host school for the Region VI semifinals and championship match on Sunday, November 6 at the Sports Arena.

Trailing 10-6 in the opening set, the Blue Dragons set the tone with a rally that lasted 16 total possessions. Patricia Joseph had three incredible saves on Colby blocks. Mine Cetinoz and Katie Jorn both had sprawling saves to keep the ball alive and the Dragons ultimately won the rally with a Page Hiebert kill. That sparked an 8-2 run that turned the set around.

Hiebert led the Blue Dragons with 10 kills on 31 swings on .194 hitting to lead the Blue Dragons.

Hinalei Fihaki hit a match-high .571 with eight kills on 14 attacks with no errors. Fihaki added two blocks and an ace serve.

Nadine Cruz hit .385 with six kills and two blocks. Nina Pevic had six kills on .294 hitting. Shania Werner finished strong after a slow start with five kills.

Jorn and Nicole Rutherford both had 17 assists. Cetinoz had a team-high 17 digs. Kelsey Mulligan had 13 digs.

Aleksandra Malik had 10 kills to lead Colby (23-8, 12-3).

Hutch out-hit Colby 39-31 and out-blocked the Trojans 5-4.

Colby led the opening set 12-9 when Fihaki’s kill started a 6-1 Dragon run. Back-to-back Colby ball-handling errors tied the set and gave Hutch a 13-12 lead. Two more Colby errors gave the dragons a 15-13 lead. A 4-1 run gave Colby a 17-16 lead after a Singryd Valdarama kill. Hutch tied the set at 17 after another long rally was terminated by a Cetinoz kill. A kill and subsequent ace by Malik then gave Colby a 20-19 lead – there were four lead changes and 12 ties in the first set – a Cruz kill knotted the set again at 20 and sparked a set-clinching 6-1 run. Leading 23-21, Fihaki had a kill and solo block to finish off the Dragon win.

Tied at 7-all in the second set, Hutch scored four unanswered points and extended that run to 6-1 after a Rutherford setter dump dropped for a kill and a 13-8 Hutch team to force a Colby timeout. With Hutch leading 15-9, Colby trimmed the Dragon lead in half with a three-point run. The Dragons then exploded when a Werner kill started a 10-2 run to finish off the second set.

The Dragons jumped out to a quick 7-2 run in the third set, but Colby closed to within 9-8 after a Malik kill. Leading 14-12, the Dragons took advantage of three-straight Colby errors to lead 17-12 and force Colby to take a timeout. From that point, the closest Colby got was three points at 21-18.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

Photo courtesy of Andrew Carpenter, HCC Sports Information

WACO, Texas — Freshman Doug Rios-Ceballos remained in the individual top five, but the No. 5-ranked Hutchinson Community men’s golf team struggled on Tuesday and finished third in the Dr. Pepper Classic at Twin Rivers Golf Club.

Second by two strokes entering the final play of play on Tuesday, the Blue Dragons shot eight strokes higher than on Monday. Tyler Junior College beat the Dragons by 17 strokes in the second round and jumped from fourth to finish second, just one shot ahead of Hutchinson.

No. 9 New Mexico Junior College shot a 297 on Tuesday and won the team title with a 596, 12 strokes ahead of the Apaches. The Blue Dragons finished at 610.

Rios-Ceballos had his best tournament finish of the 2016 fall season, tying Tyler’s Cameron Brown for fifth at 4-over 148. Rios-Ceballos carded a 76 on Tuesday.

The Blue Dragons also counted Wil Arnold’s 73, Jack Lanham’s 80 and Matt Percy’s 80. Cole Gritton carded an 81.

Sophomore Mac McNish, playing as an individual, posted his lowest round of the fall season with a 1-under 71, 11 strokes better than Monday. McNish finished tied for 15th at 153.

Arnold rebounded to tie for 17th at 154. Lanham tied for 20th at 155. Gritton tied for 26th at 157 and Percy was tied for 30th at 158.

