Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Entering the night on its longest losing streak in the fall of 2020, No. 13 Midland University used the familiarity of its home floor as they defeated Hastings College in four sets (25-15, 23-25, 25-17, 25-21). The Warriors move to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) with the victory while the Broncos fall to 5-6 on the year and remain winless in conference play at 0-4.
Playing in front of their family and fans helped get the Warriors going in the opening set. A pair of four-point rallies propelled the home squad to a 10-4 advantage. Hastings worked its way back to within a pair, 9-11, before Midland was able to widen the gap further
A 9-2 run highlighted by a pair of kills from both Lauren Williams and Cortlyn Schaefer set the Warriors up with a 20-11 lead. After trading a couple of points, Williams closed out the set with a kill from Brielle Power, making it 25-15.
The Broncos bounced back in the second set, taking 11 of the first 18 points. Four errors at the net by the Warriors aided in the advantage. MU battled back to within a point with a 4-1 run and hung tight the rest of the way.
Down the stretch, Hastings worked itself into a 23-18 lead. Four straight points by the Warriors pulled them within a point and then after trading points, the Broncos utilized their final timeout to refocus on set point. They were able to work a kill on the set play, tying the match a set each with a set two win, 25-23.
In the third, Hastings rode the momentum they had by taking the second set as they doubled up Midland 10-5 in the onset. A pivotal timeout from the Warriors’ sideline allowed the home team to regroup in the critical set. They came out with better effort defensively, both at the net and then in the back row.
Hailee Martinez and Claire Johnson, who were subbed into the set, sparked a massive 12-1 run for the Warriors, putting them in front 21-15. Martinez coordinated the surge that saw three kills from the arm of Johnson and two each from Abbey Ringler and Jessie Moss. Hastings was unable to delay the inevitable as a three-point run capped off by an ace serve from Addy Mosier put Midland back in the driver’s seat with a 25-17 win.
The Warriors used the momentum in the early parts of the fourth as they charged out of the Broncos. With Delanie Vallinch at the service line and Lauryn Samuelson inserted into the front row, Midland went on a 6-0 run to go up 11-4. Samuelson had a pair of kills in the run and teamed up with Johnson for two blocks.
Later in the set, it was Williams getting going again. She had three kills to as the Warriors moved in front by a 17-8 score. The lead grew to 12 as Moss hit back-to-back kills, 20-12.
Not a team to go down easy, Hastings rallied with a 12-2 run. The Broncos’ gallop at the end of the set made things interesting at 21-23, but consecutive kills from Williams clinched the match for the Warriors, 25-21.
Williams finished the night with a team-high 17 kills, setting a new single-match high, while hitting .536 on the attack. Schaefer and Samuelson joined her in double figures with 11 and 10, respectively. As a team, the Warriors had a .232 hitting percentage.
Midland used three setters on the night. Brielle Power finished with 29 set assists while Brena Mackling and Hailee Martinez, who split time at the second position, had 12 and 13 assists.
The Warriors had a solid night at the net with 13 blocks. Samuelson served as the main section of the defensive wall with nine total blocks, one solo and eight assists. Williams had a hand in on four blocks while Ringler and Johnson each had three assists.
Vallinch paced the team in the back row with 23 digs from her libero position. Kailyn Scottreached double digits as well with 10.
Midland had its best night at the service line so far this year with nine aces. Mackling, Martinez, and Vallinch all had a pair while Scott, Addy Mosier, and Emmalee Sheppard all had one.
“Give Hastings a lot of credit tonight. They played really tough defensively and kept balls in play,” said head coach Paul Giesselmann. “I liked the way our team handled the adversity we were facing. We had stretches where we played really well tonight and looked like a Top 15 team, but we also had others where we weren’t quite at that level. We’ll get back in the gym tomorrow and keep working to get better. We’ve got a really big match on Saturday with Mount Marty who beat Hastings, so we’ve got to be ready to play.”
Midland (6-5, 2-1 GPAC) will hit the road this coming Saturday for a conference match with Mount Marty (9-7, 2-1 GPAC) up in Yankton, South Dakota. The first serve between the Warriors and Lancers is slated for 3:00 p.m. inside Cimpl Arena.
