Lady Saints Suffer First Loss of 2014

All good things must come to an end, unfortunately for the Seward County Lady Saints, their undefeated run to start the 2014 season did just that on Friday afternoon in Vernon, Texas as they fell 3-1 to the Jayhawk East's Fort Scott to drop their overall record to 5-1 on the early season.  

Early hitting struggles put the Lady Saints in a hole right off the bat against the Division II Greyhounds.  Just 15 points into the first set, Seward dug themselves a five point hole, trailing 10-5.  Then it was Ft. Scott's turn to shoot themselves in the foot as a bevy of 'Hound errors allowed the Lady Saints back into things and an ace from Carolina Gasparini midway through the set tied the score at 12.  The Lady Saints couldn't keep the momentum though and after Ft. Scott scored eight of the next nine points, Seward found themselves down big 20-13.  Just when it looked like the set was over, three kills from Thayna Silva and another two from Gasparini drew the Lady Saints back to within three at 23-20, but as quick as the hope built, it was gone as Ft. Scott finished Seward off with a pair of kills to close out the set 25-20.  

Seward got off to a quick start in the second, scoring the first three points of the set, but in no time the Greyhounds roared back to tie things up at 6 all.  The teams played even to 13-13 when a pair of Gasparini aces gave the Lady Saints the slight edge at 16-14.  It continued to be a nip and tuck battle down the stretch as neither team held more than a two point advantage, but the Lady Saints were able to stay in front 23-22 as they looked to even the match at 1.  But, that isn't how things went down as two straight Lady Saint errors allowed Ft. Scott back in front and the Greyhounds finished things off on set point to win 25-23 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.  

With their backs to the wall, the Lady Saints came out strong in the third, getting two early kills and a solo block from freshman Angelina Minor to give them a quick 6-1 advantage.  But once again, consistency hurt Seward as Ft. Scott got the ball back and the Lady Saints couldn't sideout as the 'Hounds scored five straight points to tie the set up at 6.  The roller coaster continued as Seward chalked up seven of the next eight points to grab a 13-7 lead, but back to back errors later on in the set would see Ft. Scott draw back to within two at 19-17.  A kill and ace from Silva helped Seward regain their footing and two straight kills from Gasparini finished the set off as the Lady Saints hung on to win 25-20.  

The fourth set looked like a polar opposite from the third early on as Ft. Scott jumped out to a 5-1 lead before the Lady Saints came back to even things at 6.  Seward scored two more to go up 8-6 and continued to hold the lead through the middle part of the set at 14-11.  The teams traded points to 19-16 and the Lady Saints looked like they were in control as they stretched their lead to 21-16 later in the set.  A service error hurt Seward's momentum and an attack error swung that momentum to the Greyhounds side.  Ft. Scott came all the way back to tie the set at 24 before a Seward timeout and the break wasn't enough to extinguish the fire as the 'Hounds scored the final two points to close the Lady Saints out 26-24 to win the match 3-1.  

Once again, nearly all of the Lady Saints offense came from three players in Silva, Gasparini, and Minor, who combined for 38 of Seward's 47 kills in the match.  Silva led the way with 16 kills and notched her second straight double-double with 14 digs as well.  Gasparini also picked up a double-double with 13 kills and a team high 19 digs.  Minor had 9 kills and a block for the Lady Saints.  Kristen Anderson dished out 22 assists in the loss while Kari Anderson was second on the team with 17 digs.  

Seward falls to 5-1 on the year while NJCAA Division II member Ft. Scott improves to 5-1.  The Lady Saints will hit the court again at 8:00 Friday night as they take on a winless NJCAA Division III member in Richland.