LIBERAL – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team won its KJCCC season opener for the first time since 2023, coming from a set down on Monday night to defeat Seward County.
The Blue Dragons got off to a slow start offensively in dropping the first set to the Saints, but with 22 kills from freshman Giovanna Monteiro, Hutchinson rallied for an 18-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23 conference win at the Greenhouse.
The Blue Dragons are 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the KJCCC with the Blue Dragon Classic beginning Thursday at the Sports Arena against Indian Hills.
Held to just two kills in the first set, Monteiro had 20 kills over the final three sets to lead the Blue Dragons. For the match, Monteiro hit .262 on 42 total attacks. She added three block assists, five digs and one service ace.
Freshman Julia Macedo had eight kills on 23 attacks, hitting .130 with three block assists.
Freshman Kelsi Maier had seven kills, hitting .111 hitting on 27 attacks.
Sophomore Mattie Galliher had five kills, hitting .250 on 16 attacks with four blocks and one ace.
The Blue Dragons hit .202 as a team with 47 kills on 124 attacks. The Dragons added 6.5 team blocks and four aces.
Freshman libero Arianna Delgado had a team-high 12 digs and Ashley Scott had eight digs and sophomore Clara Oliveira had seven digs. Freshman setter Luisa Richa had 31 assists.
Set 1: The Blue Dragons had a tough first set with only five total kills and one ace against six attack errors, four service errors and four reception errors. The Dragons led 7-6 after a Monteiro ace, but from that point, Seward County went on a 19-11 run to win the set.
Set 2: Trailing 5-4, the Dragons went on an 11-3 run to take a 15-8 lead. The Saints pulled within 15-12, but a Saint service error and Monteiro kill pushed the cushion to 18-12. The Dragons finished off the set and tied the match with three-straight kills to win 25-17.
Set 3: The Dragons trailed 14-13. Hutchinson took advantage of several Saint errors, taking an 18-16 lead after a double-contact violation on Seward County. The Saints pulled within 22-18, but Macedo started a 3-0 run to close out the set at 25-18 to take a 2-1 match lead.
Set 4: The start of the fourth set was rough for the Blue Dragons, who trailed 7-4, 9-5 and 12-6. The Dragons trailed by as many as six points three times in the set. But the comeback was led by Monteiro and Macedo, who combined for 15 kills (Monteiro 10, Macedo 5) in the fourth set alone. The Dragons still trailed 20-18, but back-to-back Monteiro kills were part of a 4-0 run to lead 22-10. Leading 23-21, the Saints tied the set at 23-all on a pair of Hutchinson miscues, but the Dragons closed out the match with two kills to win the match 3-1.
