Women's Volleyball 8/29/2026 12:31:00 AM

No. 12 Blinn makes statement with upset of No. 2 Florida SouthWestern

The Buccaneers also defeated No. 15 Indian Hills during day two of Kruse Kickoff Classic

Women's Volleyball 8/29/2026 12:31:00 AM

No. 12 Blinn makes statement with upset of No. 2 Florida SouthWestern

The Buccaneers also defeated No. 15 Indian Hills during day two of Kruse Kickoff Classic

Blinn College volleyball took Florida SouthWestern State College's best shot.

Then, Blinn landed three of its own.

In one of the more notable victories in recent program history, 12th-ranked Blinn rallied to win three consecutive sets to earn a 23-25, 25-10, 25-22, 25-16 victory over No. 2 Florida SouthWestern State on day two of the Kruse Kickoff Classic at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

The victory bookended a momentous day for Blinn, which also defeated No. 15 Indian Hills Community College 25-15, 14-25, 25-22, 30-28 earlier Friday.

Blinn improved to 8-0 overall and 3-0 at the Classic.

As good as the day started for Blinn, it ended even better.

The win over Florida SouthWestern – who are also nicknamed the Buccaneers – marked the highest-ranked opponent Blinn has defeated since topping No. 2 Odessa College at the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championship on April 17, 2021.

The result was additionally significant considering Florida SouthWestern has established itself as one of the premier programs in NJCAA volleyball. The program won three consecutive national championships from 2022 through 2024 and reached the national title match again in 2025, finishing as the national runner-up.

"It's a great win for us; our players were excited," Blinn head coach Gregg Whitis said of the victory over Florida SouthWestern. "We attacked at low error today. The best players play their best when their best is required, and that's what we did today from an offensive standpoint."

The teams went back and forth throughout the opening set, with neither squad able to create much separation. Blinn trailed 23-20 late before a Florida SouthWestern violation and consecutive kills pulled the hosts even at 23-all.

Florida SouthWestern, however, earned the opening-set victory following a Blinn service error and hitting error.

The response from Blinn in set two was emphatic.

After Florida SouthWestern scored the opening point, Blinn raced out to a 4-1 lead and never looked back. Florida SouthWestern pulled within 7-5 early, but sophomore hitter/setter Kassandra De La Garza answered with a kill to spark a 13-4 run that virtually put the set away.

Freshman hitter Nevaeh English punctuated the set with a wild tip kill on a broken play to even the match at one set apiece.

"It was a long day today, so the key for us was keeping the energy up, especially during the break between the two matches," English said. "We had a slow start to the first match and finished strong, and then went right into the break and started talking about the things we needed to work on and fix before we played Florida SouthWestern. We took those adjustments right into the next match.

"You can't get caught up in hype or what people say about a team," English added. "You have to be able to just go out and play and push back a little bit."

The teams again traded blows early in the third set before Blinn began inching ahead. Facing a 7-6 deficit, Blinn scored six of the next eight points to build a 12-8 advantage and led the rest of the way.

Blinn held a 23-18 lead late before Florida SouthWestern clawed back within 23-21. English and sophomore hitter McKynzee Beddes then sandwiched kills around a Florida SouthWestern point to close out the set and give Blinn a 2-1 lead in the match.

Blinn grabbed a 3-0 lead to begin the fourth set, but Florida SouthWestern stormed back to take a 5-3 advantage. Beddes answered with a kill before a Florida SouthWestern violation tied the set.

The teams were deadlocked again at 6-6 and 8-8 before De La Garza knocked down a kill from the middle of the net to put Blinn ahead for good.

Florida SouthWestern made it a one-point set at 15-14, but Blinn answered swiftly with kills from sophomore hitters Alana Asante and Harris. Blinn led 19-15 when a 5-0 spurt put the hosts on the brink of victory.

English started the run with a kill before a Florida SouthWestern hitting error. Freshman libero/defensive specialist Sophia Green followed with a service ace, freshman middle blocker London King added a kill, and Florida SouthWestern sent a spike into the net to make it 24-15.

After Florida SouthWestern tallied its final point, Harris turned a set from freshman setter Kayla Aranda into the match-winning kill.

"We controlled the entire match, even the first set," Whitis added. "We controlled the rhythm of the match and forced Florida SouthWestern to do some things offensively that maybe they weren't comfortable with. We just played in front consistently and kept pressuring them."

