THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The 15th-ranked Blinn College volleyball team picked up its 10th victory of the season here Saturday at the Patriot’s Day Tournament.

Blinn defeated Hillsborough 25-18, 15-25, 27-25, 20-25, 15-5 in their first game of the day before falling to eighth-ranked Salt Lake Community College 21-25, 25-21, 25-17, 27-25 to finish with a 3-1 record for the tournament. Blinn swept Gadsden (Ga.) State and Frank Phillips College on the first day of the tournament Friday.
Blinn is now 10-3 on the season, with all three defeats coming against ranked teams.

“We missed some opportunities to beat Salt Lake, but we had some bright spots and we’ve come a long way in the first three weeks of the season,” said Blinn head coach Erin Mellinger. “In pressure situations, we responded, and we weren’t doing that three weeks ago.”

Freshman middle blocker Bruna Evangelista led the Buccaneers with 15 kills and four blocks in the opening match of the day against Hillsborough. Sophomore outside hitter Ksenia Sukhareva added 12 kills and Tyanna Roy finished with 11, while libero Tori Estrada led the defense with 14 digs, while Crystal Young dished out 38 assists and Celeste Ramirez added 14.

Evangelista had another big match against Salt Lake, posting a team-high 15 kills. Freshman middle blocker Emily Salter added nine kills and four blocks, Sukhareva finished in double digits with 10 kills, and Young led the offense with 44 assists. Sophomore Cara Fisher led the defense with 27 digs.

The Bucs return to their home court Tuesday when they host San Jacinto in the P.E. Building at 6 p.m.