Men's Volleyball Comes Up Short at (RV) Ottawa
(Ottawa, KS) – Facing (RV) Ottawa on the road, the Hastings Broncos lost 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-18) on Saturday afternoon.
(Ottawa, KS) – Facing (RV) Ottawa on the road, the Hastings Broncos lost 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-18) on Saturday afternoon.
Hastings took a 6-4 lead, getting three kills by freshman Austin McLeroy and a couple of blocks by freshmen Taven Johnson and Christian Lafferty. Leading 10-8, Ottawa took a brief lead at 12-11. The Broncos won three straight points, capped by a kill from freshman Seth Hill. Tied at 20, the two teams would not be separated by more than one point the rest of the way until when Hastings led 24-23, Johnson's block gave Hastings the 25-23 set one win.
In set two, Ottawa went up 9-2 early and while Hastings got within six at 15-9 on a kill by Johnson, the Braves regained the momentum and went up 21-12. Ottawa went up 10 at 23-13 and took the second set, 25-15.
Tied at nine in the third set following a kill by Lafferty, Ottawa won eight straight points. At 20-12, the Braves closed out the set by winning five of the next six points, making it 25-13.
Ottawa led 10-6 in the fourth set, but the Broncos closed the gap later, getting within three at 17-14 on an ace by Lafferty. Hastings could not get closer than four the rest of the way and with the Braves leading 20-16, they ended the match on a 5-2 run.
Freshman Austin McLeroy finished with 14 kills, along with nine kills from Hill and Johnson. Junior Aleksa Pljevaljcic had a team-high 36 assists. Freshman Lopaki Laban led the team with eight digs and Lafferty had five blocks.
Up next, will host Ottawa and Jamestown on Tuesday, Mar. 3 at 2 and 4pm. Ottawa and Jamestown will play each other in Lynn Farrell Arena at noon.
