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Blinn College

Scoreboard

Kassandra De La Garza and Alana Asante 2026
0
Wharton County Junior College WHARTON
3
Winner Blinn College BLINN CO
Wharton County Junior College WHARTON
0
Final
3
Blinn College BLINN CO
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Wharton County Junior College WHARTON 18 22 20 (0)
Blinn College BLINN CO 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

No. 18 Blinn sweeps Wharton County in regular-season finale

The Buccaneers improved to 25-7 overall and now turn their sights to the Region 14 Tournament

The No. 18 Blinn College volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 3-0 Region 14 victory over Wharton County Junior College on Tuesday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

The Buccaneers swept the Pioneers 25-18, 25-22, 25-20 to earn their 18th sweep of the season and improve to 25-7 overall. Blinn finished third in the Region 14 standings with a 6-6 conference record.

"It's good to get 25 wins. It's good to be the three seed in the region," Blinn head coach Gregg Whitis said. "It's been a tough region. Everybody's beaten up on everybody except for Tyler (Junior College), but everybody else is kind of bunched together."

The Bucs will now turn their attention to the Region 14 Tournament, hosted by Lee College in Baytown, Texas. Matchups and match times have yet to be announced.

Tuesday's match also marked Sophomore Day, as the Bucs honored five sophomores in a pre-match ceremony: libero/defensive specialist Natalia Silva, hitters Kassandra De La Garza, Aliyah Harris, and McKynzee Beddes, and middle blocker Alana Asante.

Harris led Blinn with 22 kills and added three block assists. Freshman hitter Akira Smallwood contributed nine kills without an attack error, hitting .563, and recorded 10 digs. De La Garza added eight kills on 15 attempts, while freshman setter Skylar Herring distributed 27 assists and finished with three digs. Silva led the Bucs with 13 digs. Blinn totaled 12 blocks, including two solo blocks and 20 block assists.

The Bucs opened the first set with a 5-1 lead and maintained control throughout. Freshman libero/defensive specialist Karolynn Youngblood served an ace to help set up set point before Smallwood delivered the closing kill for a 25-18 victory.

Wharton County kept the second set close, holding a 21-19 advantage before Blinn closed with a 6-1 run. Harris sparked the rally with a kill, and a Pioneers error tied the set. After Wharton County briefly regained the lead, Harris answered with another kill before freshman hitter Neveah English served an ace. Harris then delivered back-to-back kills to secure the 25-22 win.

Blinn seized early control of the third set, jumping ahead 5-0. The Pioneers fought back to tie the set at 12, but consecutive kills by Harris and De La Garza put the Bucs ahead for good. After a Wharton County service error made it 24-20, Asante finished the match with a solo block to complete the sweep.

"We controlled that whole third set," Whitis said. "We had a big run early and had a mismatch in the front row for them. Aliyah scored."

Whitis praised Harris' offensive production while emphasizing the need for greater consistency heading into postseason play.

"With Aliyah Harris, we were just able to get her some really advantageous rotations and matchups. That's the reason why her kill numbers were elevated," he said. "She had clean looks as long as we could get the ball near where it should have been. She needs to work a lot harder in transition and not make so many careless mistakes, but she scored at 50 percent. That's good on the left."

The Blinn coach also pointed to areas the Bucs must improve before the Region 14 Tournament, particularly serving pressure and limiting unforced errors.

"There were way too many careless mistakes, way too many going into postseason play," Whitis said. "That's got to get cleaned up. We still aren't applying any real service pressure."

Harris said the Bucs are focused on carrying their momentum into the postseason while keeping their attention on the next match.

"We're excited to get this win and have some momentum for the region tournament, but coach Whitis always talks about having a next match mentality, and I think that's where our focus is as a team right now," Harris said.

Silva said the Bucs found their rhythm after a loose start and relied on steady play to build momentum.

"We stacked some small plays together to build some momentum and that led to some big runs and big moments," Silva said. "During that middle set, we weren't trying to force anything, we weren't trying to win the entire set on one play. We were just trying to keep things steady and stay the course until we got back in the set."

Despite the areas for improvement, Whitis said he was proud of how the Bucs navigated a season marked by adversity and injuries.

"I'm proud of our team to overcome the adversity we've overcome this year," he said. "I'm proud of the kids who've had to step into roles that, for the first half of the season, they weren't having to fill. That's a hard thing for a team to figure out, and we've had some bumps along the road."

Sophomore Day provided an opportunity to recognize the contributions of the departing players, including Beddes, whose injury was a significant blow to the Bucs.

"McKynzee Beddes was a big, significant loss — the biggest loss we could have had to endure," Whitis said. "I just hurt for her because she was having an All-American-type season for us."

Whitis added that the sophomores' resilience and commitment have helped keep the program moving forward through a challenging season.

"Those kids have helped us and have kept the program on track," he said. "I'm grateful for what they've done, their work and their resiliency, which I talk about all the time."

With 25 victories and the regular season complete, the Bucs now enter the Region 14 Tournament focused on advancing and reaching the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship for a seventh consecutive season.

"When you make it to the semifinal of the region, it's all about who's going to handle that match, that moment better and see if you can advance," Whitis said. "We're in survive-and-advance mode now. There's no more excuses."

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 53 national championships since 1987.
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