Men's Volleyball Secures First Program Victory with Win over Central Christian

(Marshall, MO) – On day two at Marshall, Hastings lost their first match to host Missouri Valley 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 28-18), then picked their first win in program history in a 3-0 victory over Central Christian (25-15, 25-22, 25-12).

Against Central Christian, Hastings began on a 9-3 run, capitalizing on multiple Tiger attacking errors and getting a couple of kills by junior Austin McLeroy. The Broncos won 8 of the next 14 points to take a commanding 17-9 lead, getting a couple of kills by McLeroy and freshman Taven Johnson. Leading 17-13, Hastings ended the set on an 8-2 run, ending on a Johnson ace, to win 25-15.

Tied at four in the second set, freshman Christian Lafferty got a kill and they won the next two points to go up 8-5. With the set tied at 10, Hastings went on an 8-2 run, getting four kills in that sequence, including two from freshman Diego Cobena, to take an 18-12 lead. Central Christian got within two multiple times at the end of the second set, but the Broncos prevailed 25-22 on a kill from McLeroy, assisted by junior Aleksa Pljevaljcic.

Cobena got a kill to start the third set and the Broncos, as Hastings took a 4-2 lead shortly after. Tied at six, Hastings won five straight points to go up 11-6. Leading 13-9, the Broncos went on a 8-1 run, keyed by three kills from Lafferty, all assisted by Pljevaljcic, to take a 21-10 lead. Hastings won four of the final five points, capped by a kill from Pljevaljcic to win it, 25-12.

McLeroy finished with 10 kills, along with nine kills from Lafferty and seven kills from Cobena. Pljevaljcic had 35 assists and freshman Seth Hill led the way in digs with nine. Johnson was tops in blocks for Hastings with five.

Earlier in the day against Missouri Valley, the teams split the first four points, then Missouri Valley took the lead and never trailed the rest of the set. A kill by freshman Cooper Turner cut the deficit to two at 10-8, then Missouri Valley grew the lead to 12-9. Trailing 15-9, Hastings won six of the next seven points, capped by a kill by Lafferty to get within one at 16-15. The Vikings won six of the next seven points and later won the set, 25-18.

Set two started well for the Vikings, taking an early 9-4 lead. Hastings got within four at 14-10 on a Missouri Valley attacking error, but the Vikings responded with a 4-0 run. Trailing 19-13, Missouri Valley closed out set two by winning the next five points and six of the last eight to win 25-15.

Hastings began the third on a roll, getting kills on each of their first seven winning points to go up 7-5, led by four kills from Hill. The Broncos still led 10-9 after a kill by Johnson, but the Vikings went on a 7-0 to take a 16-10 lead. Hastings would only be able to get within five the rest of the way, as Missouri Valley took the third, 25-18.

Hill led Hastings with 11 kills and Pjevaljcic had 29 of the teams' 31 assists. Cobena led Hastings with five digs, while Johnson and Hill each had a couple of blocks.

Up next, Hastings will play at Morningside on Friday, Feb. 6 at 2pm, closely followed by Arizona Christian at 4:30pm that day.