Garden City loses in four at Lamar

Lamar, CO-It was a frustrating night for Garden City. 

Playing without sophomore outside hitter, Jelena Milovanovic, the Broncbusters stumbled, falling in four sets to Lamar, 25-20, 20-25, 26-28, and 21-25. It was Garden City's second straight loss, dropping them to 6-3 overall. 

"We had zero desire to play tonight, and it showed almost from the very beginning," Head Coach, Patrick Hiltz said. "Our body language was terrible, and there was simply no energy." 

Garden City got through the opening set breaking a 20-20 tie when Pinar Dugeroglu hammered home a kill down the right sideline. That was followed by a Lamar attack error, an Apolline Lepuissant kill, and a net violation before Tola Maczka quick tapped a ball over the tape for set point. 

"We looked more like a team just trying to get through it rather than trying to do the things necessary to win," Hiltz added. 

Garden City trailed by as many as seven points in the second set and never pulled any closer than four. Down 24-20, the Broncbusters were called for a net violation evening the match.  

"We have to figure ourselves out quickly," Hiltz explained.  

The Broncbusters had their chances in the third set, erasing a late four-point deficit to tie things up at 24. But another net violation coupled with Abbey Smith's kill put Lamar up, 2-1. 

Lepuissant's service ace followed by Julia Brazil's spike put Garden City up 9-5 early in the fourth. But Lamar responded with a 7-1 run to take a two-point advantage. Once the Broncbusters regained their footing and went back up 19-16, the Lopes cashed in on a slew of Broncbusters mistakes, closing the match on a 9-2 surge.  

"When we allow negativity to creep in, we are very very bad," Hiltz said. "I know the girls will choose correctly and get this back on track."

Dugeroglu and Lepuissant each had 13 kills for Garden City, which dropped its second straight match. Vitoria Stedile had 27 digs, and Maczka posted 41 assists.