Broncos Drop Final 2 Games at Bethel Tournament
(North Newton, KS) – Day two of the Bethel Tournament began with a tight four-set loss to Texas A&M-Texarkana (28-30, 24-26, 25-18, 22-25). In the second match of the day, Hastings dropped the match in three sets (20-25, 22-25, 16-25) to Bethel.
Team Stats
Texas A&M Texarkana
| Game Statistics | Texas A&M Texarkana | Hastings |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .255 | .257 |
| Blocks | 10.5 | 7.0 |
| Digs | 52 | 46 |
| Aces | 8 | 11 |
Bethel (KS)
| Game Statistics | Hastings | Bethel (KS) |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .163 | .301 |
| Blocks | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| Digs | 38 | 46 |
| Aces | 5 | 5 |
(North Newton, KS) – Day two of the Bethel Tournament began with a tight four-set loss to Texas A&M-Texarkana (28-30, 24-26, 25-18, 22-25). In the second match of the day, Hastings dropped the match in three sets (20-25, 22-25, 16-25) to Bethel to go 1-3 overall in North Newton.
The match began with both teams splitting the first 16 points. Texas A&M-Texarkana then pulled ahead and later took a 21-15 lead, but Hastings got back in the set by going on a 5-0 run. Down 22-20, the Broncos took the next three points, including back-to-back double blocks by sophomore Kaleah Olson and junior Amiya Barnes to put Hastings ahead, 23-22.
The Eagles later took a 25-24 lead in the opening set, but a kill from sophomore Lainey Benson and an ace from sophomore Mikah O'Neill gave Hastings a second set point opportunity at 26-25. Texas A&M-Texarkana responded by winning two straight points, and after two Bronco points set up a third set point in the set, the Eagles won three consecutive points to close out the first set, 30-28.
Tied at five-all in the second set, Texas A&M-Texarkana went up by as much as seven at 19-12. The Broncos battled back by winning 12 of the next 16 points to take a 24-23 lead. Olson had three kills during the stretch, along with two each from sophomore Makenna Sutter and freshman Klarissa Dowdy. The Eagles would not be denied however, as they won the next three points on two kills and a Bronco error to wrap up the second set, 26-24.
Texas A&M Texarkana took a 6-1 lead in the third set, but Hastings came back to tie it at six. Later in the set with the Eagles leading 18-17, the Broncos won eight straight points on the serve of freshman Fran Warson, who had three aces during that stretch, to win the third set, 25-18.
In set number four, 11 of the first 16 points resulted in kills, leading to a 8-8 tie. The Eagles took a 14-10 lead, but after a Bronco timeout, a quick 4-0 run tied it back up at 14-all after a kill by junior Camryn Ringsdorf. The Eagles came right back and won five straight and nine of the next 11 points to take a 23-16 lead. Trailing 24-19, Hastings got it to within two at 24-22, but the Eagles closed it out on a kill to win, 25-22.
Sutter led Hastings with 18 kills, while O'Neill added 10 kills of her own. Senior Alexis Pontine and Warson had 24 and 23 assists, respectively, and Benson had a team-high 15 digs.
They played their second match of the day at 3pm against host Bethel, losing the first set 25-20. The Threshers went up 8-2 early, but the Broncos came back to get within one at 12-11, with the last two points coming on aces from Benson. Bethel seized control soon after and took a 23-16 lead. Hastings took advantage of some Thesher errors and got within three at 23-20, but ultimately dropped the opening set, 25-20, on back-to-back Bethel kills.
Both teams attacked well in the second set, with Bethel hitting .516 and Hastings hitting .452. The Broncos led most of the second set, going up 11-7 after back-to-back kills from O'Neill, who had six kills in the set. Leading 17-14 after a kill from Dowdy set up by Warson, the Threshers tied it up at 17. Kills by Olson and O'Neill, along with an ace from Pontine, who also had eight assists in the set, put Hastings back ahead, 20-17, but Bethel closed the set strong by going on an 8-2 run to go up 2-0 with a 25-22 second set win.
With Bethel leading 11-5 in the third set, O'Neill got a kill and after two Thresher errors, Hastings trimmed the deficit to three. The Broncos got as close as two in the set at 16-14 following an ace by junior Madison Navarrete, but Bethel cruised to a 25-16 victory in the third set to secure the win.
O'Neill finished with a team-high 11 kills, with Sutter adding six kills of her own. Pontine had 15 assists and Warson added 12 assists, while Benson's 13 digs led the Broncos.
Up next, Hastings will host the Hastings College Classic on Friday, Aug. 22 and Saturday, Aug. 23. The Broncos will take on Ottawa at 7pm on Friday night, then Kansas Wesleyan and College of St. Mary's will play first on Saturday at 12pm. After that match at 3pm, College of Saint Mary will take on Ottawa before Hastings and Kansas Wesleyan will wrap things up on Saturday at 5:30pm.
