TYLER, Texas – Make it 15 straight wins for the Blinn College volleyball team.
Playing in its final tournament of the season, Blinn defeated 13th-ranked College of Central Florida and Cowley College in four sets here Saturday to close out the Tyler Invitational. The Bucs swept all four games at the tournament.
"We got better," head coach Erin Mellinger said. "We were put in pressure situations that we haven't been in in awhile –– three of the four teams put us in pressure situations and we responded really well."
Blinn defeated Central Florida 25-21, 25-14, 23-25, 25-14 behind four different hitters reaching double-digit kills.
Bruna Evangelista had 18 kills, and Kariana Castanon-Hill and Rachel Sharp each had 11. Rebecca Reeve added another 10.
Trinity Alualu paced the defense with 16 digs, and Crystal Young dished out 51 assists.
Against Cowley College, the top-ranked team in the NJCAA Division II rankings, the Bucs won 15-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22.
Blinn struggled offensively in the first set as the team posted a .80 hitting percentage, but vastly improved in the second set and upped that percentage to .400 as they went on to sweep the final three sets.
Evangelista had 25 kills and Castanon-Hill had 10. Evely Macedo led the defense with 16 digs while Young contributed 47 assists.
The Bucs swept Redlands Community College and beat second-ranked Western Nebraska Community College in five sets Friday night.
"It was a really tough three days, but I felt we responded well," Mellinger said.
