Category: KCKCC

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College got the 2019 volleyball season off to a spectacular start, knocking off two nationally ranked Top 20 teams including No. 4 Kirkwood in the McHenry Tournament in Sugar Grove, Illinois.

The unranked Blue Devils also defeated No. 17 Illinois Central and unranked Joliet in their best opening weekend in recent years. Their lone loss came at the hands of No. 2 Parkland, last year’s national runnerup and 2016 NJCAA Division II national champion.

“Thrilled with the performance, energy and effort over the weekend,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno-Ballou said. “Our approach and dedication was excellent. We went there to play the best and we beat some of the best.”

KCKCC opened with a 25-11, 25-16, 25-19 win over Joliet before falling to Parkland 25-17, 25-12, 25-20 on Friday. On Saturday, the Blue Devils rebounded to upset Kirkwood 25-20, 25-20, 18-25, 25-21 and Illinois Central 25-17, 13-25, 25-22, 25-17.

The Blue Devils are right back in action Monday, taking on Northeastern Oklahoma in Miami at 6 p.m. However, KCKCC’s scheduled home opener Ottawa junior varsity Wednesday has been canceled because of injuries to Ottawa players. The Blue Devils home opener will now come Sept. 11 against Johnson County.

Sophomores Tara Mattingly, Gracie Golay and Natalia Vega Aponte and freshmen Cassidy Crist and Michelle Dvorak led the way.

An outside hitter from Wichita Northwest, Mattingly had 53 kills in 119 attempts while Crist, an outside hitter from DeSoto, had 41 kills in just 87 attempts. In the 3-1 upset of No. 4 Kirkland, Mattingly had 21 kills in 45 attempts and 15 digs while Crist had 15 kills in 35 attempts. A middle blocker from Park Hill South, Dvorak’s 11 kills led against Parkland.

Golay, a setter from Wichita’s Trinity Academy, was the offensive catalyst with a whopping 130 assists in four games while Aponte led defensively with 53 digs including at least a dozen in each of the four contests.

“On Saturday, we switched to a 5-1 offense and it made all the difference,” Bruno-Ballou said. After recording 36 of KCKCC’s 61 assists on Friday, Golay had 44 of the Blue Devils’ 48 assists in the win over Kirkwood and 50 of 53 in the upset of No. 17 Illinois Central on Saturday.

The only Jayhawk Conference team to open against three nationally ranked foes, depth was a key factor as the Blue Devils used 13 players on Saturday.

“A great team effort,” Bruno-Ballou said. “We’re very well balanced at every position and it certainly paid off.”

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Even two extra periods couldn’t decide a winner Thursday as Kansas City Kansas Community College and State Fair battled to a 1-1 tie in the opening contest for both teams.

The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead 28 minutes into the game on a goal by freshman Elijah Bathily on an assist from another frosh, Vitor Lo. The Blue Devils made the lead stand up for more than 40 minutes only to have the Roadrunners tie it in the 79th minute.

“I was happy, I thought we played well for an opening game,” KCKCC head coach Ruben Rodriguez said. “We had several scoring opportunities but just could not score.”

KCKCC had 17 shots to just seven for State Fair. Defensively, Blue Devil goalkeeper Bosco Pery had three saves as opposed to five by the Roadrunners.

“A good effort,” assistant coach Burke Slusher said. “We just have to finish when we have opportunities.”

The Blue Devils are back in action Wednesday when they play host to Crowder at 7 p.m. followed by a Sunday clash with Iowa Central at 2 p.m.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women’s soccer team opened the 2019 season Thursday with a 5-0 blanking of State Fair that even impressed coach Shawn Uhlenhake.

“Pleasantly surprised,” said Uhlenhake. “For the first game, I thought we looked well organized. We came out with a lot of effort but I thought after 15 minutes we might slack off a little. Instead, we kept pressure on them the entire 90 minutes.”

Freshmen scored all five Blue Devil goals. Madison Broeker of Lincoln (Nebraska) North Star got the first and Corrine Hughes of Grand Valley and Katrina Sargent of North Star added two each as KCKCC dominated ball possession from start to finish

Meanwhile, the Blue Devil defense led by freshman goalkeeper Jaidyn Takaishi of Olathe North and team captain Sydney Guerra, a sophomore from Perry, Iowa, gave up only one shot on goal while the Blue Devils were peppering State Fair goalkeeper Samantha Curphey with 19 shots.

“As a group, I thought it was one of the best defensive efforts I’ve seen,” Uhlenhake said. “Sydney Guerra really did a good job of organizing the back line. And I was impressed by our depth. Our level of play did not drop off when we made changes in the lineup.”

KCKCC broke a scoreless deadlock 33 minutes into the first half, Broeker maneuvering a shot past Curphey on a corner kick from SM West freshman Kayley Pedersen. Hughes then scored back-to-back goals for a 3-0 halftime lead. The first came on a perfect assist from Mill Valley freshman Caroline Rutledge, whose kick hit Hughes in full stride.

“A great kick,” said Hughes, who then added her second goal on an assist from Topeka Seaman freshman Jaidyn Yingling with 13 minutes left in the half.

Sargent’s first goal 22 minutes in the second half was unassisted.

“She battled her way to the goal,” said KCKCC assistant coach Sara Matthews. Rutledge got her second assist on Sargent’s second goal.

The Blue Devils return to action Sunday, Sept. 1, when they play host to Iowa Central in a noon start. The KCKCC men also play Iowa Central at 2 p.m.