[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team clinched the third seed for the upcoming Region VI Tournament on Wednesday night with a sweep of the Independence Pirates at the Sports Arena.

Freshman Eden Hiebert had 11 kills and the Blue Dragons limited the Pirates to .000 hitting, while sophomore libero Raychel Reed moved up another rung on the Hutch career digs ladder after a 25-18, 26-24, 25-13 victory over the Pirates to complete the season-series sweep of Independence.

Hutchinson must wait for an opponent, but the Blue Dragon do know they will play at home in the opening round of the Region VI Tournament at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at the Sports Arena. Official pairings will be released on Monday.

Hiebert hit .241 on 29 swings to get her match-high 11 digs against Independence. She led a Blue Dragon offensive attack that hit .198 for the match and the third-straight match and fifth time in the last six matches the Dragons have hit less than .200.

Reed posted a match-high 10 digs on Wednesday and moved past McKenzie Steele (2014-15) into third place on the Blue Dragon career digs list with 1,061. Reed had two of Hutch’s six service aces.

Hutch had only 32 kills to Indy’s 29 and had six aces to the Pirates four. Independence out-dug the Dragons 45-42, but the Blue Dragons had a 10-3 advantage in team blocks. Freshman Tara Davis had six block assists and sophomore Cassidy Crites added four block assists. Sophomore Lexi Hogan had one solo and two block assists.

Sophomore Elena Takova had eight kills on .227 hitting for the Blue Dragons. Delilah Vigil was next with four kills.

Crites finished with 12 assists and eight digs. Sophomore Payton Gawith had eight assists and Eboni Sapien had seven assists and six digs. Baylee Beck added eight digs.