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Courtesy of Midland Athletics

HASTINGS, Neb. – Playing as the newly-minted No. 1 team in the NAIA Coaches’ Poll, Midland University traveled to take on Hastings College in a midweek Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) match on Wednesday night. As is the case most years, records and rankings don’t mean a thing when these two teams meet and it was the Broncos coming away with the five-set victory on their home floor. The Warriors drop a match for just the second time this season, falling to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Hastings improves to 10-4 and 2-2 in the GPAC.

Set one saw the Broncos hit .308 on the attack as they controlled the set from start to finish. They built an 8-4 that blossomed to 15-7 before a run by the Warriors. MU scored four straight points to cut their deficit in half, but could never string together consecutive points the rest of the way. Hastings took the opener, 25-19.

After switching benches, Midland was able to regroup before the second set. Defensively they limited Hasting to a .088 attack percentage while hitting a .176 on their side. Taliyah Flores was featured in the set with six kills. Lauren Williams floored three attacks as the Warriors won 25-19.

With the match knotted up, Midland used a more balanced attack to take the third set. Flores and Abbey Ringler each had three kills in the set while Cortlyn Schaefer converted on a set-high four kills. The Warriors jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind kills by Ringler and Flores, and a big block by Flores and Lauryn Samuelson.

The Broncos battled back to tie the set several times and things were all tied up at 20-20. Midland got big plays from Hope Leimbach and Ringler with each getting a kill before combining for a block to put them up 23-20. A kill by Flores made it 24-21 and Saige Craven closed it out with an ace serve to go up 2-1 in the match.

In the fourth, Hastings worked their way to a 9-5 lead early and kept Midland at arm’s length the entire set. The Broncos had several sustained runs as they hit .278 for the set with 14 kills and just 4 errors. On the other side of the net, Midland hit .114 on the attack, their lowest of the match, with 7 errors negating 11 kills. Hastings took the fourth 25-16 to send it to a fifth and final.

It was back-and-forth in the fifth with Midland taking an 8-5 lead at the flip. After another point made it 9-5, Hastings took a timeout and the momentum shifted. They went on a 5-1 run, aided by some miscommunications by Midland, to tie it all up at 10-10. The Warriors would muster just two more points as the Broncos completed the upset win, 15-12.

Midland has had its share of difficulties playing Hastings. Since 2011, they are 4-10 inside Lynn Farrell Arena.

“This was a very disappointing loss for us tonight,” said head coach Paul Giesselmann afterward. “This was the first time this year that we did not respond well when facing a little adversity. Even though we weren’t playing well, we were still in a position to win, up 9-5 in the fifth. After we let a free ball drop, that changed the momentum of the match. The challenge for us now will be how to we respond after a disappointing loss. I think this group of players will respond well and keep working to improve. It is all about November and December, and tonight was a good lesson for us.”

Statistically, the Warriors hit .153 for the match while the Broncos had a .213 percentage. Taliyah Flores led the way with 20 kills on 60 swings (.117). Cortlyn Schaefer joined her in double figures with 12 kills on 28 attempts (.250). Hope Leimbach finished with 49 set assists.

Defensively, Midland had nine blocks at the net. Abbey Ringler had a hand on four of them, two assists and two solo stops. On the other side of the net, Hastings had a season-high 17 blocks as a team.

Delanie Vallinch led the way in digs with 17. She was the only Warrior in double digits, with Flores (9) and Brooke Fredrickson (8) the next two highest.

It will be a quick turnaround for Midland (12-2, 2-1 GPAC) as they prepare to take on Mount Marty (6-5, 1-2 GPAC) on Friday night. The Warriors and Lancers battle inside the Wikert Event Center in Fremont, Nebraska on September 16. First serve is slated for 7:30 p.m.

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