The Blue Dragons will open the 2017 spring season in March. The complete schedule hasn’t been released yet.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

Photo courtesy of Joel Powers, HCC Sports Information

CONCORDIA, Kan. — Freshman outside hitter Shania Werner had career highs for both kills and blocks to help the Hutchinson Community College volleyball team take sole possession of first place in the Jayhawk West on Monday with a 3-0 victory over Cloud County at the Thunderdome.

The Blue Dragons won their sixth-straight match after a 25-23, 25-18, 25-16 victory over the Thunderbirds. The Blue Dragons improve to 22-11 overall and are now 13-2 in the Jayhawk West with one match to play against Colby on Wednesday at the Sports Arena. Hutchinson now leads Seward County and Colby by one-half game as the final week of the regular season began. The Saints and Trojans play on Saturday in Liberal.

Werner was huge in a first-set comeback for Hutchinson. Trailing 21-20, Werner had a pair of kills in a decisive 5-1 run that helped the Dragons surpass the T-Birds to win the set 25-23. The freshman from Plainville then figured in the final four points and 5 of the final 7 rallies as Hutch scored the final five points on the third set to close out the match.

Werner had season highs of 12 kills and four block assists and had her second-best hitting percentage of the season at .478 to lead the Blue Dragons. Werner had only one attack error on a season-high 23 swings. Her former season high for kills was eight against Snow College in September.

Freshman Page Hiebert reached double figures in kills with 10 kills on .450 hitting. Hiebert posted her fifth double-double with 12 digs.

Freshman Nina Pevic had seven kills and three blocks. Nadine Cruz hit .556 with six kills and four block assists. Nadine Cruz had six kills on .267 hitting.

Freshman setter Katie Jorn had three service aces and a team-high 11 assists with one kill. Freshman Nicole Rutherford had 15 assists and an ace.

Sophomore libero Mine Cetinoz had 18 digs and freshman defensive specialist Kelsey Mulligan had 10 digs.

Hutch had 43 kills to Cloud County’s 34. The Dragons outblocked Cloud County 11-5 and had five aces to the Thunderbirds’ four.

The Blue Dragons had a balanced attack in the opening set with five kills from Hiebert and four each from Fihaki and Werner. But the Thunderbirds built a 15-12 lead. A Pevic kill capped a 7-2 Hutch run and the Dragons led 19-17, but a 6-2 T-Bird run pushed the Dragons to the brink as Cloud led 23-21, forcing a Hutch timeout. Out of the timeout, a Werner kill, a Hiebert kill, a Patricia Joseph/Cruz double block and another Hiebert kill accounted for a momentum-turning 4-0 run and a Dragon 25-23 opening-set win.

The second set was playing out the same way as the first set as Cloud County led 17-16. A Thunderbird service error halted the Cloud charge and started a run of eight unanswered points. Jorn had all three of her ace serves during the 8-0 run, the third ace gave Hutch a 24-17 lead. After Cloud got a kill to stave off one set point, Werner terminated from the left pin to give the Dragons a two-set lead.

A Pevic kill was sandwiched between two Fihaki/Pevic double blocks to give Hutch a 7-2 lead in the third set. Cloud County won 6 of the next 8 rallies to pull within 9-8. The Dragons answered that challenge with a five-point run highlighted by back-to-back Cruz solo blocks. A Werner kill gave Hutch a 14-8 lead. Leading 21-16, the Blue Dragons finished the match in style. After a T-Bird attack error, the final four points of the match were a Werner kill, back-to-back Werner/Joseph double blocks and a Werner kill on match point. Werner had six kills and two blocks in the final set for Hutchinson.

The Blue Dragons will go after a share of a fifth-straight Jayhawk West championship on Wednesday when Colby comes to the Sports Arena for a 6:30 p.m. match.

