The last time the NAIA No. 5 Hastings College volleyball team played Doane at home, the Broncos had to battle back from a two-set-to-one deficit to win the match.
Hastings College found itself in a similar position Saturday in the GPAC tournament championship match. The Broncos forced a fifth set after trailing but could not complete the comeback, falling 14-25, 28-26, 25-20, 17-25, 15-10 at Lynn Farrell Arena. Hastings College head coach Matt Buttermore said it just came down to not executing the right plays.
“They played well, and we made a lot of bad decisions. That’s what it came down to,” said Buttermore, whose Broncos (28-4) dropped three spots to No. 8 in the NAIA poll released Sunday. “We had a lot of opportunities to win set No. 2 and didn’t take advantage of them; and from there, things just kind of steamrolled. We had a lot of kids that usually do a great job of making decisions make bad decision after bad decision. We had our swings, we had our chances, but we just didn’t take advantage at the net.”
Despite the loss, Hastings received an at-large bid to the NAIA tournament that kicks off Nov. 27 in Sioux City, Iowa. The pairings for the 36-team tournament were set to be announced at noon today.
To read more, see Monday's Hastings Tribune or the Tribune e-edition.>>>
