(Pictured from left: LaNeah Lara, Kelsi Wingo, Kierslynn Wright, and Ellie Turner)

The seventh-ranked Blinn College volleyball team earned two more wins at the Region V vs. Region XIV Showdown on Friday as head coach Terry Gamble moved one step closer to a historic milestone.

The Buccaneers won both matches it played at Coastal Bend College in Beeville, Texas, sweeping Dallas College-Mountain View and Ranger College to improve to 3-0 on the season while also putting Gamble at 999 victories in his collegiate coaching career.

Blinn will have a shot at Gamble's 1,000th win Saturday when they take on Cisco College at 3 p.m. to wrap up the three-day tournament. The Buccaneers swept Dallas College-Cedar Valley to open tournament play Thursday.

On Friday, Blinn started play by defeating Mountain View 25-11, 25-21, 25-11.

Freshman hitter LaNeah Lara recorded a team-high 10 kills, followed by nine from fellow hitter Polianna Hernandez. Sophomore Kierslynn Wright and freshmen Taylor Glendening added six, and Don'Yah Cosie chipped in five.

Following a strong collegiate debut Thursday (16 set assists), freshman setter Kelsi Wingo distributed 22 assists. Wright helped out with seven.

Defensively, the Buccaneers were anchored by the stellar libero play of sophomore Ellie Turner and freshman Emily Hardee, who posted 19 and 10 digs, respectively. 

Blinn finished the day with a 25-22, 25-15, 25-19 triumph over Ranger.

Wingo again shined with 28 assists to go with eight kills, and Wright was effective on offense and defense with 11 kills and 11 digs.

Lara and Cosie each finished with six kills and Glendening had four.

"I thought our serve receive in our defense was good today," Gamble said. "We need to improve our blocking, but I thought the team played really hard today."

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.