Dodge City volleyball hit the road again early in the 2023 season and put together a strong showing at the Otero Invitational to come home riding a four-match win streak after going 3-0 in action in Colorado.
The Conquistadors would go four sets in all three matches played claiming victory in each. The tournament opened for the Conqs on Friday night against the host Otero and the Conqs after dropping the first earned the 3-1 win (19-25, 26-24, 25-16, 25-12). On Saturday the Conqs took down North Platte to open the day 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 21-25, 25-12) and capped the tournament with a 3-1 win over Eastern Wyoming (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22).
Opening the tournament with the four-set win over Otero the Conqs fell behind early dropping the first set but responded by taking the second set in what was a tight battle and then controlled the match with the third and fourth sets to claim the win. Tess De Zanet tallied 13 kills along with seven digs, while Beatrix Lampugnani Cornachini added 13 kills and 14 digs for a double-double. Sierra Scanlan anchored the offense at setter recording 41 assists, while adding six kills and five digs. Leisey Keli'i posted 13 digs and was on point with her serve with five aces.
Conqs opened Saturday strong snagging the first two sets over North Platte going on to take the match in four sets and dominating the fourth set. It was another stellar showing from Scanlan who was the maestro of the offense for the Conqs with 40 assists and had a double-double with 11 digs while adding four aces and three kills. De Zanet posted 14 kills along with eight digs, while Cornachini had another double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Keli'i chipped in 13 digs.
To wrap up the tournament the Conqs took down Eastern Wyoming in four sets which were all tight battles down to the final points of each set. It was a monster double-double by De Zanet who tallied 21 kills and 15 digs, adding three aces. Scanlan also had another spectacular showing with 54 assists, 10 digs, eight kills on a 72.7% hitting percentage, four aces, and three block assists. Keil'i had a strong defensive showing with 21 digs, while Cornachini added 17 kills and nine digs. Agnes Hegardt chipped in nine kills and Jatnna Pena finished with eight digs.
The Conqs now turn their attention to KJCCC action as they will open conference play on Wednesday, August 30th at 6:00 pm against Hutchinson on the road.
