Trojans win two, rally before falling in five-set thriller

The Colby Community College volleyball team continued its strong September run with consecutive home sweeps before nearly completing a dramatic comeback at Dodge City.

Colby went 2-1 during the three-match stretch, winning eight of 11 sets. The Trojans swept Seward County and Cloud County before their rally from a two-set deficit at Dodge City ended in the deciding set.

The stretch opened Sept. 16 with a 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 victory over Seward County at the Colby Event Center. The win improved the Trojans to 14-3 overall and 5-0 in conference play.

Colby produced 48 kills and hit .290 as a team, including percentages of .367 and .323 in the final two sets. The Trojans also served eight aces and limited Seward County to a .126 hitting percentage.

Isadora Carrareto turned in an efficient performance with 12 kills and only one error on 17 attacks, good for a .647 hitting percentage. She also contributed seven block assists. Ella Dridi added 12 kills and seven digs, while Lena Mihaljica recorded eight kills, four aces and four digs.

Setter Priscilla Salas Moreno directed the offense with 36 assists and added two aces. Emma Ruch led Colby with nine digs.

Three days later, Colby completed another sweep, defeating Cloud County 25-15, 25-21, 25-23.

The Trojans set the tone with a dominant opening set, recording 17 kills against only two errors for a .577 hitting percentage. Cloud County made each successive set closer, but Colby closed out both to remain unbeaten during the month to that point.

Bianca Caputi led the attack with 16 kills and a .467 hitting percentage. Dridi supplied 10 kills and 12 digs, while Mihaljica had eight kills without an attacking error, hit .615 and collected 12 digs.

Carrareto added eight kills while hitting .500. Salas Moreno finished with 39 assists as Colby totaled 50 kills and hit .340 for the match, compared with 23 kills and a .119 percentage for Cloud County.

Anita Ferri served three of the Trojans’ five aces.

Colby’s Sept. 26 trip to Dodge City brought a much different challenge.

The Trojans dropped the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-19, but refused to let the match end quietly. Colby answered with a 25-19 victory in the third set and forced a fifth by taking the fourth, 25-20.

Dodge City regained the advantage in the deciding set and finished the match with a 15-11 win.

Despite the loss, Colby held sizeable advantages in several statistical categories. The Trojans recorded 67 kills to Dodge City’s 48 and finished with 70 digs to the Conquistadors’ 67. Attack errors proved costly, however, as Colby committed 29 compared with 15 for Dodge City.

Dridi paced the Trojans with 20 kills and 14 digs. Caputi and Carrareto each recorded 14 kills, with Carrareto hitting .545. Cherubini added 10 kills, five block assists and two aces.

Salas Moreno delivered 59 assists and 10 digs. Ferri and Mihaljica collected 16 digs apiece, while Ferri also led Colby with three aces.

Although the comeback fell short, the Trojans showed their ability to respond under pressure. After two convincing sweeps, Colby erased a 2-0 deficit on the road and pushed Dodge City to the final set before suffering its first loss of the three-match span.

Next, the Trojans host Butler Community College at the Colby Event Center September 30.