BRENHAM, Texas – Blinn College volleyball closed out the Premier Tournament in fashion by beating No. 7 Tyler Junior College and Hill College Saturday to cap the weekend with a 4-1 record at Brenham High School.
The Buccneers started off by sweeping Tyler 3-0 by the score 25-23, 25-22 and 25-21 and then capped the day with a 3-2 victory over Hill by the score 20-25, 25-27, 25-14, 25-14 and 15-11. With the victories, Blinn improves to 9-6 overall and remains at 1-0 in Region XIV play.
Blinn 3 – Tyler 0
Blinn was able to turn in a consistent effort against Tyler and turned that into an efficient 3-0 victory to open the day.
Alexis Kingston led Blinn with 14 kills while Paola Marie Salas Adorno chipped in 13 kills and nine digs. Danusia Sipa Borgeaud earned 14 digs and Kylee Kaaihue dished out 36 assists.
"I thought we played very well together as a team," said Kalie Mader, Blinn head coach.
Every set was close between Blinn and Tyler but the Buccaneers were able to come out with enough in the tank down the stretch to win three very closely contested sets.
Blinn 3 – Hill 2
Blinn was able to make changes after falling behind 2-0 in sets and come from behind and grab a 3-2 victory over Hill, avenging an earlier loss to Hill in the tournament at San Jacinto College.
"I felt like we made adaptations late in the match and were able to use our depth to finish out our sixth match of the week," Mader said.
Adorno led with 19 kills for Blinn and added 20 digs. Ashleigh Traylor added 16 kills and 14 digs. Borgeaud led the way with 28 digs and Kaaihue led with 51 assists.
After dropping the first two sets 20-25 and 25-27, Blinn was able to adapt to the match and come out ready to battle in the third set. The third set was won 25-14 by Blinn and that effort was matched by a 25-14 win in the fourth to force a fifth set.
The Buccaneers were able to maintain their momentum and claim the fifth set 15-11 to clinch the five-set victory.
Blinn will get back into conference play with a road trip to face Laredo Community College on Friday, Sept. 16 at 6 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 34 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
About Blinn College
With an enrollment of 19,422 students, Blinn ranks among the nation's leaders in transferring students to leading four-year universities and has received national recognition for affordable educational excellence. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu.
