Volleyball Finishes KCAC Fling 4-0
Hutchinson, KS -The Hastings College volleyball team continued where it left off from Friday by defeating Friends 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-17 and then defeated Bethel 25-14, 16-25, 25-16, 25-8 to finish up the KCAC Fling by going 4-0.
The Lady Broncos came out on fire in set one hitting .542 en route to its 25-14 set one win. With the first set tied 5-5, Makenna Asher (SO/Hastings, NE) and Amani Monroe (SR/Colorado Springs, CO) teamed up for the block to give HC the lead for good at 6-5. Then, the offense took over.
An over pass by the Falcon defense teed up Miriam Miller (FR/Lincoln, NE) for the kill and then Jaisee Stinson (JR/Omaha, NE) found Asher as she crushed the kill to the floor for the 8-5 lead. Stinson then connected with Miller on the outside for another kill forcing a Friends timeout.
After the timeout, things did not get better for the Falcons as Miller and Monroe teamed up for a block followed by an Ireland Currey (SR/Lincoln, NE) ace to make it 11-6. Two Friends attack errors pushed the lead to 13-6 as HC would cruise to the 25-14 set one win.
The Falcons pushed Hastings in set two opening up a 14-11 lead as HC called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Friends had no answer as the Lady Broncos ran off seven straight points which included four big blocks by Hastings to push the lead to 18-14. Hastings went on to win set two 25-21.
HC would go on to drop its first set of the season in set three 25-21 but made sure this match would be done in four sets.
In set four, Hastings came out on fire as Emily Krolikowski (SR/Cairo, NE) got things started with a kill. Grace Branson (FR/Lawrence, KS) picked up another kill followed by a ball handling error by Friends to make it 3-0. Then kills from Monroe and Krolikowski plus a block from Branson and Monroe increased the lead to 6-0. After a Falcon timeout, Branson picked up another kill followed by an attack error by Friends pushed the lead to 8-0 before the Falcons got on the board. From there, Hastings was not threatend en route to the 25-17 set four victory.
Hastings had another big day offensively hitting .294 while Friends hit .219. Krolikowski led the way with a team high 14 kills while hitting .407. Asher had another great outing as well picking up nine kills while hitting .533 and leading the team with 28 assists. Miller finished with nine kills and a team high three service aces. Kamri Adler (JR/Hastings, NE) led the team with 12 digs. Monroe was big in the middle with 7 kills while hitting .500 and had seven block assists. Branson tacked on eight kills of her own.
In the final game of the KCAC Fling, Hastings took on a Bethel squad that was 2-1 at the tournament. The offense struggled a bit more in the game as Hastings hit .198 but held the Thresher offense to a hitting percentage of just .010.
In set one leading 7-5, Hastings left no doubt about this set going on a 9-0 run. Sydney Mullin (SR/North Platte, NE) started the run with a kill followed by kills from Branson and Adler to make it 10-5. After a Bethel error and timeout, Hastings picked up a kill from Asher, an error by the Threshers, a kill from Branson, an ace from Asher and another error to make it a 16-5 set. HC won that one 25-14.
Bethel bounced right back in set two where they hit .500 compared to just .120 for Hastings to come back to tie the match 1-1.
Set three is where both offenses struggled as Hastings hit .091 and held Bethel to a -.065 hitting percentage.
The Threshers were able to stay within reach trailing 16-14 but a quick 4-0 run put things out of reach. Krolikowski got things started with a kill followed by an Ava Lovitt (FR/Beatrice, NE) service ace. Another kill from Krolikowski followed by a double block from Branson and Monroe pushed the lead to six at 20-14. Bethel got it back to 20-16 but Hastings rattled off the last five points of the set highlighted by two kills from Krolikowski and a Stinson service ace to end it.
Hastings then made sure there would be no comeback in set four where the Lady Broncos hit .471 while holding Bethel to just -.192 in the 25-8 route in set four.
Krolikowski led the way again for Hastings with a match high 13 kills while hitting .391. Mullin had a solid game in the middle recroding six kills while hitting .333. Branson and Miller each had six kills. Asher led the team with 20 assists and also had four kills. Currey led the team with 10 digs while Monroe had her hand in on five blocks.
Hastings moves to 4-0 on the year and will be back in action Friday Aug. 27 hosting the Hastings College Classic where the Lady Broncos will take on Kansas Wesleyan at 3 pm and then Mayville State at 7 pm inside Lynn Farrell Arena.
