HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team closed out its 2024 home season in style for the Blue Dragons’ four sophomores on Saturday night.
The Blue Dragons hit .294 and help the Pratt Beavers to .000 hitting in a dominant 25-14, 25-10, 25-14 KJCCC victory in the final home match for sophomores Shelbi Wilson, McKenzie Murphy, Precious Johnson and Ryleigh Stuhlsatz.
The Blue Dragons are 19-18 overall and 7-7 in the KJCCC with two road games remaining at No. 8 Barton on Wednesday and No. 7 Colby next Saturday.
The Blue Dragons were led by redshirt freshman Tiana Simmons, who had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Simmons hit .347 on 23 attacks and she added three block assists.
Freshman Atlyn Proctor tied for match-high honors with 10 kills on .333 hitting. Proctor had two block assists.
Sophomore Precious Johnson had six kills and freshman Kierny Follmer had four kills.
Sophomore setter Shelbi Wilson finished with 28 assists and five digs.
The Blue Dragons had 11 team blocks, led by sophomore McKenzie Murphy with a career-high 10 total blocks.
The Dragons also had nine service aces led by Ellie Suber‘s five aces and two aces each from Johnson and Beatriz Carvalho.
Freshman libero Addy Foster finished with 16 digs.
Set 1: The Dragons got off to a slow start falling behind 7-2 in the opening set, which prompted an early timeout. Hutchison got the offense rolling by countering Pratt’s start with a 10-1 run. The Dragons took an 8-7 lead on a Simmons kill. Murphy’s kill on a slide attack capped that initial surge for a 12-8 lead. A 5-0 run with two Carvalho aces upped the lead to 17-9. Simmons closed a four-kill, one-block performance in the first with a kill on set point for a 25-14 win.
Set 2: The Blue Dragons dominated the second set, opening with a 10-2 run on a Pricilla Raschen kill. Back-to-back double blocks from Simmons and Murphy and Follmer and Murphy gave the Dragons a 13-3 lead. Leading 19-10, the Dragons close out the set on a 6-0 Wilson service run. She had an ace while Johnson had a kill and block. The Dragons had four blocks in the second set.
Set 3: Pratt scored the first four points of the third set, followed by a Blue Dragon 4-0 run and another 4-0 Pratt run to five the Beavers an 8-4 lead. After that, the Dragons scored on 21 of the next 27 rallies to finish off the match. Tied at 11-11, the Dragons went on a 13-0 run on Suber’s serve. Suber had three aces in that run. Leading 24-14, freshman Angela Reupena‘s six kill of the season came on match point.
