Offense Shines as Volleyball Topples Mount Marty
Yankton, SD – The Hastings College volleyball team started strong and then finished strong to defeat Mount Marty 25-18, 25-17, 14-25, 25-21 on Saturday afternoon in Great Plains Athletic Conference action.
Yankton, SD – The Hastings College volleyball team started strong and then finished strong to defeat Mount Marty 25-18, 25-17, 14-25, 25-21 on Saturday afternoon in Great Plains Athletic Conference action.
Set one was tied 10-10 when Hastings would go on a 7-1 run started by a kill from Marlee Taylor. After an attack error by Alex Ruth, Majesta Valasek earned a service ace followed by another Taylor kill to make it 14-10.
After MMU picked up a kill from Ruth, a service error put the momentum right back with Hastings as Ruth had another error followed by a Miriam Miller service ace as the Lady Broncos had set one firmly in its grasp. Mount Marty only got as close a four before HC finished the set with a Peyton Roper kill.
Hastings finished set one hitting .375 while MMU hit a solid .212. Set two was not pretty for the Lancers hitting -.133 but did hold a slim 13-11 lead until Hastings scored nine of the next 10 points.
A couple of Lancer attack errors began the run and with things tied 14-14, HC picked up a kill from Valasek followed by another Miller ace. Valasek and Roper teamed up for a block followed by a Jadie DeLange attack error to make it 17-14. The Lady Broncos weren't done yet as Valasek and Amani Monroe picked up a block followed by a Valasek kill and then a Valasek block to lead 20-14. This put HC well in control en route to the 25-17 set two victory.
Mount Marty found some momentum in the third set scoring the 12 of the final 13 points of the set to easily take it 25-14.
The fourth set did have a bit of a back-and forth as the Lancers pulled to within one at 22-21 on a Ruth kill but Hastings' Lauren Dirks went with the quick set to the middle for the Monroe kills and then went outside to Roper for the kill to set up match points. The front line of Rachel Hefta and Valasek teamed up for the double block to win set four 25-21.
Dirks did a great job spreading the wealth with her 42 assists. Valasek led the way with 13 kills while hitting .323. Roper added 12 kills while hitting .348 and Taylor also added 12 kills while hitting .320. Monroe finished with eight kills while hitting .333.
For the match, Hastings hit .265 while holding MMU to .189. Miller led the way with 14 digs and two service aces.
Hastings improves to 9-4 (1-2) on the year and will be back in action as NAIA No. 2 Midland comes to town with first serve set for 7:30 pm inside Lynn Farrell Arena.
