Broncbusters Battle Barton in Four-Set Heartbreaker

Photo by: Adam Shrimplin/Garden City Athletics

Garden City, KS – Garden City pushed Barton to the brink on Saturday afternoon inside Conestoga Arena but came up just short in a four-set thriller, falling 3–1 (25–21, 22–25, 18–25, 26–28).

The Broncbusters came out strong in the opener, hitting .273 as a team and closing on a 6–2 run to secure a 25–21 win. Andrea Djordjevic was a spark with 10 kills and 4 blocks, while Kat Miscevic anchored the middle with 5 kills, 3 aces, and 3 blocks.

Barton responded with two straight set victories, capitalizing on Buster miscues in the second and controlling the net in the third. Despite steady production from Beatriz Da Cruz (8 kills, .320 hitting, 8 digs) and Paris Bond (6 kills, 3 blocks), Garden City found itself trailing 2–1.

The fourth set turned into a dramatic battle. Garden City surged late behind Jana Kovacevic (9 kills, 17 digs) and Duru Karagoz (6 kills, 4 blocks), fighting off multiple set points. The Busters forced extra points but Barton managed to escape 28–26, sealing the match.

By the Numbers:

• Kills: 44 (Djordjevic – 10, Kovacevic – 9, Da Cruz – 8, Karagoz – 6, Bond – 6, Miscevic – 5)

• Blocks: 5.0 (Karagoz – 4, Djordjevic – 4, Miscevic – 3, Bond – 3)

• Aces: 9 (Miscevic – 3, Kovacevic – 2, Arwine – 2, Reis – 1, Nogueira – 1)

• Digs: 91 (Nogueira – 30, Kovacevic – 17, Arwine – 13, Reis – 8, Da Cruz – 8)

The loss drops Garden City to 7–9 overall and 4–3 in conference play.

Next Up: The Broncbusters remain at Conestoga Arena, hosting Pratt Community College on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 6:30 PM in Garden City, KS.