Broncos end season sooner than expected with first round loss at State Tournament
LINCOLN - Heading into their Nov. 5 first-round state matchup with D2 No. 4 Maywood-Hayes Center, D2 No. 8 Mullen really liked their chances of winning. Those dreams were dashed by unforced errors by the Broncos as they fell 23-25, 11-25, and 22-25 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln.
“I think our game plan worked well in terms of what we needed to do to stop them,” head coach Jennifer Moore said. “We just forgot to play on our side of the net. It was super disappointing for that to happen in that situation.”
The match between the Huskies and the Broncos started off with an ace from sophomore Ashlin Broz. Maywood-Hayes Center increased the lead to 3-0 with a kill from Alexis Wood.
Mullen started on the comeback trail with a big kill in the middle by Brooke McCully. A block at the net by Taylor Svoboda and Custer County Chief All-Area team member Samantha Moore cut the deficit to 7-5.
Another kill by McCully and then a block by Samantha Moore tied the first set up at 12-12.
With the score 17-17, the Broncos started to open the lead up with an ace by Samantha Moore. Later on, Kylie Licking earned a kill on the left side down the line increasing the lead to 22-18.
M-H was not fazed by the deficit and were able to rally off four straight points to tie it back up at 22 apiece.
The Huskies ended up winning the next two points putting them on the doorstep of taking set one. The Broncos held them off for one point with a kill by Svoboda.
M-H fed Olivia Hansen on the next play and she took care of the rest with a kill in the middle to help the Huskies take set one.
The momentum that M-H grabbed with the come from behind win continued into the second set of the match. They raced out to a 6-0 lead thanks to an ace by Broz and a kill by Olivia Hansen.
After falling behind by so much, Mullen tried to start making a comeback. Samantha Moore picked up a kill in the middle trimming the Huskies lead to five.
Ultimately the Broncos were not able to get out of their own way with serves in the net. This issue had them trailing 23-11 in the second.
“They would score three points and we would finally side out and get a point,” Jennifer Moore said. “Then we turned around and served it in the net. It felt like we were battling ourselves throughout the entirety of the match.”
M-H was able to close the match out with a big kill from their senior Jaycee Widener. She finished the match with 12 kills overall.
To begin the third the Broncos once again found themselves in a situation of playing catch-up. Stevie Handsaker’s kill had the Huskies in charge 5-2.
As the lead for M-H grew to 10-5 Mullen decided to take a timeout.
Out of the break from action, the Broncos came out swinging with back to back kills from Alli Loughran and Taylor Svoboda. A block at the net by Loughran made it 11-8 in favor of the Huskies.
Licking kept the momentum going with an ace serve and Moore picked up a role kill on a set up by Licking. Late in the third, it was tied at 1717.
Despite Mullen’s best efforts to slow M-H down, the Huskies had one more surge left in them as they ended the set and match on an 8-5 run. It was Widener who would pick up the deciding kill on a long rally.
Stat leaders for the Broncos were Samantha Moore with 15 kills to lead all players. Licking and Marshall each had four kills apiece.
Lindey Coble led the team in aces with two and Marshall, Svoboda, and Samantha Moore each had one.
Diller-Odell finished the year as back to back state champs with a dramatic come from behind five set victory over Chambers-Wheeler Central in the D2 championship. Fall City Sacred Heart ended up third after winning 3-1 over M-H at Lincoln East.
With the loss, the Broncos finished the 2020 season with a record of 28-6. Overall it was a good year for Mullen, who finished as MNAC conference champions and D2-8 district champs.
They had six seniors on this years team who played an integral part in the programs success. They were Michelle Brown, McCully, Samantha Moore, Licking, Marshall, and Coble.
“They were a huge group for us,” Jennifer Moore said. “They have done so much together since they were very little. They are going to be dearly missed that’s for darn sure.”