English led Blinn with 13 kills, followed by 12 from Beddes. Harris and De La Garza added seven kills apiece.

Blinn's balanced attack finished with 49 kills against just 10 errors for a .320 hitting percentage. The team was especially efficient in the fourth set, hitting .524 with 13 kills and only two errors.

"We didn't give them a lot of easy points," Whitis said. "We didn't miss serves, we didn't hit balls out of bounds, we didn't get blocked a bunch. We had 49 kills across four sets and we just blocked the doors off of them. When you block a team four times a set and you're not giving points away, you're keeping the pressure on the other team and that's the way we want to play."

Freshman setter Herring led Blinn with 21 set assists, while freshman setter Valerie Yambao had 18. Freshman libero/defensive specialist Karolynn Youngblood served two aces.

At the net, Blinn finished with 16 total blocks, including eight solo blocks. Asante had three solo blocks and three block assists, while King finished with two solos and five assists. Beddes added two solo blocks and two assists, English had three block assists, and Harris had one solo block.

"We take a lot of pride in our block because of the work we're putting in during practice," King said. "We work hard so that we can go into matches and execute and try to shut down every hitter we face."

Defensively, Herring added 11 digs, sophomore libero/defensive specialist Natalia Silva had eight, and Beddes contributed seven.

Earlier in the day, Blinn got going with a hard-fought four-set victory over No. 15 Indian Hills.

The Bucs raced out to a 10-4 lead in the opening set and fended off the Warriors late to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Harris finished the set with a kill.

Indian Hills responded in the second set, however, building a 5-1 advantage early and keeping its distance throughout to even the match.

The third set was tightly contested until the Buccaneers seized control late.

Indian Hills held a 15-14 lead before Beddes tied the score with a kill and Asante followed with a service ace to put Blinn ahead for good. The Warriors pulled within 24-22 late, but Herring found Asante for the set-winning kill.
The fourth set produced one of the more dramatic comebacks of the day.

A rough start saw Blinn fall into a 12-3 hole before the Bucs began chipping away. Blinn outscored Indian Hills 18-9 to tie the set at 21-all, setting up a back-and-forth battle into extra points.

Indian Hills was in position to earn set point before English tipped a kill into the center of the Warriors' court to make it 24-all.

Blinn found itself on the ropes three more times but answered each challenge to keep the set alive. After the Bucs took a 28-27 lead, Indian Hills answered to tie the score for a final time.

From there, Blinn secured the victory with consecutive kills from Asante and Harris to win 30-28.

Beddes led the Bucs with a season-high 15 kills, while Asante and English added 10 apiece. Harris finished with eight kills.

Blinn hit .254 as a team with 51 kills. Herring and Yambao finished with 25 and 21 set assists, respectively, while Asante served an impressive five aces.

Youngblood paced the Bucs with 13 digs. At the net, Blinn finished with eight blocks. King had one solo block and four assists, English had one solo and three assists, Asante recorded one solo and one assist, and De La Garza had two block assists.

Blinn wraps up the Kruse Kickoff Classic with matches against Daytona State College at 11 a.m. and McLennan Community College at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

"We still have to wake up tomorrow and be ready to compete and get ready to do it all over again," Whitis said. "Today is over, so it's on to the next."

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

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Players Mentioned

#2 Karolynn Youngblood: L/DS; 5' 3"; Freshman

#4 Kayla Aranda: S; 5' 5"; Freshman

#5 Alana Asante: MB; 6' 0"; Sophomore; Eastern Wyoming C.C.

#8 Valerie Yambao: S; 5' 8"; Freshman

#10 Nevaeh English: OPP; 5' 8"; Freshman

#20 London King: MB; 6' 1"; Freshman

#21 Sophia Green: L/DS; 5' 9"; Freshman

#22 Natalia Silva: L/DS; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#23 Kassandra De La Garza: OPP/S; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#50 McKynzee Beddes: OH; 5' 11"; Sophomore; University of California, Riverside

Players Mentioned

#2 Karolynn Youngblood
: 5' 3"; Freshman
: L/DS

#4 Kayla Aranda
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: S

#5 Alana Asante
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; Eastern Wyoming C.C.
: MB

#8 Valerie Yambao
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: S

#10 Nevaeh English
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: OPP

#20 London King
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: MB

#21 Sophia Green
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: L/DS

#22 Natalia Silva
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: L/DS

#23 Kassandra De La Garza
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: OPP/S

#50 McKynzee Beddes
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; University of California, Riverside
: OH