Stats |
Highlights | The #18 Pioneers defeated #8 Hastings in a tense 5-set match in the first game of pool play at the 2012 NAIA Volleyball National Championship on Tuesday. The defenses dominated as MNU had a .176 hitting percentage and the Broncos hit at a .129 clip.
The first two sets were virtually identical. The teams played even through about 15 points, then Hastings opened up a lead (17-13 in the 1st and 16-14 in the 2nd) before MNU called a time-out. The Pioneers then went on a run of their own to take control of each set and claim victory. MNU won the first set 25-20 and the second set 25-22.
Hastings did not go quietly, however, and the third set went their way. MNU trailed most of the way before a run tied the set at 19. Hastings held off any late MNU charge and won 25-23. Set 4 was all Hastings. With the score 10-8 in favor of MNU, Hastings got on a roll and carried it through the end of the set. The Pioneers were out-scored 17-5 en route to a 15-25 defeat to send the match to the 5th set.
The 5th set began to look like it would also go to Hastings. With the score tied at 9, the Broncos went on a 4-1 run to seize control at 13-10. After an MNU time-out, the Pioneers won the next point and senior
Megan Hayes went on a service run to close it out. Blocks from
Britney Grittman and
Luka Gomes on Hastings star Kendra Schwein contributed to the run, and
Molly Brewster closed out the match with a knuckled roll shot kill to give MNU the 15-13 victory.
Molly Brewster had 13 kills and 14 digs.
Linjun Ji has 13 kills and 19 digs.
Vladi Kopanarova recorded 12 kills and 5 blocks.
Megan Hayes had 9 kills and 8 blocks.
Becca Valdez had a match-high 30 digs. And
Taryn Salum had a match-high 49 assists to go along with 2 aces and 3 blocks.
The Pioneers are 26-4 (1-0 Pool E). The next match is Wednesday at 5:45 vs. #5 Embry-Riddle (28-5, 0-1 Pool E). Embry-Riddle was defeated in their first match by Bellevue.
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