Blazers Capture First Win at NJCAA DIII Tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Dallas College North Lake's volleyball team swept Fulton-Montgomery Community College, 25-10, 25-8, 25-13, in the opening round of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III National Tournament Thursday.

It is the first national tournament win in program history for the Blazers, who are making their first appearance at the NJCAA Division III Tournament.

The 10th-seeded Blazers (20-17) advance to Thursday's 5:30 p.m. CT quarterfinal matchup with second-seeded Minnesota West Community & Technical College (33-4) at Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena. That match will be broadcast on the NJCAA Network. Live Stats are also available.

North Lake hit .378, while limiting seventh-seeded Fulton-Montgomery (21-2) to an .043 attack percentage.

Riley Weiher finished with 11 kills, a season-high five aces, eight digs and a block, while hitting .526 for the Blazers. Shi'Miria Phillips had eight kills, a .300 attack percentage and a block. Hailey Pennison had seven kills and a block. Natalia Gonzalez and Brooklyne Dewberry each had six kills. Gonzalez hit .545 with no errors in 11 swings, and added three blocks and an ace. Dewberry hit .333, and had one block. Hadley Klock had 32 assists, three aces, eight digs and a block. Katie Lloyd had four aces and eight digs.

North Lake raced out to an 8-0 lead on a kill by Pennison in the first set, in which the Blazers authored a 16-kill, .480 hitting performance. Weiher's kill extended the lead to 16-5. Phillips and Gonzalez's block made it 21-9. Following a Raiders' sideout, the Blazers ran off the last four points on a kill by Pennison and Gonzalez and two by Phillips.

In Set 2, North Lake built a 9-4 lead, following a putaway by Phillips. Grace O'Brien's kill pulled Fulton-Montgomery within 13-6. Weiher and Pennison each put down a ball during a three-point Blazers' run to make it 20-7. After a North Lake attack error, Lloyd ripped off three aces during a 5-0 run to close out the set.

The Blazers hit .440 in the second set, putting away 13 kills against two errors. The Raiders had six kills and six errors in 22 attacks.

With the score knotted at 8-8 in the third set, Dewberry put away a ball to start a five-point surge that pushed the Blazers up, 13-8. The Blazers drew within 15-11 on a North Lake hitting error before Phillips had a kill. Phillips and Klock had kills, and Brenna Casler served back-to-back aces to bump the lead to 21-12. Amber Cole's kill allowed Fulton-Montgomery to keep the gap at nine two serves later. But Phillips and Gonzalez had kills, and Klock and Gonzalez's block sealed the win.

O'Brien finished with eight kills and a .312 hitting percentage. Cole had 18 assists. Jayden DeVellis had 10 digs for the Raiders, who dropped their first match since Sept. 14.

North Lake finished with 15 aces, while Fulton-Montgomery did not record one.

It is the first 20-win season for the Blazers since 2010 when they went 22-21.