Broncbusters lose five-set thriller to Eastern Wyoming

By Mike Pilosof

McCook, Neb-Regardless of the final tally, Garden City's afternoon tilt with Eastern Wyoming on Friday was maybe the match of the season. Unfortunately, from a results perspective, this one will sting for a while.

The Broncbusters looked sharp in the first set only to watch as the Lancers came storming back to take it in five 25-20, 19-25, 25-27, 33-31, 11-15 in the second match of the McCook Tournament.

Leading by one in the opening frame, Garden City used a Laren Baldowsky spike and a Reagan Karlin attack followed by consecutive Eastern Wyoming errors to build a five-point edge. They eventually stretched that to seven before the Lancers called a timeout.

"It really was a great match to watch," Head Coach Patrick Hiltz said. "We did a lot of good things."

The Lancers eventually evened the score at 20 before Garden City scored the final five points of the set, capped by Angel Sherman's block at the net. It was maybe some of the best volleyball the Broncbusters have played all season.

But the brown and gold struggled to find their footing in the second, and Alyssa Parmelee's kill that snuck just inside the service line, put the Lancers up 10-4-forcing Hiltz to call a timeout.

"We didn't really execute in that second set," Hiltz explained.

Another kill by Parmelee stretched Eastern Wyoming's lead to nine. That advantage never dipped below five the rest of the way.

But maybe the most disappointing aspect of this day was the third set. Garden City played well enough to win it, coming back from as many as four down to tie things up at 25. But Karlin, who has limited her mistakes during a fantastic start to her freshman season, loaded up for an all-out attack on the left side. But her line-drive spike snapped into the net. On set point, Parmelee snuck the ball past the outstretched arms of Remi Vargas, and Eastern Wyoming was up 2-1.

"We definitely had our opportunities," Hiltz added.

Garden City rebounded in a thrilling fourth set. After blowing a five-point lead, the Broncbusters stayed the course, fighting off four match points before finally delivering the knockout blow: a Tauja Durham crosscourt kill that evened everything 2-2.  

But the road team just flat ran out of gas in the final frame. The Lancers scored eight of the first 10 points to build a six-point lead. And after Garden City sliced that in half, Alli Meng's attack was blocked at the net on match point.

The loss dropped the Broncbusters to 6-4. They play Frank Phillips and Western Nebraska on Saturday at 2 and 4 p.m.