Garden City loses first two at Subway Invite

By Mike Pilosof

North Platte, Neb-Garden City is still in search of their first win of the new season. And while there have been some frustrating moments thus far, the Broncbusters have had plenty of chances.

Garden City dropped two more matches on Friday at the Mid-Plains Subway Invite, falling to Hesston in five sets (10-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-20, 11-15) and North Platte in three (22-25, 16-25, 11-25).

"We looked pretty good at times, but there are things that we still need to clean up," Head Coach Patrick Hiltz said afterwards. "

The Broncbusters have won just two sets in their first three matches, although that's a little deceiving.

On Thursday against McCook, Garden City came back from 12 points down in the opening set only to have a controversial call go against them, costing them a sensational rally.

The same can be said about Friday's opener.

Garden City dropped the first two sets to Hesston before earning a six-point win in the third. Then they came out with a vengeance in the fourth, building a 12-4 advantage before the Larks began to chip away. Eventually Hesston tied it up. That's when Tameia Davis took over.

The sophomore connected on three straight aces, helping the Broncbusters close out the frame.

"I like the way we finished that one," Hiltz said. "Now we have to learn how to start the match well."

In the final set, neither team created separation. The Broncbusters took the lead 10-9 before a few unforced errors allowed Hesston to regain the advantage. Moments later, the Larks closed out the match.

"I was disappointed with our mental focus during warmups, and it carried over into the first two sets," Hiltz said. "Once we were able to get our brains on volleyball, we were able to make some things happen."

Adisyn Swan set a career high with 22 kills. Summer Nerkowski had a career-best 26 digs, and Davis tied a program record with seven service aces.

Second match

Once again, Garden City was done in by untimely miscues. After leading for most of the first set against North Platte, the Broncbusters committed more unforced errors that completely swung, not only the opening frame, but the entire match.

"We were tired," Hiltz said. "And that's not an excuse; it's fact. I was very happy with the way we played most of the first set. We were loose and having fun. But towards the end, we got tight."

Nerkowski had 11 digs, Swan chipped in eight kills and Katie McHugh tallied 20 assists.

Next up: Garden City is back in action on Saturday morning vs. Durham at 10 a.m. They follow that up with another matchup with McCook at 2 p.m.