Blazers Move on to District Semifinals in Win over Suns

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

MESQUITE, Texas – Dallas College North Lake's volleyball team moved on to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South District semifinals with a 26-24, 25-16, 25-11 win over Dallas College Cedar Valley in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Dallas College Eastfield.

North Lake improved to 18-16. The third-seeded Blazers will meet second-seeded Dallas College Richland (17-14) in Friday's 7 p.m. semifinals.

Shi'Miria Phillips had 11 kills and two blocks, and hit .286, for North Lake, which surpassed last year's win total of 17.

Cedar Valley (2-22) tied it at 11 in the first set after a pair of aces by Abigail Guerrero. Haven Hernandez's kill gave the Suns a 21-20 lead. North Lake scored two of the next three points to knot it at 22. Cedar Valley crept back up, 24-23, but North Lake's Hailey Pennison served the final two points to take the opening set.

Pennison finished with six kills, three blocks and a .294 attack percentage.

The Suns built a 12-9 lead in the second set. But the Blazers tied it at 14, and then ran off the next six points to open up a 20-14 advantage on Natalia Gonzalez's ace. Pennison and Kendyl Burgess served the Blazers to set point before Riley Weiher's kill put North Lake up two sets.

North Lake hit .294 in the second set.

Weiher had eight kills, three aces and eight digs.

The Blazers ran out to an 8-1 lead in the third set. On Burgess' serve, Weiher banged a ball off the Suns' block to extend the lead to 18-6. Amanda Sandoval's tap pulled Cedar Valley within 19-9. Gonzalez's kill brought the Blazers within match point before Abigail Soto's kill halted the celebration for a sideout. Pennison put away the next point to secure the match.

The Blazers, who recorded 12 kills in each set, hit .478 in Set 3, committing just one error.

Cedar Valley's Alexis Burton had six kills and 17 digs. Hernandez had six kills, an ace, and hit .261. Sandoval had five kills and no errors on nine swings for a .556 hitting percentage. Soto had five kills and a solo block. Abigail Guerrero had 11 digs and two aces. Morgan Taylor had two aces and four kills. Sydney Rodriguez had 12 assists.

Gonzalez had five kills, a season-high six aces and two blocks. She hit .455 with no errors in 11 attacks. North Lake setter Hadley Klock had 28 assists, 11 digs, three kills and a block. Pennison had six kills, three blocks and two aces. Katie Lloyd had 15 digs.

Klock went over 1,000 assists this season. She has 1,008 this year.

The Blazers had 15 aces, which fell one shy of their season high. The Suns finished with five. North Lake outblocked Cedar Valley, 6-1.

The Blazers advanced to the district semifinals for the second straight year.