Conquistadors Sweep Pratt to Begin Final Home Stand

The Dodge City Community College volleyball program began a two-game home stand to end their regular season with a 3-0 sweep of the Pratt Community College Beavers.

With victories of 25-19, 25-17, and 25-20, the Conquistadors take a season sweep of the Beavers, winning those two matches in six consecutive sets.

The Conquistadors game out of the gate applying the pressure, starting the game on a 7-2 run that was capped off by an Abby Francis block leading to a Beavers timeout. Pratt fought back to pull within two at 12-10 and then again at 15-13, but a 6-2 run by the Conqs to push their lead to 21-15 was all the separation the home team needed. Despite closing in and making the score 22-19, the Conquistadors rattled off three straight points, including a Hillary English kill to close out the set 25-19.

Dodge City found themselves down early in the second set, albeit not for long. After the Beavers took leads of 3-1 and 5-3, the Conquistadors took control of the match for good with an ace by Nur Yaren Turkmenoglu to make the score 6-5. They proceeded to rattle off six more points for a 9-0 run in total and a 12-5 lead. Pratt got the score within three on three separate occasions, the last being at 16-13, but each time Dodge City had an answer until they ultimately won 25-17.

With the Beavers eager to force a fourth set and the Conquistadors on cruise control a bit, Pratt jumped out to another lead in set three, this time a 4-0 mark. Head coach Jordan Bruere trusted in her squad to settle in by not taking a timeout and the Conqs responded by taking a 6-5 lead off a Turkmenoglu dump. The Beavers continued to hang around, staying in striking distance almost the whole set. After tying the match at 19-19, two straight Dodge City points forced a Pratt timeout. Out of the timeout, Pratt found themselves out of rotation, giving the Conquistadors a three-point lead at 22-19. One more point was all Pratt could muster before the Conqs finished the match with a 25-20 set three victory.

"Tonight was a good win to push us into our final game of the regular season," said head coach Jordan Bruere. "We took this match as an opportunity to challenge ourselves in uncomfortable situations. It wasn't the cleanest three-set match that we have had, but we still got better. We're excited to finish off the regular season at home on Thursday against a really good Barton team."

Hillary English paced the Conquistadors in both kills (12) and digs (8) for the match. The Conquistador serves were on point with Bruna Torres (5) and Nur Yaren Turkmenoglu (3) combining for eight service aces on the match. Turkmenoglu also added 28 assists over the three sets.

Dodge City improves to 8-14 on the season and 5-10 in KJCCC play while also solidifying their position as the 7^th seed in the upcoming KJCCC tournament. The Beavers fall to 5-17 and 2-12 on the season, locking themselves into the 8^th seed.

The Conquistadors are back in action for their final game of the regular season, a home matchup with the top-seeded Cougars of Barton Community College. The match is slated for Thursday, March 25^th at 6:30 pm in the Student Activity Center