SIOUX CITY, Iowa — No. 8 Hastings College kept its hopes alive at the NAIA national tournament Wednesday night with a 25-13, 25-19, 25-21 sweep of No. 23 Bellevue at the Tyson Events Center.
The win evened HC’s mark to 1-1 in pool play after the Broncos suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss Tuesday night, with the Broncos final match of the pool play portion of the tournament set for 8 p.m. today against Embry-Riddle.
Senior Kendra Schwein led the Broncos with 21 kills, while senior setter Haley Beardsey had 38 assists. HC limited the Bruins, who entered the NAIA tournament with the No. 1 offense in the country, to just a .112 attack percentage.
“I’m really proud of this team for coming back from a heartbreaker last night, and putting together a very focused effort tonight. (Bellevue) is a team that we’re physically better than, but they attack some spots on you. We had to stay smart mentally,” said HC first-year head coach Matt Buttermore, who was an assistant coach at Bellevue for coming to Hastings. “Our block did a good job. We won the serve and pass battle. Their best player is their setter, and when you can really take her out of the game, that can really slow them down.”
HC’s win sets things up for an interesting situation tonight in Pool E.
To read more, see Thursday's Hastings Tribune or the Tribune e-edition.>>>
