Brazil's 11 kills pushes Garden City past Cisco in Saturday matinee

Garden City, KS-Garden City definitely looked refreshed on Saturday morning. 

Julia Brazil had 11 kills, Tola Maczka totaled 36 assists, and Garden City smashed Cisco in three sets, 25-13, 25-17, and 25-23 at Conestoga Arena on day two of the second annual Scooter's Invitational.  

After a frustrating five-set loss to Arizona Western on Friday night, Patrick Hiltz's team was back on the floor with less than 12 hours of rest. It didn't matter in this one.  

The Broncbusters scored the first five points of the match and were up 9-1 after a Brazil kill. Maczka then used a backwards set for Jelena Milovanovic, who smashed the ball just inside the right sideline for a 12-5 edge. They eventually pushed the lead to double digits on Pinar Dugeroglu's kill, which was all part of an 11-4 surge to close the set.  

"This was an important match for our team to bounce back," Hiltz said afterwards. "I wanted to see how we would respond."

The Broncbusters trailed for less than 60 seconds in the second, grabbing a two-point lead when Apolline Lepuissant hammered home a kill. Milovanovic answered with a spike, Dugeroglu tapped it over the tape, and Vitoria Stedile found Maczka for a kill that put the Broncbusters up 21-15. They allowed just two points the rest of the way.

"I wanted to give Jelena and Apolline a break before our night match," Hiltz said. "I really wanted to see how our team responded with them off of the floor." 

With his two-star returners on the bench, the Broncbusters found a way to finish in three. They led early by five; held off a furious rally by Cisco that saw the Wranglers take a one-point edge after Emilee Casey's kill landed between two Broncbusters; then put the match away with a pair of Brazil spikes.  

"That third set was so important because it gave them some confidence moving forward," Hiltz added. 

Lepuissant finished with four kills for Garden City, which improved to 2-1 overall. Hays-native, Carly Lang added five kills.