(HCC Sports Information)
PRATT – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team had the most blocks in a three-set match and the second-highest hitting percentage of the season on Monday night as the Lady Dragons scored another Jayhawk Conference Western Division road victory in a 3-0 triumph at Pratt.
Needing just 1 hour, 6 minutes to complete the victory, the Lady Dragons swept Pratt 25-21, 25-13, 25-13 to sweep the Beavers in their season series and solidify their hold on fourth place in the Jayhawk West.
The Lady Dragons (10-16, 6-3 Jayhawk West) earned their third conference road win of the season.
“We’ve picked up some good road wins this season,” HCC head coach Sarah Myers said. “We really stayed focused and intense. We have some tough road games coming up and we hope to keep the momentum.”
Freshman Shayne Haley had a career-high nine blocks as Hutchinson out-blocked Pratt 15-1 on Monday night. The 15 blocks tie for the second-most blocks this season and were the most by HCC in a three-set match in 2011. In two matches against Pratt this season, the Lady Dragons have had 35 team blocks against the Beavers.
HCC posted a .341 hitting percentage on 36 kills, the second-best percentage of the season. It’s the second time this season and the second time in the last four matches that the Lady Dragons have hit at least .340 in a single match.
After winning a fairly tight opening set, HCC lead 6-5 in the second set. From that point, The Lady Dragons outscored Pratt 44-21. The longest Beaver scoring run of the match was five points in the first set. HCC never relinquished a lead and the only time a set was tied was at 2-2 in the second set.
Haley had a solid all-around match to lead the Lady Dragons. She hit .416 on five kills and had eight digs and one service ace. She had three solo blocks and six block assists.
Setter Hayley Young hit a career-high .538 with seven kills. Young also had 24 assists. Freshman Emily Oberlin tied for team-high honors with seven kills.
Sophomore Jade Nelson added six kills, while sophomore Cassie Wiley had five kills on .625 hitting and five stuff blocks (two solo, three assists).
HCC had 43 team digs. Sophomore Jordan Rehm and freshman Paige Forrester had eight digs each.
Kylie Pywell and Sara Aliosio had eight kills each to lead Pratt (8-17, 3-6). Hannah Melichar had seven kills for the Beavers.
Leading 7-6 in the first set, HCC reeled off four points in a row, getting kills from Oberlin, Haley and Young to lead 11-6. Back-to-back service aces by Pratt setter Elisa Seumanu cut the HCC lead to 15-12 and prompted a timeout. Pratt trimmed the lead to two, but Young, who had four first-set kills, pushed a dump deep to the right corner for a point and a big sideout. Leading 16-14, Hutchinson had another 4-0 run to take a 20-14 lead on another Young dump. Wiley closed the set with a kill for a 25-21 victory.
Hutchinson led 6-5 in the second set when the HCC block party really started. A double block by Wiley and Young started a 6-0 run where the Lady Dragons posted two blocks to build a 12-5 lead. The run grew to 14-2 on a Wiley/Oberlin block, along with three kills from Oberlin and single kills from Young and Rehm to lead 20-7. A Nelson kill took the lead to 23-9. Pratt scored four straight before Kayla Karmazyn finished off the set with a kill for a 2-0 HCC lead.
“I told the girls between sets 2 and 3 that we’ve been in control since the very beginning,” Myers said. “They had to realize that Pratt was going to come out and not give it to them. I felt like tonight the girls did a great job of keeping that focus and controlling it.”
The Lady Dragons wasted no time in the third set, scoring the first two points and leads of 5-1 and 10-2. A kill by Wiley and a double block by Oberlin and Haley pushed the HCC margin to 17-8. Leading 23-12, Young’s final kill and Karmazyn’s kill finished off the match.
The Lady Dragons continue a three-match road trip on Wednesday at Barton for a 6:30 p.m. match.
MATCH NOTES – Hayley Young has hit better than .400 in three of four matches. … This is the sixth time that Shayne Haley has hit .400 or better in matches with at least five kills. … The seven solo blocks are the most since HCC had seven against New Mexico Military on Sept. 3 at the Cougar Classic in El Reno, Okla.