Volleyball Defeats OCU in Four Sets
Grand Island- The Hastings College volleyball team continued its hot start to the season with a four set win (26-28, 25-19, 25-18, 25-21) over Oklahoma City University in day one of the Bill Marshall Classic in Grand Island.
Set one saw the Stars (0-1) take a quick 4-0 lead before kills by Katie Placke (SR/Grand Island, NE), Casey Krolikowski (JR/Cairo, NE), a service ace by Emily Filsinger (SR/Clearwater, NE), and a Stars error got the Lady Broncos (5-0) into a 4-4 tie with OCU. For the rest of the match Hastings and OCU traded points until OCU took the set 28-26.
With another 4-4 tie in set two, the Lady Broncos capitalized on kills by Placke, Andrea LaVene (SR/Roca, NE) and Krolikowski gave Hastings an 8-4 lead. The offensive push by the Lady Broncos gave them the momentum to a 25-19 win to tie the match at a set a piece.
Hastings took set three behind another run, this time a 5-1 run to take a 24-16 behind kills by Krolikowski, Placke, Lucy Skoch (FR/Hastings, NE), and LaVene en route to a 25-18 set three win and 2-1 match lead.
The Lady Broncos and Stars had a battle in set four, with the teams trading points and the lead to a 19-19 tie. The Lady Broncos would make one last push, taking six of the last eight points, including a kill by Jill Bax (SR/Lincoln, NE) that had her dive backwards behind the endline and forced her to hit a no look shot over her shoulder catching the Stars off guard for the match-winning point.
Placke had another stellar night, tallying 10 kills, 25 assists, 10 digs, and 3 service aces. Krolikowski led the team with 14 digs.
"They have a couple good players. They have great setters. They have great hitters. It was a great win for us." Head Coach Matt Buttermore said reflecting on the match.
The Lady Broncos play again on Saturday when they take on the No. 8 Columbia (Mo.) College Cougars at noon and College of Coastal Georgia Mariners at 4 p.m. in Grand Island as part of the Bill Marshall Classic.
