Category: KCKCC

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Thanks to three wins in Iowa the past weekend, Kansas City Kansas Community College will take a 6-3 record into Jayhawk Conference volleyball play without playing a home contest.

The Blue Devils open conference play Wednesday at Cloud County and then go to No. 1 ranked and defending national champion Coffeyville next Monday night before finally getting back for their home opener against arch-rival Johnson County Wednesday, Sept. 11.

Competing in the Jimmie Johns Invitational on the Southeastern Community College campus in West Burlington, Iowa, the past weekend, the Blue Devils defeated North Iowa Area 3-1 in opening round play Friday only to drop a tough 3-2 thriller to Hawkeye Community College.

Bouncing back on Saturday, KCKCC cruised past St. Ambrose 3-0 and host Southeastern 3-1.

The Blue Devils were led statistically by outside hitters Tara Mattingly and Cassidy Crist, setter Gracie Golay and defensive specialist Natalia Vega Aponte.

A sophomore from Wichita Northwest, Mattingly had 56 kills and 40 digs in the four games while Crist, a freshman from DeSoto, had 55 kills and 41 digs. Golay, a sophomore from Trinity Academy in Wichita, had a whopping 158 assists and 42 digs; Puerto Rico native Aponte 97 digs.

KCKCC took a 25-16, 25-13 lead against North Iowa, dropped the third set 25-17 before closing the match with a 25-22 win.

The Blue Devils and Hawkeye exchanged leads in the second game Friday in a five-match thriller, 23-25, 25-9, 17-25, 25-18, 13-15.

Crist and Mattingly each had 17 kills and Malaysia StClair 11 in the loss to Hawkeye. Golay had 58 assists and Aponte 30 digs, both tourney highs. Mattingly also had 18 kills, Crist 12 and StClair 10 against North Iowa while Golay had 45 assists and 28 digs.

The Blue Devils made quick work of St. Ambrose 25-20, 25-9, 25-16 in Saturday’s opener before rallying past Southeastern 16-25, 25-20, 25-16 and 25-17 in the finale.

Mattingly and Crist each had 13 kills and double digit digs, Golay 25 assists and Adriana Velez 12 and Aponte 26 digs and Amilex Lopez eight against Southeastern.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

As wins go, they don’t get much better than Kansas City Kansas Community College’s extra period 2-1 win over Iowa Central Sunday.

Alejandro Maillet, a sophomore midfielder from Copenhagen, Denmark, headed home the game winner in the opening three minutes of overtime to give the Blue Devils (1-1-1) their first win of the season. The game-winner came on an assist from Cheslyn Ashby, a freshman from Johannesburg, South Africa.

The “Golden Goal” set off a long and wild celebration as the entire squad engulfed Maillet and Ashby.

“The game winner was a pin point cross from Cheslyn that Alejandro buried in the net with a powerful header,” KCKCC assistant coach Burke Slusher said. “The play was a team goal that started with the back and played through the midfield before eventually finding Ashby on the right flank. Ashby worked to beat a defender to drive the ball over another defender to find Maillet on a long run from the midfield.”

KCKCC took an early lead on a goal by sophomore Marco Cabral on an assist from freshman Elijah Bathily only to have Iowa Central tie it a few minutes later and the contest turned in to an exhausting defensive battle.

“Pretty much a standoff the second half with both teams trading possessions,” Slusher said. “It was a good win for us. Our guys are learning how to play together and trust one another. We just need to keep rolling.”

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s young women’s volleyball team got an early wakeup call against Iowa Central Sunday. The visiting Tritons jumped in front 2-0 in the first 13 minutes and the Blue Devils needed three second-half goals to rally to a 5-3 win.

The win kept KCKCC (2-0) unbeaten heading into one of the season’s biggest tests, a Wednesday night home Jayhawk Conference opener against Butler County, the No. 8 ranked team in the nation in the NJCAA preseason poll of Division I teams. The opening kick will come at 6 p.m.

“A good win. We got tested early by some adversity but were able to work our way out of it,” KCKCC coach Shawn Uhlenhake said.

Iowa Central jumped in front at the 35:26 mark on a goal form outside the box by Julia Herbst and added a second two minutes later on a shot by Bruna Bielski. However, the Blue Devils got one goal back on a shot by freshman Corrine Hughes of Grain Valley and then tied it on a goal by freshman Katrina Sargent of Shawnee Mission South at the 22:25 mark. A second goal by Herbst off a foul gave the Tritons a 3-2 halftime lead.

Karleigh Enyart, a sophomore from Olathe Northwest, got the Blue Devils back even 3-3 less than five minutes into the second half with a shot from the top of the box and then put them ahead to stay when she scored from in front of the goal on an assist from freshman Madison Broeker with 23:25 remaining.

Kayla Deaver, a lightning quick sophomore from Lee’s Summit, added a game-clinching goal with 8:46, again on an assist from Broeker, a freshman from Lincoln, Neb.

“Kayley Pederson (Shawnee Mission West freshman) did a good job in the middle and Corrine Hughes and Kayla Deaver gave us big lifts coming off the bench,” Hulenhake said. “Deaver is electric; she makes things happen.”

The Blue Devils launched 14 shots while freshman goalkeeper Jaidyn Takaishi of Olathe North had two saves on six Iowa Central shots.

KCKCC has now scored five goals in each of its first two wins.

“We can score but we can’t count on that once we get into conference play,” Uhlenhake said. “We’ll find out for sure Wednesday night.”