BAYTOWN, Texas – The 12th-ranked Blinn College volleyball team knew its own errors were costly in the first set. They sure got things fixed in a hurry.
Blinn defeated Lee College 20-25, 25-9, 25-19, 25-14 here Tuesday night as five different players tallied at least seven kills.
The Buccaneers (17-5, 6-2) struggled in the early-going, committing seven errors and hitting just .054 in the opening set. But Blinn wasted no time in righting the ship, taking the second set 25-9 on their way to the victory.
“We just turned it around,” coach Erin Mellinger said. “I don’t think it was anything anybody said, it was just everybody seeing that we made too many errors. They already knew what the problem was and they took care of it.”
Freshman middle blocker Emily Salter was outstanding, posting a match-high 15 kills while committing just one error. She finished the night with a .700 hitting percentage.
Sophomore outside hitter Dani Schultz posted nine kills while sophomore middle blocker Cassidy Melcher and freshman outside hitter Tyanna Roy each added eight. Freshman Evely Macedo added seven.
Freshman setter Crystal Young dished out 40 assists while totaling five kills of her own.
“It’s really, really hard to defend when you’ve got people contributing all over the court,” Mellinger said. “Our middles and our outside hitters were in a lot of one-on-one situations and they took advantage.”
Sophomore libero Cara Fisher led the defense with 20 digs, Macedo posted nine digs and freshman outside hitter Dylan Dean added eight.
After more than a month of road matches, the Buccaneers return to the P.E. Building Friday when they host Coastal Bend at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the Bucs will host Laredo College at 1 p.m.
For more information on Blinn volleyball, visit www.buccaneersports.com.