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.