Dordt Upsets Volleyball in Round of 16
Sioux City, Iowa- For the first time since December 3, 2016, the Hastings College volleyball team dropped a match to the Dordt Defenders, this time a four-set, 25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 20-25 loss in the 2017 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship Round of 16 on Friday.
Set one started strong for the Broncos (28-3) with two attack errors by Dordt's Ema Altena along with a kill by Katie Placke (SR/Grand Island, NE) and a Clare Hamburger (JR/Hastings, NE) ace. The Defenders (32-7) answered back with a 6-0 run of their own to take a 6-4 lead.
Trailing 14-8, the Broncos reclaimed the lead with a 9-0 run with four kills by Matti Dabovich (JR/Pueblo West, CO), two by Casey Krolikowski (JR/Cairo, NE), and two Dordt attack errors. To finish the set, Hastings capitalized on miscues by Dordt, including three attack errors in the final five rallies.
Hastings built a manageable 9-4 lead, but a 16-5 run by the Defenders gave the Defenders a large 20-14 lead over the Broncos late in set two. Hastings answered back with a 9-4 run, but this was not enough to catch up with the Defenders who tied the match at a set a piece.
Set three started with a back-and-forth affair to a 7-5 lead for the Broncos, but quickly turned into a set defined by streaks, with the Defenders going on an 8-1 run before the Broncos answered with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 14-14.
With a tied game, the Broncos and Defenders went on to battle tooth and nail before Dordt finished the set with an 8-2 run to take a 2-1 set lead over the Broncos.
The Defenders came in hot to set four with a 5-2 run that did not let off the gas pedal en route to a 19-13 lead over the Broncos. The Broncos made one final push, going on a 7-2 run to get within two of the Defenders, but this was not enough as the Defenders took the final four rallies to snap their three-game losing streak to the Broncos.
Three Broncos got in the double-digits in kills, with Placke getting a team-high 11 kills followed by Andrea LaVene (SR/Roca, NE) and Krolikowski who both tallied 10. Placke also led the Broncos with 22 assists, and Hamburger also claiming 16 assists. Defensively, four Broncos had 10 or more digs, with Jill Bax (SR/Lincoln, NE) making 26 digs.
For Bax, LaVene, Placke, and Emily Filsinger (SR/Clearwater, NE), their collegiate playing career ends, but not before Head Coach Matt Buttermore acknowledged their achievements. "Five trophies in the last two years. They've made a huge impact on our program."
The senior class had amassed an impressive 105-27 record (.795 winning percentage). Bax became the program digs leader after their game against Montana Tech on Thursday, finishing with 2,102 digs in her career. Placke also finishes her Bronco career fifth in assists (3,493) and the third best hitting percentage (.277).
