Late Scoring Run Thwarts Conquistador Comeback Attempt

The Dodge City Community College volleyball team fell to the Hutchinson Blue Dragons 3-1 in the Student Activity Center Monday afternoon.

Hutchinson won the opening set with a late run to close out the victory, 25-18. The Conquistadors responded with a 25-22 set two victory, capped off by a big Loren Rodriguez and Nur Yaren Turkmenoglu block.

With the score tied at one set apiece, the Conquistadors opened the third set with a 5-1 run. After a Hutchinson timeout, the Blue Dragons responded accordingly with a 7-2 run to take an 8-7 lead of their own. After the two teams traded the lead back and forth, Hutchinson found themselves up 22-16 off the strength of a 10-4 run. The Conquistadors were able to pull within four at 24-20 thanks to a monster Hillary English kill set up by an Abby Francis block, but the Blue Dragons were able to take a 2-1 set lead on the very next point off a Conquistador error.

Needing to take the set to extend the match, the Conquistadors battled in the fourth set to take a 3-1 lead. Each time the Blue Dragons would make their move, Dodge City had an answer early in the set. The Conquistadors would take a two-point lead, the Blue Dragons would battle back, and the Conquistadors would respond once again.

Up 18-15, another one of Hillary English's 18 kills ignited a 5-1 run that put the Conquistadors up 23-16 and had them poised to extend the match into a fifth set.

The Hutchinson Blue Dragons, who sit in third in the KJCCC West, had other plans for the set. An 8-0 Blue Dragon run put them up 24-23 and forced a Dodge City timeout. Out of the timeout, the visitors scored the match's final point off a Conquistador error to cap off a 9-0 run and give them a 3-1 match victory.

"This match was a tough one," said head coach Jordan Bruere. "We set ourselves up in the best position to push Hutch into a fifth set, but we struggled to finish. We were a completely different team last night compared to the first time we played them, but they did a great job challenging our serve-receive and offense late in the fourth set to make their comeback. We are moving in the right direction, though, and we have a few games left in conference to really show how far we have come this season. I am excited to see how this team responds."

The Conquistadors were led by Hillary English's double-double of 18 kills and 17 digs. Bruna Torres paced the Conquistadors with an impressive 35 digs. Loren Rodriguez also recorded a double-double with her 13 kills and 15 digs. Nur Yaren Turkmenoglu led the Conqs with 42 assists.

Dodge City falls to 7-13 on the season and 4-9 in conference play while the Blue Dragons move to 17-7 on the year and 10-4 in conference play.

The Conquistadors are back in action on Thursday, March 18^th when they travel to Garden City, Kansas to take on local rival, the Garden City Broncbusters. The match is scheduled for 6:30 pm on Garden City's campus at Conestoga Arena.