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TOURNAMENT BRACKET
AND INFORMATION
REAL TIME TOURNAMENT
SCOREBOARD
Blinn Sweeps San Jacinto for Fifth Place at NJCAA Tournament
Council Bluffs, IA (Nov. 17, 2007) - Ninth-seeded Blinn College
outlasted 10th-seeded San Jacinto College 32-30, 30-25, 30-27
to take fifth place at the National Junior College Athletic
Association Women's Volleyball Championships, being held at
the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
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| Caroline Witte |
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It was the fourth meeting of the 2007 season between the two
Texas rivals, with Blinn coming out on top all four times. With
the win today, the Buccaneers finish the season with a 35-4 record,
while San Jacinto falls to 30-13.
"
This matches the program's best finish ever, as we finished fifth
last season as well," Blinn Head Coach David Rehr said afterwards. "It
leaves you with a good taste in your mouth to win your final
match of the season. When you go to the national tournament and
finish 3-1, then you're happy."
All of Blinn's players contributed to the win, a point noted
by Rehr about his team's entire season. "It was a good team
effort," he said. "I think that's what made us successful
all year long, we played well as a team." Leading the way for the Buccaneers was sophomore middle blocker
Lina Vanegas, who had 16 kills and two total blocks. Sophomore
outside hitters Sabrina Daniel and Hayley Ball contributed nine
and eight kills, respectively, while sophomore middle blocker
Stefanie Robbins added seven more. Sophomore setter Caroline
Witte scored a double double in the match, leading her team's
offense with 36 assists, while also nabbing 13 digs. Sophomore
libero Sydney Milburn led the defensive effort with 19 digs.
On the other side of the net, the Ravens were led by freshman
outside hitter Bruna Rocha's 17 kills and 14 digs, with sophomore
outside hitter Lauren Priestly contributing 13 more. Two San
Jacinto setters led the offense, with freshman Amanda Christoffersen
getting 27 assists and sophomore Jackie Melinder dishing out
19 assists. Sophomore libero Amber Murphy led on defense with
13 digs.
The NJCAA Tournament ends Saturday, Nov. 17, with a number of
consolation matches being played all day. The championship match
is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will have No. 2-seed Miami Dade College
facing off against No. 5-seed Western Nebraska. Nov. 19,
2007
Blinn's Vanegas earns top blocker, all-tournament awards
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| Brian Froebel, Lina Vanegas, David
Rehr |
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Blinn College middle blocker Lina Vanegas received the top
blocker award at the National Junior College Athletic Association
national volleyball tournament in Council Bluff, Iowa, last
week.
Vanegas, the 6-2 sophomore from Medellin, Colombia, was also named to the all-tournament
team.
The Buccaneers finished fifth at the tournament, opening with a win over College
of Southern Idaho before dropping the next match to No. 1 seed Salt Lake Community
College. The Bucs rebounded to defeat University of Arkansas - Fort Smith
and San Jacinto College for the fifth-place spot.
This was the fifth straight appearance at the national tournament for Blinn
under head coach David Rehr. The Bucs finished the season 35-4.
Day 2 - Game 3
Blinn Hangs On to Defeat Arkansas-Fort Smith in Five Games
Council Bluffs, IA (Nov. 16, 2007) - Ninth-seeded Blinn College
held off a strong rally by fourth-seeded University of Arkansas
Fort Smith to win a thrilling five-game match 26-30, 30-25,
30-21, 17-30, 15-9 to advance to the fifth-place match at
the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association Women's
Volleyball
Championships. The match will take place on Saturday, Nov.
17 at 3 p.m. at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs,
Iowa.
Blinn (34-4) will face a familiar foe in 10th-seeded San
Jacinto College (30-12) in that fifth place match. Arkansas
Fort Smith
(39-6) will face off against host Iowa Western Community College
(57-5), who lost earlier in the day to San Jacinto, in the
seventh place match at noon.
"In that fourth game, they did not come through at all," said
Blinn Head Coach David Rehr about the way his team played in
the fourth game. "But, that's what it's like coaching
young women. (In the end), it was heart that helped us come
back in
the fifth game. It was all a team effort."
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| Sydney Milburn |
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Two players had double-doubles for the Buccaneers in the match.
Sophomore outside hitters Hayley Ball had 19 kills and 15 digs,
while Sabrina Daniel recorded 17 kills and 25 digs. Two other
Blinn players also helped out on offense, as sophomore middle
blockers Lina Vanegas had 17 kills and Stefanie Robbins added
11. Sophomore setter Caroline Witte also scored a double double,
as she distributed 53 assists to her hitters, while also picking
up 14 digs. Sophomore libero Sydney Milburn led all players
with 35 digs.
