(HCC Sports Information)
Sophomore Jordan Rehm posted her ninth double-double of the season and 15th of her career, but the Hutchinson Community College volleyball team dropped a four-set Jayhawk West match on Saturday afternoon to third-place Colby at the Sports Arena.
The Lady Dragons split the first two sets, but dropped a 25-18, 26-28, 25-20, 29-27 decision to a balanced Colby team that solidified third place in the league standing by completing a season sweep of the Lady Dragons (10-18, 6-5 Jayhawk West).
“It was definitely a better showing than in Colby,” said HCC head coach Sarah Myers, referred to a decisive 3-0 loss at Colby 10 days earlier. “It’s still frustrating to lose, but I feel the past three games – on the road at Pratt, on the road at Barton and today – we have been more consistent. We still saw some moments today when our errors snowballed, though.”
Rehm finished with 12 kills and 11 digs to lead Hutchinson offensively.
Freshman Shayne Haley nearly had a triple-double and had a good all-around match with eight kills, eight total blocks, 12 digs and four service aces. Sophomore Cassie Wiley had seven kills and five blocks.
Freshman Emily Oberlin had six kills. Freshman Jade Nelson had six blocks. Freshman setter Hayley Young had 32 assists. Freshman libero Paige Forrester had her second-straight 20-plus dig performance, trying her career-high 23 with digs.
Elzbeta Klein led all hitters with 18 kills to power Colby’s balanced offense. Ana Calito and Sarah Eisenbarth had 12 kills each.
Colby out-hit HCC 50-40. The Lady Dragons had 12 total blocks and nine service aces.
“At Barton, we went in relaxed because we knew all the pressure was on them,” Myers said. “Today, we put the pressure back on ourselves. Second, third and fourth in the conference was in the air, and we had a chance to finish in any of those spots, and we played nervous at times.”
The Lady Dragons started fast in building a 10-5 lead in the first set. Klein started pounding away. A Klein kill capped a 12-3 to help the Trojans overtake Hutchinson and lead 17-13. Klein had five kills in the set, including the final two points of the set to give Colby a 1-0 lead.
Hutchinson jumped out fast again in the second set, but couldn’t sustain the momentum. A Wiley kill on an over-pass gave the Lady Dragons a 12-3 lead. But Colby went on a 15-6 run to tie the set at 18-all. An Oberlin service ace gave Hutch a 24-21 lead, but Colby fought off three set points to extend the set. The Trojans managed to fight off five set points, but at 16-all, Rehm had a kill and a service ace to give HCC A 28-26 victory and tie the match at 1-1. Rehm and Wiley had four kills each in the second set. Haley had three blocks, three aces and two kills.
The third set featured four lead changes and 11 ties and either team held larger than a two-point cushion until late in the set. Rehm had a kill to give Hutchinson a 15-13 lead. But Colby’s Eisenbarth and Klein caught fire late. They combined for 12 kills; including seven in the Trojans’ final 12-5 run to capture the third set. Rehm had five kills, while Haley had four kills, two blocks and an ace to lead the Lady Dragons.
Both teams struggled offensively in the fourth set. The Lady Dragons hit a negative percentage (seven kills, 10 attack errors), while Colby hit .000 (eight kills, eight errors). Twelve of the first 20 rallies were decided on an attack error. The set had 14 ties and five lead changes. Colby had an early 9-5 advantage and still led 19-16. A Colby attack error and net violation and a double block by Rehm and Wiley tied the set at 19-19. Back to back kills by Klein gave Colby a 24-22 lead, but kills by Oberlin and Haley extended the set to 24-all. HCC fended off a third match point on back-to-back blocks by Nelson and Haley to go up 26-25. Colby fought off two Dragon set points and finally closed out the Lady Dragons on a Calito kill.
The Lady Dragons play host to second-place Seward County in a key Jayhawk West battle at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Sports Arena.