Miller breaks Hastings College volleyball career digs record

HASTINGS, Neb. ( Press Release ) - The Hastings volleyball team fell 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 25-15, 21-25, 12-15) to the College of Saint Mary to conclude their regular season. Senior Miriam Miller achieved history in the loss, becoming the all-time leader in digs at Hastings College, now with 2,115.

The Broncos initially started fast, but Saint Mary rallied to take a 10-9 lead. From there, neither team would lead by more than two until at 22-20, won three of five points to take the first set, 25-22. Senior Majesta Valasek led the way with five kills, including a kill on set point.

The second set belonged to the Flames as their 9-3 lead grew to 22-11, before they won the second set 25-15. They could not do much wrong, hitting .464 with only four errors in the set, recording 17 kills to Hastings' nine.

Hastings bounced back in the third set, as they started off by winning five of the first six points, led by three kills from freshman Makenna Sutter . Leading 8-4, Valasek and freshman Mikah O'Neill teamed up for a pair of blocks that led to six straight points. Saint Mary fought back to 19-14, but Hastings took six of the next seven points to seal the third set, 25-15.

In the fourth set, Hastings appeared to be on their way to a victory. They led 12-11, but Saint Mary turned the match around by winning the next seven points to go up 18-12. The Broncos fought, but could not make up the deficit, as Saint Mary took the fourth set 25-21.

Saint Mary continued their momentum in the fifth set, jumping out to a 10-6 lead. Hastings was able to trade points the rest of the way, but the Flames held off the Broncos late rally by getting a kill to close the match by a score of 15-12 in the fifth set.

Valasek and Sutter led the way with 19 and 17 kills, respectively. Junior Alexis Pontine had led the team with 28 assists, while junior Kinzi Havranek had 25 assists. Miller finished the match with 39 kills on her historic night. Junior Kaitlin Thiebauth also contributed seven blocks.

Up next, #5-seed Hastings will travel to Sioux City, IA to play #4-seed Morningside on Saturday, Nov. 9 for their GPAC Quarterfinal matchup.