Men's Volleyball Comes Up Short in 2 Home Matches

(Hastings, NE) – Hosting Jamestown and Ottawa in a tri-dual on Tuesday, Hastings lost both matches. They lost 3-1 to Ottawa (25-16, 25-13, 20-25, 25-21) and 3-0 to Jamestown (25-22, 25-22, 25-23).

Ottawa took a 5-2 lead in the first set, then three straight points by Hastings, including a kill by freshman Seth Hill tied it at five. The Braves took control from there, going up 17-8. They took their first double-digit lead at 23-13 and took the opening set, 25-16.

Hastings led 3-2 in the second set after an Ottawa attacking error, but the Braves managed to come back and take a 13-6 lead. At 17-11 after a kill by Hill and an Ottawa error, the Braves went on an 8-2 run to close the set, 25-13.

The Broncos won the first five points of the third, led by a kill, a block, and an assist by junior Aleksa Pljevaljcic. Leading 8-4, the two teams traded points as Hastings took a 13-8 lead. Ottawa later got within two at 17-15, but a couple of kills by freshman Taven Johnson helped the Broncos go up 23-17. Holding a 23-20 lead, a service error by Ottawa and a kill by freshman Diego Cobena gave Hastings the 25-20 set win.

An ace by senior Wyat Lambertson put Hastings up 6-4 in the third, but Ottawa responded with a 10-1 run to go up 14-7. Two kills by Johnson and one kill by Cobena brought it to 14-10, but the Braves quickly went back up six at 23-17, before winning three of the last two points of the set, 25-21.

Johnson finished with 14 kills and Cobena added 10 kills. Pljevaljcic had 38 assists and freshman Lopaki Laban had 13 digs.

Cobena got a couple of early kills against Jamestown as Hastings trailed 7-6 early in the first set and tied it up at nine on his third kill. Tied at 16, the Jimmies took a 20-17 lead, but Hastings won the next four points to take a 21-17 lead. Jamestown won five of the last six points to close it out, 25-22.

In the second set, a kill by Pljevaljcic put Hastings up 8-6 and with the set tied at 12, a kill by freshman Christian Lafferty started a 3-0 run that put the Broncos up 15-12. Jamestown won the next six points and with the Jimmies up 20-19, Jamestown went on a 5-3 run to take a 2-0 set lead.

Lafferty got three of Hastings first four points of the third on kills, tying it at four. Hastings took a 10-8 lead on a kill by junior Austin McLeroy and they later went up 16-13 on a Jimmie attacking error. Jamestown came back and took a 17-16 lead and with Hastings down 23-22 after a kill from Lafferty, the Jimmies took two of the last three points to seal it, 25-23.

Lafferty finished with 20 kills and Pljevaljcic had 34 assists. Laban had 14 digs and Johnson added four blocks.

Up next, Hastings will be off for over a month until Saturday, April 11 when they play against Avila and Central Christian at 1 and 3pm.