By Mitch Blankespoor
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College volleyball team hosted the first day of the annual Green Hornet Invitational on Friday, Aug. 30. The Hornets collected straight set wins over Manchester College (Ind.) and North Park University (Ill.) to begin the 2013 campaign at 2-0.
"I was very pleased with the team's effort," said Kalamazoo Head Coach Jeanne Hess. "The victories tonight were a result of two weeks of hard work in the preseason."
It took a set for the Hornets to find their rhythm. Kalamazoo dropped the first five points of the season, but stormed back to take the first set from the Spartans of Manchester 25-23. In the set, K hit a mere .088, but used four blocks and three service aces to come out on top.
Sets two and three were much more straight forward. Kalamazoo won the second by a score of 25-11 and the third 25-19. In the second set, the Hornets hit a blistering .500 - 14 kills compared to just a single attacking error on 26 attempts.
The Hornet block came alive in the third set forcing 12 Spartan attack errors while surrendering just 10 kills. In the match, K totaled 14 blocks.
In the match with North Park, Kalamazoo hit a .500 clip in the first set en route to a 25-12 victory. The Vikings of North Park earned a slight 22-21 lead in set two, but Kalamazoo fought back with kills from sophomore Nya Greenstone and freshman Paige Johnson to regain the lead. A service ace from freshman Dana DeVito on set point gave K a 2-0 set advantage.
The Hornets breezed through the third set winning in decisive fashion 25-14. Junior Kelsey Hill led all K players with eight kills and a .667 attack percentage.
Freshman libero Logan Horejsi notched double digits in digs in both matches - 10 versus Manchester and 11 against North Park.
Junior setter Alex Gothard dished out 46 assists on the day.
"Alex [Gothard] did a phenomenal job of mixing up our offense," Hess said. "We attacked everywhere from along the net as well as several back row attacks."
Kalamazoo will face Anderson (Ind.) at 10:00 am tomorrow and finish the tournament with a 2:00 pm match against North Central (Ill.).