(Butler, PA) Outside hitter Dakota Weldon had 11 kills in the first sweep and All-American middle hitter Josie Russo 16 in the second as the Butler County Community College volleyball team Saturday defended its jump to No. 7 nationally with two victories and began a third consecutive season with a 7-0 record.
Setter Anora Robare had 26 assists in the Pioneers’ 25-23, 25-15, 25-11 win against Harrisburg Area Community College in the first match in BC3’s Field House. She had a career-high 37 in the second, a 25-15, 25-14, 29-27 victory against Lorain County Community College, Elyria, Ohio, which represented the Pioneers’ sixth sweep of the season.
Russo had eight kills in the first match, Robare and defensive specialist Marly Koleno each had 13 digs and outside hitter Molly Bissell eight.
Koleno had a career-high 20 digs and Robare 12 in the second match, and Weldon and Bissell added seven kills each.
Weldon is a graduate of Laurel Middle-Senior High School; Russo, of Freeport; Robare and Bissell, of Slippery Rock; and Koleno, of Apollo Ridge.
BC3 was ranked No. 10 among 86 National Junior College Athletic Association Division III programs in the preseason. The Pioneers jumped to No. 7 in the most-recent poll and have been ranked in the Top 15 for 28 of 32 weeks dating to Oct. 4, 2021.
After a 7-0 start, the Pioneers ended 18-6 in 2023 and 25-2 in 2024, when the program made its fourth appearance in the NJCAA Division III national championship tournament.
BC3 visits Penn State DuBois at 6 p.m. Sept. 9.
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