EL DORADO, Kan. — Entering tonight’s contest, both the Blue Dragons (4-4) and Grizzlies (5-3) had struggled offensively.

It only seemed appropriate that the first two touchdowns of the game came on defensive scores.

Butler lit up the scoreboard first with a 33-yard interception return for a TD.

It was the second interception thrown by Cam Jones, but perhaps this one wasn’t his fault.

The pass slipped through the receiver’s hands and safely into the arms of Fontez Davis, who strolled into the end zone.

Jones threw an interception on the first drive of the game after marching into the red zone. His screen pass was picked by Kaman Cooper Jr. on a drive that was sure to produce early points.

HCC tied the game late in the first quarter on a Ronheen Bingham fumble recovery in the end zone.

David Isreal lost control of the ball in the field of play and it immediately rolled into the end zone where three Blue Dragons and two Grizzlies had an opportunity to fall on it. It was the ball-hawking Bingham who finally cashed in on the recovery.

Butler’s defense picked Cam Jones once again and gave its offense great field positioning inside the HCC 5. Josh Wilkes caught a 9-yard pass from Isreal to reclaim the Butler lead.

The Grizzlies were able to strike again with 1:14 left before halftime on a 5-yard Kevon Abrams run.

With little time left, Cam Jones hit Gary Cross on a reception that put the Blue Dragons 1 yard away from pay dirt.

Tre Griffin finished off the attack with a 1-yard leap into the end zone.

HCC trailed 21-14 at the half.

There was only one score in the second half.

It came with 3:04 left in the third on a 26-yard Luke Niemeyer field goal.

An impressive drive for the Blue Dragon offense stalled when it mattered most.

Neither team would score again.

FINAL: Butler 21 HCC 17

HCC had plenty of chances in the fourth to move the ball, but could never get back inside field goal range.

The Blue Dragon defense nearly got to a Butler punt late in the fourth, but Joseph Stevens escaped the HCC pressure after a bad snap. He scooped the ball at the 2 between two defenders. Being chased from behind, Stevens had the presence of mind to punt the ball just before crossing the line of scrimmage.

HCC will be home against Independence (1-7) next Saturday at noon.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Blue Dragons (4-3) just missed a 54-yard FG last week to snap a two-game winning streak. The Butler Grizzlies (4-3) handled Air Force Prep to extend their winning streak to two games.

Both teams have four games left and each need two wins to become bowl eligible.

The winner Saturday night will be a step closer to bowl eligibility.

Daren Dunn sat down with Butler’s HC Tim Schaffner to discuss an important matchup.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

Photo courtesy of Joel Powers, HCC Sports Information

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team used aggressive serving and balanced offensive attack to earn huge Jayhawk West victory over the Barton Cougars on Wednesday Night at the Sports Arena.

On the strength of six service aces and several more served that took the Cougars out of system plenty in the first two sets, the Blue Dragons swept Barton 25-14, 25-12, 25-21, Hutch’s fifth-straight victory.

The Blue Dragons reach the 20-win plateau for the fifth-straight season and 29th time in 43 seasons of volleyball. Hutchinson is now 20-11 overall, but more importantly 11-2 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons are tied with Colby for second place, one-half game behind Seward County with three matches remaining.

The Blue Dragons and Barton split the season series. Barton swept Hutchinson on Sept. 17 in Great Bend.

Hutchinson travels to Butler for at 6:30 p.m. match on Friday at Circle High School in Towanda. The match was originally set for Saturday in El Dorado, but flooding issues at the Power Plant forced the match to be moved to Towanda.

Freshman setter Nicole Rutherford tied a season high with three service aces to go with a team-high 21 assists and a key dump for a kill during an initial 9-2 run in the second set.

Freshman Katie Jorn, sophomore Mine Cetinoz and freshman Kelsey Mulligan all had aces.

Freshman Page Hiebert didn’t connect on her first five attacks, but wound up with a team-high nine kills on 25 swings and a .320 hitting percentage. Hiebert also had three block assists.

