by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s young volleyball team finally gets to play a home game Wednesday. But that doesn’t make things any easier.
After giving No. 1 ranked Coffeyville a couple of early scares in a 3-0 loss at Coffeyville Monday night, the Blue Devils open their home season against No. 3 ranked Johnson County (8-2) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
The Blue Devils pushed Coffeyville’s defending national champions to the wire in the first two sets, losing 25-23, 25-23 before the Red Ravens pulled away in the third match with a 25-15 win. It was the 11th straight for the unbeaten Red Ravens
Meanwhile, KCKCC fell to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in Jayhawk Conference play with all 11 contests played on the road or at neutral sites. One of seven Jayhawk teams ranked in the Top 20 nationally, KCKCC entered play this week ranked No. 20.
“I was very pleased with our performances in the first two sets,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno-Ballou said. “Both came down to a couple of points and a point or two difference in each and we walk away with wins. Our service pressure put us in great situations to be successful and as a group, we have flashes of blocking brilliance.
“Four of our five losses have been at the hands of Top 20 nationally ranked teams so we’re competing with the best teams in the country. We just need to be better disciplined and find ways to win.”