Sophomore right side hitter Hanna Valli was the story for Arkansas
Fort Smith, as she led all players with 29 kills. Sophomore
outside hitters Leslie Riepl and Brittany Hunt each added nine
kills,
and freshman setter Lucia Najselova dished out 43 assists.
On defense, sophomore libero Heather Bowman came up strong,
getting
26 assists.
The NJCAA Division I Tournament Championships continue on Friday,
November 16 and end on Saturday, November 17 with the championship
match scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Matches begin on Saturday
at 10 a.m.
Day 1 - Game 2
-Bucs to play at 3 p.m. Friday
Salt Lake Defeats Blinn to Advance to NJCAA Tournament
Semifinals
Council Bluffs, IA (Nov. 15, 2007) - Behind the 27 kills of sophomore
outside hitter Cinthia Silva, top-seeded Salt Lake Community
College defeated ninth-seeded Blinn College 30-20, 30-22, 29-31,
30-21 to advance to the semifinals of the 2007 National Junior
College Athletic Association Championships, which are being
held at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
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| Hayley Ball |
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The Bruins (43-1) will face fifth-seeded Western Nebraska (50-2)
at 7 p.m. on Friday. Western Nebraska defeated fourth-seeded
University of Arkansas Fort Smith (39-5) in an earlier match.
Arkansas-Fort Smith will now face Blinn College (33-4) in a 3
p.m. showdown on Friday.
Even though Salt Late lost game three, Head Coach Shay Goulding
was pleased with how her team came through to win.
"
I was thrilled with how we played," she said after the match. "Blinn
was fantastic. But, we showed maturity. There were times when
we fell behind, but maturity played a part in it for us."
Along with Silva's top play, Salt Lake's sophomore middle blocker
Talita Santos added 15 kills, while sophomore outside hitter
Samantha Richard scored a double-double, putting away 11 kills
and also getting 15 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Tela Burnett
also chipped in 11 kills as well. Sophomore setter Michaela Hanakova
paced the Salt Lake offense, dishing out 61 assists, and added
11 digs to complete her own double-double.
Sophomore middle blockers Lina Vanegas and Stefanie Robbins led
the charge for Blinn, as both players scored 17 kills each. Sophomore
outside hitter Sabrina Daniel had a double-double, getting 10
kills and digs, while sophomore libero Sydney Milburn added 13
digs as well. Sophomore setter Caroline Witte led the offense
for the Buccaneers, handing out 46 assists.
The NJCAA Division I Tournament Championships continue on Friday,
November 16 and end on Saturday, November 17 with the championship
match scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The matches begin both days
at 10 a.m.
Day 1 - Game 1
Ball, Daniel Lead Blinn Over Southern Idaho at NJCAA
Championships
Council Bluffs, IA (Nov. 15, 2007) - Led by double-doubles by
sophomore outside hitters Hayley Ball and Sabrina Daniel, ninth-seeded
Blinn College defeated eighth-seeded College of Southern Idaho
30-20, 30-28, 23-30, 30-27 in first round action at the 2007
National Junior College Athletic Association volleyball championships,
which is being played at the Mid-America Center in Council
Bluffs, Iowa.
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| Stephanie Robbins |
"
Our outside hitters led the way for us," said Blinn Head
Coach David Rehr afterwards. "We also have to give credit
to our setter, Caroline Witte. She did an incredible job. She
set the tone for our match and that's why we're here right
now."
With the win, Blinn (33-3) now advances to face Salt Lake Community
College (42-1) on Thursday night in an 8:30 p.m. match-up. Salt
Lake advanced to that match with a 3-0 sweep of 15th-seeded Northwest
Shoals (39-6) in an earlier match. Meanwhile, Southern Idaho
(37-12) will face off against Northwest Shoals at noon on Friday.
Ball led the way for the Buccaneers with 18 kills, 12 digs and
six aces, while Daniel was equally impressive with 15 kills,
11 digs and five aces. Sophomore middle blocker Stefanie Robbins
also added 10 kills and two aces. Witte led the offense for Blinn
with a double-double of her own, dishing out 48 assists and picking
up 12 digs, while sophomore libero Sydney Milburn shored up the
defense with 23 digs.
Southern Idaho was led by sophomore outside hitter Gabriela Bulawczyk,
who led all players with 25 kills and nine digs. Adding to the
Golden Eagles attack was freshman middle blocker Alyssa Wistrick,
who had 13 kills, while setters, sophomore Kaylene Finau and
freshman Jelena Savic had 20 and 28 assists, respectively.
The NJCAA Division I Tournament Championships run this week from
Thursday, November 15 through Saturday, November 17. Matches
begin every day at 10 a.m.
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