Garden City fights back; beats Cloud County in four

Garden City, KS-This one had to feel sweet for Patrick Hiltz.

Tola Maczka had 42 assists, Carly Lang produced a season-high 17 kills, and Garden City erased an early one-set deficit to beat Cloud County in four, 23-25, 25-15, 29-27, and 25-19 Friday night at Conestoga Arena. The Broncbusters improved to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in conference.  

Hiltz's squad was resilient all night. And after bouncing back from a two-point loss in the opening frame, the Broncbusters ran the Thunderbirds out of the gym in the second. They scored the first five points, opened up a 10-point cushion on back-to-back net violations; then pushed the lead to as many as 12 following Pinar Dugeroglu's service ace that made it 18-6. The visitors never got closer than eight the rest of the way.  

But the third set epitomized exactly what Hiltz's team is all about: a scrappy squad that continues to fight through adversity when nothing appears to be going their way. 

Garden City trailed by as many as five late in the frame after Jacey Shurle's kill. But after facing multiple set points, the Broncbusters crawled back to tie it after back-to-back aces by Lang. Moments later, Garden City was down again only to see a pair of Apolline Lepuissant spikes that pushed Cloud County to the brink. Lang then finished off the set with a powerful swing, giving the home team a 2-1 advantage. 

It was all Broncbusters from there.  

Lepuissant and Dugeroglu opened the fourth with a pair of kills, Vitoria Stedile dropped in an ace, and Garden City was quickly up 5-0. They eventually stretched the lead to six following another powerful crosscourt spike from Lang and were up seven when Maczka set up Brazil for a hammer down the middle. Once Cloud County pulled to within three, Lang was there again, providing the Broncbusters with three late kills including the game clincher, giving Garden City its fourth win in its last five matches and their first conference victory. 

Julia Brazil added 11 kills for Garden City, which handed Cloud County its third consecutive loss. Maczka, who set the single-season school record for aces last season, had three in this one.