Broncbusters fall to No. 12 Northeastern

Trinidad, CO-Saturday's night cap proved to be a massive learning lesson for Patrick Hiltz's team.  

Annika Helf posted 12 kills, Whitney Chintala added 12 digs, and No. 12 Northeastern handed Garden City a three-set, 7-25, 22-25, 13-25 loss at Scott Gym, dropping the Broncbusters to 6-2 overall.  

"Once again, we started as poorly as possible," Hiltz mentioned after the match. "But this time we were playing a ranked opponent that knows how to bury a team when they have them down. Northeastern is for real, and we looked overwhelmed for the entire first set."

The Plainsmen jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first, forcing Hiltz to burn a timeout. But it didn't get much better from there. Caty Havekost recorded a kill, Julia Brazil sent an attack long, and Havekost slammed back-to-back spikes to open a 17-4 advantage.  

"You can't have lapses against a team like that," Hiltz added. 

The Broncbusters rebounded nicely in the second set, pulling even with the favored Plainsmen thanks to Brazil, who sent a line drive attack past two Northeastern defenders to make it 18-18. But as much resolve as Garden City showed in the second, they never took the lead down the stretch. And after Apolline Lepuissant's kill made it a one-point contest, Tola Maczka sent a serve into the net before Helf smashed set point for a 2-0 lead.  

"That's the lesson from this match," Hiltz said. "We have to be stronger and tougher mentally, and we have to have more discoloring focus in practice so we can win those tight sets when they are there for the taking." 

Whether it was the altitude or the fact that Garden City was playing its fourth match in two days, the wheels fell off in the third. Trailing 15-11, the Broncbusters simply ran out of gas. Helf had a kill, Vitoria Stedile sent a serv long, Anna Ruter hammered home a spike, and Northeastern was up, 23-12. A pair of Ruter kills then ended the match.  

"We have a long week ahead of us with six matches over six days, so it's time to rest, heal up a bit, and get back on the road," Hiltz said. 

Jelena Milovanovic led the Broncbusters with nine kills. Maczka added 20 assists, and Gaby Santos chipped in two blocks.