National News

 October 30, 2009

By Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information Director

The No. 13-ranked Hutchinson Community College volleyball team's four sophomore attackers combined for 47 kills and 17 blocks to rally the Lady Dragons from a first-set loss to dispatch of Division II Butler in four sets on Sophomore Night on Thursday at the Sports Arena.

Butler took the first set, but Hutchinson rallied to win its 10th consecutive match and 14th in the last 15 in a 17-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-13 victory.

"We thought we had it together in that first game, but apparently we didn't," sophomore middle blocker Debbie Ohl said. "This was our night. It was our time to shine, let's turn this thing around and that's what we did."

The Lady Dragons (25-7) came back from hitting just .029 in the opening set that included 11 hitting errors to hit .189 for the match.

Ohl nearly had a triple-double with 13 kills on .360 hitting with nine digs and eight blocks.

Right-side hitter Karol Marins had 12 kills on .333 hitting with a season-high five blocks.

Outside hitter Carol Logato had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs to go with two blocks.

Outside hitter Bailea Phelan also had a double-double with 10 kills, hitting .300, and 10 blocks.

The 2009 HCC sophomore class finishes its two-season run at the Sports Arena with an 18-5 home record.

"There was no way we were going to lose this match," Phelan said. "I can't believe (the last home match is) here already. There was no way we were going to let it slip by."

Freshman Kate Morrell finished with six kills, four blocks and four digs. Freshman setter Emme Russell finished with 31 assists and eight digs. Freshman setter Lindsay Dusin had 18 assists and five digs.

The Lady Dragons had a 14-9 blocking advantage against a strong Butler front line. HCC's block proved to be a needed spark after a first-set loss that snapped a 21-set winning streak for the Lady Dragons.

Crystal Blue led the Grizzlies (25-12) with 14 kills. Demetria Williams had eight kills and five blocks. Lindsey Williams had seven kills, two blocks and a service ace. Megan Glandon had six kills and two blocks.

"Every sophomore night or last night that we play on this floor, we either lose it or barely win it," HCC head coach Ronda Shirley said. "They had a lot of emotion wrapped up into it. The sophomores were determined. They wanted to go out and show what they accomplished in the last two years."

Butler was the dominant team at the net in the first set, getting four kills and three blocks from Demetria Williams. The Grizzlies used a 10-3 run to open the set and the closet Hutchinson got was five points on three different occasions. At 20-15, Butler got a Demetria Williams kill and a Williams Dani Rieman block to up the lead to seven and defeat HCC in a set for the first time since Seward County won the first set on Oct. 14 in Liberal.

Ohl was the spark the Lady Dragons needed in the second set. A stuff block by Ohl and freshman Beth Cornwell was a huge part of a 6-0 HCC run that opened up a 5-all set. Hutchinson hit .343 in the second with 17 kills on 32 attacks. Ohl had seven kills and four blocks in the set, including three consecutive points by either block or kills to helped HCC take a 21-14 lead in the set.

"Debbie's blocking was amazing tonight. She did an awesome job at the net," Phelan said.

Hutch came out slow again in the third set, falling behind 3-0, but got things quickly turned around as Morrell led the charge in the third west with five kills, two blocks and an ace. HCC hit .116 in the set. The Lady Dragons led 18-14, but Butler went on a 9-3 run to take a 22-21 lead on a Blue kill. HCC survived the comeback. At 24-all, Marins pounded down a kill from the right pin and Butler's attack error on set point gave HCC a 2-1 match lead.

The Lady Dragons hit a match-high .347 in the fourth set with Marins garnering five kills and three blocks and Phelan added five kills and one block. HCC trailed 8-6, but outscored the Grizzlies 19-5 the rest of the way. A combo block by Ohl and Phelan gave the Lady Dragons the lead for good. Leading 18-13, HCC scored the final seven points, getting the final three in style with combo stuff blocks from Ohl and Marins, Marins and Morrell and a kill on match point by Ohl.

The Lady Dragons have one more regular-season match to play. That will be at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at Barton Community College.

MATCH NOTES - After starting the season 1-7 in fourth sets, Hutchinson has won four consecutive fourth sets and is now 4-2 in four-set matches. ... The 14 team blocks are the third-most blocks in a single match this season. ... HCC was 7-3 at the Sports Arena this season. ... HCC was 11-1 in the month of October. ... Before the match, the team honored the six sophomores: Ohl, Phelan, Marins, Logato, Mara Huck and Laura Schmidt.

OTHER QUOTES

Head Coach Ronda Shirley

On HCC's blocking turning the match around ...

"Blocking is always the tale for us. We can be a strong blocking team and when it's not there, they over-analyze and over-think. I saw that happen, especially with the freshmen. We had some freshmen play out of character tonight. But the sophomores stepped it up and got it turned around for us."

On Butler ...

"That's the best Butler team I've seen since I've been here. I knew they would be ready to play, but they had a strong block all the way across. Our hitters really had to work to put the ball away and get the kills. Our setters had to work harder about splitting the blocks and giving our hitters an advantage. Butler showed up ready to play."

On getting a tough match ...

"Butler was good for us. We needed that to get re-focused on that we have a big match at Barton on Monday and we have to continue to play our game and not back-track and we did that a little tonight."

Sophomore Bailea Phelan

On HCC's slow start ...

"Coach said before the game that Butler has nothing to lose. They are going to come out ready to play us because they are coming into our court and our final game. They had nothing to lose. They came out really strong against us. For a Division II team, they were one of the stronger teams we've seen."

Sophomore Debbie Ohl

On HCC's slow start ...

"It was one of those nights where we thought we had it in the bag. We weren't as mentally prepared, but we changed it around."

On HCC's blocking turning the match around ...

"For me it did. That's what got me fired up. That's when we started having more fun with the game."

On winning the final home match on Sophomore Night ...

"It felt good. I hope it did for all of us. I'm going to miss that gym. Two years of work, sweat, everything poured into that gym."