ODESSA, Texas - The Buccaneers dished a 3-1 loss to Odessa College to close out the Odessa Tournament on Saturday afternoon in Odessa. The Buccaneers bounced back after falling to Midland College, 3-2, earlier in the day.
Blinn College finished the Odessa Tournament with a 3-1 record and holds a 9-3 record overall heading into the first game of Region XIV play.
Midland 3 - Blinn 2
The Buccaneers dropped their only match in the Odessa Tournament to Midland. Blinn lost by the scores of 25-22, 10-25, 25-21, 17-25, and 8-15.
"This was a tough tournament with good competition," said Kalie Mader, Blinn head coach. "We certainly had no choice but to get better."
Blinn opened the day strong after taking the first set from Midland, but suffered a 15 point deficit in the second set for Midland to even the match, 1-1. The Buccaneers pulled back ahead in the match with a 25-21 win in the third set, but Midland fought hard to even the match and force a fifth set in which the Buccaneers lost 15-8.
Blinn 3 - Odessa 1
The Buccaneers bounced back to finish the Odessa Tournament strong as they beat the tournament host, 3-1, by the scores of 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, and 25-22.
After finding themselves down in the first set, the Buccaneers went on to narrowly win the next three sets. After pulling ahead 2-1 in the match, Blinn was down 21-15 in the fourth set and rallied to pull off a 25-22 victory to win the match.
"I am most proud of our last match" Mader said. "We were down in the fourth set and came back to win, and that speaks dividends to the type of the team we are capable of becoming."
The Buccaneers will return home to host Wharton County Junior College on Monday, Sept, 11, at 6 p.m. in the P.E. Building to open the Region XIV Conference season.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 36 NJCAA national championships since 1987.