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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
HESSTON – Freshman Amanda Smith had 14 kills
to lead the No. 14-ranked Hutchinson Community College volleyball team to a
3-0 victory over Hesston College on Tuesday night at the Yost Center.
Coming off a strong overall performance at
the Iowa Western Tournament last weekend and facing another nationally
ranked field at the Salt Lake Tournament this weekend, the Lady Dragons
(6-2) didn’t play their best but responded to numerous Hesston challenges
throughout the match.
“This weekend our response was more of a
unified response and going out there with an agenda when we got pushed in
the corner,” HCC head coach Ronda Shirley said. “We didn’t give up tonight
and we did respond, but I don’t think we should have been in that
situation.”
The Lady Dragons trailed in the latter stages
in each game against the Larks.
In Game 1, Hutchinson trailed 17-14 and
28-27, but three straight Hesston miscues led to the Lady Dragons clinching
the opening game.
A 16-8 Hesston run erased a six-point league
in Game 2 and the Larks took a 22-21 lead, but the Lady Dragons scored
seven-straight points to take command and grab a 2-0 lead.
Hutchinson found itself down 25-23 in the
third game. A Hesston service error gave HCC a crucial sideout and the Larks
aided the Lady Dragon cause with back-to-back attack errors the lead for
good at 26-25. Smith then blasted a kill down the sideline for a two-point
lead. After a Hesston block of Smith, the Lady Dragon freshman pounded right
back with a powerful blast off the Larks’ block for a 28-26 lead and HCC was
able to close out the match.
“We were a little under-focused for this
game,” said Smith, who hit .333 in the match. “We just expected to come out
and take this game without any problem at all. When we looked up at the
scoreboard and saw that they were winning, we decided to step it up a little
bit.”
Added Shirley about Smith: “She was very
intense, focused and vocal. I like that in here. She had an off weekend, but
she played well tonight.”
The Lady Dragons hit well, swinging for a
collective .382 team hitting percentage. Hutchinson hit .444 in Game 1, .350
in Game 2 and .371 in Game 3.
Sophomore Ludmila Amaral had 10 kills, 13
digs, three blocks and hit a .461. Sophomore Sarah Unruh hit a .346 on 13
kills. Freshman LaToya Taylor had eight kills and hit a .615. Freshman
setter Melissa Gmur tallied a season-high 37 assists and had seven digs and
two aces. Sophomore libero KeAnne Langford had 12 digs.
Inconsistent blocking hindered the Lady
Dragon effort. HCC had only nine blocks against the Larks.
The Lady Dragons will travel to Salt Lake
City to play in the Salt Lake Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
<HCC-HESSTON COLLEGE PHOTO GALLERY>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach Ronda Shirley
About her team’s inconsistent blocking
…
“We aren’t stepping up our blocking game and
it’s hurting us right now. There’s not much communication out there on the
court and we weren’t very focused or intense. I’ve talked since day one
about how good teams are consistent teams. We lacked that tonight.”
About her team’s overall performance
against Hesston …
“It’s frustrating when you see how well they
played against Iowa Western and some of the best teams in the country. They
were playing right with them or better. Give Hesston a lot of credit.”
Freshman Amanda Smith
About taking on Hesston’s slower attack
…
“Coming out of Iowa, we were so used to 6-5
girls drilling the ball at us and we were used to the faster pace. Hesston
wasn’t as quick as Iowa Western and we didn’t adjust to it well. I don’t
think we played like Hutch tonight. We played a lot better this weekend. “ |