Freshman Nadine Cruz had eight kills, but hit .240. Freshman Shania Werner was a spark off the bench with seven kills on .389 hitting with now errors on 18 attacks. Freshman Nina Pevic had six kills.

Blue Dragon outside and right-side hitters had just one attack error in the first two sets.

The Blue Dragons had six total blocks led by sophomore Hinalei Fihaki with six block assists.

Cetinoz and Mulligan had 17 digs each.

Monique Oliveria had seven kills to lead the Cougars (22-8, 9-5). Olivia Naccarato had four kills and four blocks.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

Photo courtesy of Joel Powers, HCC Sports Information

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The 2016 Jayhawk West champion Hutchinson Community College women’s soccer team blitzed both the Pratt Beavers and the Blue Dragon record book on Tuesday as 11 team or individual records were broken and another was tied in a 23-0 Jayhawk West win at the Salthawk Sports Complex.

The No. 12-ranked Blue Dragons – The NJCAA Division I women’s soccer rankings were released during the game and Hutch moved up one spot – won its ninth consecutive contest to improve to 16-1 overall, 7-0 in the Jayhawk West and 11-0 in the Region VI West.

The Blue Dragons had a season-high nine different goal scorers in the game and a season-high 10 players hand out assists.

Sophomore Jordan Downing had a huge day with six goals, three assists and 15 total points. With her final goal of the game, Downing broke the Blue Dragons’ season-season record for goals scored (39) and points (101), becoming the first HCC women’s soccer player to amass 100 points in a season. Downing also reclaimed the NJCAA national goal scoring lead. Now with 23 assists, Downing tied Sheehy for second on HCC’s single-season assist list.

Downing’s six goals tied Melissa Hetherington for the second most in a game and her 15 points scored were second most scored by an individual. Downing’s 16 shots taken were a single-game individual high for Hutch soccer.

Hartshorn tied a Blue Dragon single-game record for assists with five helpers. Hartshorn tied Ciara Corboy (2008), Finola Corley (2010) and Pearl Slattery (2012) for the record. Hartshorn also tied a career high with four goals and her 13 total points tied Hetherington for third most points scored in a single game. Hartshorn had the team’s 19 goal of the game, which broke the 2009 record of 18 goals set against Independence.

The Blue Dragons smashed six team single-game records on Tuesday – goals scored (23), assists (23), points (69), goals in a half (15 in the second half), assists in a half (14 in the second half) and margin of victory (23). The 2016 Blue Dragons also broke a team season record for assists with 119.

Several other Blue Dragons had big days on Tuesday.

Freshman Sheena Nicol had her second-straight four-goal game and added two assists for 10 points. This was her third four-goal game of the season. The trio of Downing (39 goals), Nicol (25 goals) and Hartshorn (20 goals) become the first teammates to all score 20 goals in the same season.

Sophomore Jordan Smith had a career-high four assists on Tuesday, which tied for the fourth-most in a single game.

Sophomore Dayna Johnson scored two goals for the second-straight game. Her second goal tied the single-game goal-scoring record.

Freshman Mikayla Moresco posted her first two-goal game as did sophomore Georgia Warren, who had a career-high five points.

Sophomore Natalie Bianco and freshman Kaitlyn Moore both scored their first career goals. Bianco added two assists for a career-best four-point game.

Sophomore Madison Pollack had a goal and an assist. Freshman Louise Doherty tallied a season-high three assists. Chloe Flynn and Victoria Padilla each had an assist.

The Blue Dragons out-shot Pratt 66-1.

Freshman goalkeeper Ashley Main (5-0) played the first half and was credited with the win. Sophomore Caroline Howard played the second half. Neither keeper was forced to make a save as Hutchinson posted its third-straight shutout and 10th shutout of the season.

The Blue Dragons will close out the regular season on Friday in a 6 p.m. game at Garden City.