Freshman libero Clara Oliveria became the 19th Hutchinson Community College volleyball player to register 30 or more digs in a match in program history on Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
But the Blue Dragons dropped a tough five-set Jayhawk Conference match to Garden City, falling to the Broncbusters 20-25, 25-23, 25-17 23-25, 10-15.
Hutchinson fell to 5-6 overall and 1-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Blue Dragons travel to Cloud County at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Concordia. Garden City improved to 5-7 (2-1 in KJCCC).
The Blue Dragon back row was busy on Saturday night, none busier than Oliveira, who posted a career-high 33 digs to lead Hutchinson. Oliveira tied Mariana Blum (2004) and Alissa Bautista (2019) for the seventh-most digs in Blue Dragon single-game history. Oliveira also had a season-high five service aces and six set assists.
Oliveira led the Blue Dragons, who tallied 116 digs which tied for the fifth-most digs in team single-match history. Sophomore Alondra Villanueva had a career-high 25 assists. Freshmen Lauren Vazquez and McKenzye Williamson had season highs with 16 digs each.
The Blue Dragons out-dug Garden City 116-105.
Sophomore Atlyn Proctor led all hitters with a season-high 18 kills on 59 swings, hitting .169 to lead Hutchinson offensively. Proctor added four block assists.
Villanueva posted her fourth double-double of the season with 14 kills on .074 hitting with 25 digs and three blocks. Sophomore Jaylynn McNeill had 12 kills on .111 hitting.
The Blue Dragons hit .137 on a season-high 60 kills and 205 attacks. The Dragons tied a season high with 11 team blocks and also had 10 service aces. The Busters hit .131 with 50 kills on 198 attacks. The Busters had 13 blocks and 11 aces.
Sophomore setter Angela Reupena had a career-high 30 assists and eight digs. Freshman setter Alexandra Garcia had 17 assists and eight digs. Sophomore Kierny Follmer posted a career-high six total blocks, including one solo block. Freshman Mattie Galliher had five total blocks.
Beatriz de la Cruz led Garden City with 14 kills, while Andrea Djordjevic had 13 kills.
Set 1: Garden City jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but the Blue Dragons answered with an 8-1 run that was capped by three kills and a block assist by Proctor on four-straight rallies. A combo block from Galliher and Proctor gave the Dragons a 13-10 lead. A McNeill tip for a kill maintained a three-point lead at 16-13. Leading 17-15, the Dragons saw Garden City go on a 10-3 run to close the set. Proctor had three kills and three blocks in the first set. The Dragons were outhit .154-.026.
Set 2: The second set featured 10 ties and three lead changes. McNeill led the Dragons with six kills on nine swings (.667 hitting percentage) to lead the Dragons in the set. Back-to-back kills from Folmer and McNeill gave the Dragons a 10-7 lead. The Busters pulled within 11-10, but a Garcia kill capped a 4-0 run for a 15-10 Hutchinson lead. Garden City scored five in a row to take a 20-17 lead. The Dragons rallied with back-to-back Proctor kills and tied the set at 23 on a McNeill kill. The Dragons scored on the final two rallies to tie the match with a 25-23 win.
Set 3: Garden City led 6-3 but the Dragons tied the set at 8 after a Villanueva kill. Trailing 10-8, the Dragons scored seven unanswered points – Proctor had four kills in the run – to lead 15-10. The Dragons extended the run to 12-1 and built a 20-12 lead on back-to-back Proctor kills. Garden City pulled within 22-17. The Dragons closed the set with a McNeill kill; a Garden ball-handling error and a Villanueva kill for a 25-17 set win and a 2-1 match lead. The Dragons hit .378 in the third set.
Set 4: That hitting percentage for the Dragons dropped to .020 in the fourth set. Three Oliveira aces during a 6-0 Dragon run gave Hutchinson a 14-10 lead. With The Dragons leading 17-14, Garden City went on a 6-1 run to take a 20-18 lead. Down 23-20, the Dragons tied the set at 23-all on a Proctor kill, but Garden scored on the final two rallies to force a fifth set with a 25-23 win.
Set 5: Garden City jumped out to leads of 3-0, 6-2 and 11-4 in the final set. The Dragons climbed back within 12-8, but Garden City finished out the match with a 15-10 win, holding the Dragons to .000 hitting.
Game Notes: The Blue Dragons are 1-1 in five-set matches this season. … This was the fourth time the Blue Dragons had 10 or more service aces in a match. … The 116 digs ties for the fifth most digs in single-match history tying a match against Garden City on March 7, 2021.
