Garden City scores monumental early-season win over Hutch

Garden City, KS-The Broncbusters have shown glimpses through their first 11 matches.  

On Wednesday though, after a slow start, Garden City turned those glimpses into fundamentally sound volleyball. The end result: a victory over an opponent that has thoroughly dominated them over the past two decades.  

Julia Brazil tallied 20 kills, Vitoria Stedile added 37 digs, and Garden City toppled Hutchinson in five sets, 20-25, 27-25, 25-15, 19-25, 15-9 at Conestoga Arena.  

The Broncbusters, which improved to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play, beat the Blue Dragons for only the third time in their last 48 meetings and first since 2022.  

"This was a huge confidence builder for our team," first-year Head Coach, Jacob Sander said afterwards. "They played really well." 

Kinnley Flower had 16 assists and seven digs, and Carly Lang recorded six kills and 10 digs.  

Minus the first set, which Garden City led 15-14 before Hutchinson closed on an 11-5 run spearheaded by a slew of Broncbuster attack errors, Sander's team looked sharp.  

Trailing 16-10 midway through the second, Garden City answered with eight straight points. After the Blue Dragons came back to take a 24-23 advantage, the Broncbusters staved off set point thanks to Katarina Miscevic's kill. Moments later, Brazil sent the crowd into a frenzy with a massive spike, evening the match, 1-1. 

"These girls know they're going to face adversity during certain points of the season," Sander added. "Tonight was a perfect example." 

Garden City made it look easy in the third, breaking open a 9-7 game with a 16-8 run that was capped off by a Hutchinson service error that ended the set.  

The Blue Dragons made things interesting in the fourth, turning an early three-point deficit into a 24-16 lead. After Sander's bunch rattled off three straight points, McKenzie Murphy sent the match into a fifth set with a power kill down the right sideline.  

"We needed this win tonight," Sander explained.  

Garden City scored the first three points of the decisive game; then built a five-point cushion following a Hutchinson attack error. That eventually led to match point, where Murphy's attack sailed wide right, giving the Broncbusters a monumental early-season victory.  

Vitoria Reis had four assists and five digs for Garden City, which improved to 3-2 on their home floor. Brazil chipped in 12 digs.  

The loss dropped Hutchinson to 8-7 overall and 1-2 in the Jayhawk.