Broncbusters fall in four to Laramie

McCook, NEB-Addyson McArthur recorded 19 kills, Famke Zomer and Saide Christiansen combined for 34 digs, and Laramie beat Garden City in four sets, 22-25, 20-25, 25-10, 16-25 Friday night at the McCook Invitational. The loss dropped the Broncbusters to 7-5 overall.  

"I'm incredibly encouraged by the way we played and the way we conducted ourselves today," Head Coach, Patrick Hiltz said afterwards. "The girls really took what we talked about in practice and went out with an understanding of what we are trying to do both on offense and on the defensive side of the ball." 

Things started really well for Garden City in this one. Apolline Lepuissant and Julia Brazil combined for a pair of kills, Tola Maczka then used a bump set that Lepuissant finished off with a spike, Pinar Dugeroglu recorded a successful attack, and the Broncbusters were up 7-4. But following a Laramie timeout, the Golden Eagles responded with a 12-6 run that forced Hiltz to stop play. 

"We had plenty of opportunities against Laramie," Hiltz explained. "The match could have easily gone our way."

One such opportunity presented itself late in the first set with the score tied at 21. But with a chance to take the lead, Vitoria Stedile sent a serve about a foot long, Brazil followed with an attack error, and the Broncbusters never recovered. Lauren Fagerberg then pounded home a kill for set point. 

"We still made some young mistakes at the wrong times and those cost us chances in set one and two," Hiltz said.    

Those errors showed up again midway through the second. In a 13-13 deadlock, Garden City was called for a net violation followed by double contact. Carly Lang, who was brilliant earlier in the day vs. Gillette, sent an attack wide, and the visitors were down by four. Moments later, Brazil hit a serve into the net before another violation put Laramie up 22-19. Ana Haubner's block then closed things out.  

"We made a ton of mistakes but set three may have been our cleanest of the season," Hiltz stated. 

Garden City came out on fire in the third. Lang's early kill ignited an 11-0 run that put the Broncbusters up 17-3. They never looked back, and Maczka's pinball spike gave the brown and gold a 15-point victory.  

"The girls got to see what happens when they play smart, clean, aggressive and fun volleyball," Hiltz said. 

But the fourth set turned into a mirage. Tied at 14, Laramie closed on an 11-2 surge, punctuated by a pair of powerful kills by McArthur that finished off the Broncbusters. 

"I'm excited to get back out there on Saturday and see what we can do in our rematch with Lamar," Hiltz explained. 

Brazil finished with 10 kills for Garden City, which lost for the fourth time in its last five matches. Maczka added 38 assists.