Garden City swept by Eastern Wyoming

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Trinidad, CO-In Saturday's SOCO Classic finale, the Broncbusters struggled to find any rhythm. The end result: a three-set loss to Eastern Wyoming, 17-25, 25-27, 19-25; their third defeat in four matches to begin the new season.

"We are still learning to play together," Head Coach Patrick Hiltz said afterwards.

Garden City struggled at the onset, falling behind by seven points in the first set following Julie Calzonetti's attack error that sailed a foot long out of bounds. Jelena Jablanov added an ace, the Broncbusters committed a net violation, and Dani Masterson dropped in a perfect serve that landed just inside the back line to give the Lancers the opening frame.

But maybe the most frustrating sequence of the weekend came in the crucial second stanza when Garden City erased an early four-point deficit to eventually take a late lead. In fact, they had three set points, but Alysa George and Makenna Reinert tallied a pair of kills, igniting a 5-1 surge that put Eastern Wyoming up 2-0.

The Broncbusters continue their 16-match road stretch to begin the season on Tuesday with a triangular vs. Clarendon and Lamar.