11/22/11

Story by Tyler Cundith

Volleyball – JCCC finishes 10th in National Tournament.

OVERLAND PARK, KS – The Johnson County Community College volleyball team recently came away with a 10th place finish at the 2011 NJCAA Division II Championship in Perrysburg, Ohio on the campus of Owens Community College. Johnson County finished 2-2 in the tournament, and finished the season with a 26-13 overall. This was JCCC’s sixth straight NJCAA Tournament appearance, and seventh trip in eight years. JCCC won a national title in 2005, and placed second in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Johnson County opened the tournament against Kishwaukee, a team the Cavaliers have struggled with over the years. JCCC had lost three times earlier this season to the Kougars, and stood 1-11 all-time entering the match. JCCC opened with a convincing 25-16 win the game one, but Kishwaukee evened the match with a 25-21 win in game. The Kougars closed out the match with win of 25-12 and 25-19, ending any hopes of a national title in 2011.

After seeing those hopes dashed, it would have been easy to pack it in, but JCCC fought back with two impressive wins over Hagerstown and Illinois Central, advancing to the ninth-place match. Johnson County defeated Hagerstown 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-11) and Illinois Central 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22).

In the win over Hagerstown, freshman Kim Blusher had a big match, registering 16 kills and an attack percentage of .636.  Blusher averaged 11.3 kill per match in the tournament. Freshman Shannon McCarty had an attack percentage of .529 with 10 kills, freshman Sara Slater had 17 digs and freshman Jessica Andersen was credited with 37 assists.

Sophomore Emily Hester led the attack against Illinois Central, hitting.423 with 13 kills.  Blusher added 11 kills and Slater had 20 digs.

Parkland took an early lead on JCCC in the ninth-place match, winning game one 25-17, but the Cavaliers pulled even with a 25-16 victory in second game. Parkland took back its lead in third with a 25-21 win, and closed out the match with a 25-16 victory in game four.

Several players put up some impressive numbers on the season, and etched their names in annuals at JCCC. Hester led the squad with 410 kills, placing her fifth on the season chart, and her 706 career kills rank sixth. Blusher was second with 344 kills, which ranks 20th all-time.

Slater recorded the second highest season total and set a new freshman record with 620 digs.  That total also ranks 11th on the career chart.

Freshman Emily Bragaw and sophomore Crystal Simon and Brianna Winn joined Slater on the season dig chart. Bragaw finished with 442 which ranks 10th. Simon had 420, ranking her 14th and Winn had 380, moving her into the 22nd spot.  Simon and Winn also are made the career chart. Winn ranks 16th with 579 career digs, and Simon ranks 27th with 494.

Andersen finished her freshman season at setter with 1,336 assists, third all-time, and just three shy of the freshman season record.  She is one of only seven setters to register over 1,000 assists in team history. 

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