Bronco Volleyball Nearly Pulls off Upset of #1 Northwestern
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hastings (9-8, 3-5) | 25 | 25 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 2 |
|
Northwestern (19-0, 8-0) | 20 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
(Orange City, IA) – Riding high after their 3-1 win over Dordt on Friday night, the Broncos took the opening two sets on #1 Northwestern, before the Red Raiders rallied to maintain their undefeated record in five sets, 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 16-25, 8-15).
The first set was very tight with neither team able to get much separation. With the set tied at 19-all, Hastings won four consecutive points and six of the next seven to win the first set 25-20. Freshman Mikah O'Neill led the team in kills with seven in the opening set.
Northwestern opened the second set strong, jumping out to a 13-6 lead. Hastings bounced back in a big way by winning 10 of the next 13 points to tie it at 16. The two teams battled hard the rest of the set, and while Northwestern held off one set point, Hastings capitalized on the second one, as O'Neill's kill from junior Alexis Pontine gave the Broncos a 25-23 second set win.
The Red Raiders opened up a 17-13 lead in the third set, but Hastings fought hard, as freshman Makenna Sutter had three kills in a row and four of the next five points to cut the lead to 18-17. Hastings evened it up at 22-all on an O'Neill kill, but Northwestern took three of the next four points to take the third set 25-23.
Northwestern led 7-2 early in the fourth set and while Hastings held a brief 10-9 lead, the Red Raiders controlled the set the rest of the way, winning 25-16 to tie the match at two-sets all.
Hastings lost six of the first seven points of the fifth set, then cut the lead to 12-8 on a senior Dacey Sealey ace. Northwestern rattled off the next three points to take the fifth set and the match, 15-8.
Senior Majesta Valasek once again led the team in kills with 17, along with 16 kills from O'Neill, who had a team-high four blocks, and 15 kills from Sutter. Pontine had a game-high 47 assists and senior Miriam Miller had 33 digs.
Hastings will be off until Friday, October 11 at 7:30pm when they host Dakota Wesleyan at Lynn Farrell Arena.
