No. 15 Blazers Beat No. 4 DuPage, Go 3-2 in Illinois

GLEN ELLYN, Ill. – Dallas College North Lake's volleyball team went 3-2 at the College of DuPage Invitational.

The National Junior College Athletic Association Division III No. 15-ranked Blazers beat No. 4 DuPage, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 25-22, to open the tournament Thursday.

North Lake's Shi'Miria Phillips had 10 kills. Hailey Pennison finished with nine kills, 18 digs, three aces and a block. Brooklyne Dewberry had eight kills and a block, while hitting .353. Gabi Smith had seven kills and two blocks. Hadley Klock had 31 assists, 14 digs, two aces and a block. Katie Lloyd had 16 digs. Alex Knowles had 15 digs. Abigail Gonzalez added 14 digs and three aces.

The Blazers put down 12 kills in three of the four sets, and hit .241 in Set 1. They held DuPage to a .162 attack percentage or lower in each of the four sets.

Caytlin Johns had 10 kills and a block, and Josephine Becker nine kills and two blocks for the Chaparrals, who fell to 5-2 after the loss. Ava Diaz had 27 assists, and Francesca Brandonisio 24 digs.

After falling in a pair of tough matches to No. 7 Minnesota West Community & Technical College and No. 2 Century College, North Lake finished the tournament with a pair of sweeps over the University of Wisconsin Whitewater at Rock County and Joliet Junior College. The Blazers beat UW Whitewater, 25-11, 25-6, 25-12. They defeated Joliet, 25-17, 25-9, 25-13.

In the win over Whitewater, North Lake hit .297, which included a .421 attack percentage in the opening set and a .350 clip in the second. The Blazers committed just seven hitting errors in 64 swings.

Phillips had six kills, and hit .357, and Dewberry five kills with a .333 hitting percentage. Brenna Casler, Riley Weiher and Pennison each had four kills. Weiher and Pennison both hit .500 with no errors in eight attack attempts apiece. Klock had 22 assists and five aces. Weiher added four aces, and Lloyd three. Gonzalez finished with 13 digs and two aces.

The Blazers finished with a season-high 16 aces.

Against Joliet, Weiher banged down 10 kills, while hitting .444. It was the third time this season she's had 10 or more kills in a match. Pennison finished with nine kills, three aces and a .389 hitting percentage. Phillips had six kills, and hit .316. Dewberry had five kills and a season-best .556 attack percentage. Smith had five kills and two blocks, and hit .400.

Klock had 30 assists, 10 digs and two blocks. It was the fourth time she's had 30 assists in a match this season. Gonzalez had 13 digs.

North Lake (4-6) will host Hill College (6-3) at 6 p.m. Monday. The Blazers will make the trip to Hill Wednesday.