Broncbusters lose to Butler in three

Garden City, KS-With a chance to solidify a top-three finish in the Jayhawk, the Broncbusters took a step in the wrong direction on Wednesday night. 

Raven Boone had 11 kills, Anja Milosevic added 29 assists, and Butler swept Garden City 24-26, 19-25, and 20-25 at Conestoga Arena. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Broncbusters and dropped them to 18-10 overall and 8-6 in conference play.  

"We got thoroughly outplayed in every aspect of volleyball tonight," Head Coach, Patrick Hiltz said afterwards. "We made poor choices with the ball and simply didn't respond well to a team coming into our house playing like they were desperate for a win."

During their five-game winning streak, Garden City was the aggressor. But during a pivotal conference showdown, that fire that seemed so prevalent over the previous two weeks, just wasn't there. That was evident during a late surge in the opening frame where the Broncbusters erased a five-point deficit to fight off two set points to even things up. But they failed to finish, and a pair of kills by Boone put the Grizzlies up, 1-0.  

"We are a much better team than we showed tonight," Hiltz explained.

Garden City's energy level dwindled again late in the second set. Trailing by one, the Broncbusters committed a two-touch violation, which ignited Butler's 8-3 run to close the frame and put the home team in an 0-2 deficit.   

"We need to learn how to come out with a little more desperation," Hiltz admitted. 

The Broncbusters kept things close in the third. But after Pinar Dugeroglu's tied things up at 19, Sydney Lentz and Greta Santini combined for consecutive kills to put Butler in front for good. Dugeroglu's ensuing attack went into the net, Lentz followed with back-to-back spikes, and the Grizzlies handed the Broncbusters their first three-set defeat in more than a month.  

"Colby will be desperate as well when they come in here on Saturday," Hiltz said. "So, we have to be ready."

Jelena Milovanovic paced the Broncbusters with 10 kills. Julia Brazil had eight and 10 digs, and Tola Maczka posted 27 assists, moving her within striking distance of the school's single-season mark.