Blue Dragon volleyball thumps Dodge City

By Bailey Pennycuff / Co-Sports Editor

The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team achieved a fast-paced victory Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons took down Dodge City in three sets, 25-5, 25-13, 25-14. 

During the first set, Dodge City started it off by scoring the first two points. After that, Blue Dragon freshman Shadee Briggs went on to serve 20 times in a row, eight of them being aces. 

The set ended shortly after.

The Blue Dragons continued to strike quickly in the second set, as the Conquistadors only managed 13 points for the entire second set.

The third set was not much different. HutchCC kept on attacking Dodge City’s defense to end the night with a 3-0 sweep.

Sophomore Jenna Thorne had a successful night, as she earned 12 kills and 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season.

“I feel pretty good about tonight. It’s always fun when the team is really connecting with a lot of really high energy. And of course it’s usually fun when you’re winning by a lot,” Thorne said.

Even with the big wins, improvements can always be made.

“Something we could have done better was finishing out the third ball, and definitely the out-of-system balls. We made an adjustment for the second set, switched (freshman Kristina Head) for (sophomore Myracle Lettries). I love what Myracle brings to the game, she is what I like to call our ‘X-Factor,’” Blue Dragons coach Delice Downing said. “She is so quick, and she fit perfectly for the matchup against their small middle.”

The win against the Conquistadors was a definite morale booster for the team, especially because of their recent games.

“We are so sick of going up and down, we needed consistency and that’s what we got tonight. We had a lot of high energy and lots of expectations going into this game,” Downing said.

Success does not happen naturally, rather, with goal-setting and focus as well.

“Looking at our next games, we all know what we need to do. We have to start strong and finish strong – that’s a huge part of it. We also need to stay relaxed; we tend to tense up then we go AWOL,” Thorne said.

The Blue Dragons are now 7-5 and will travel to Seward County on Monday.

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