Balance Attack Leads Seward to Key Jayhawk Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pratt Community College (14-6,5-3) | 20 | 16 | 21 | 0 |
|
Seward County Community College (16-11,4-3) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
As the calendar turns over to October, the Seward County Lady Saints may finally be hitting their stride. Wednesday night in the Greenhouse they ran their current win streak to four as they downed an upstart Pratt squad 3-0 in a swift 1:10 contest to climb back into third place in the race for the Jayhawk West crown. Seward had five players that finished with six or more kills in the victory and their defense was equally as balanced as four different Lady Saints reached double digits in digs in the victory.
Out of the gates, the match looked pretty much like everyone was expecting it to, a hard fought effort between two of the main contenders looking to knock Hutchinson from its perch atop the conference. Midway through the first set it was a stalemate with Seward allowing Pratt to hang around with a number of errors while the Beavers did just enough on the offensive end to work the score to an 11-11 tie. It remained a nailbiter to the later portions of the set with neither team leading by more than two the entire way until finally a kill from Carolina Gasparini gave Seward a 22-19 advantage. Two Pratt errors gave Seward set point and the Lady Saints closed the set out with a kill from Alex Wood to win 25-20 and take a 1-0 lead in the match. Seward finished the first set with 14 kills and just 4 errors, good for a .263 hitting percentage as a team.
Seward came out in the second set swinging away, getting kills from five different players in the first 12 points of the set to take a 7-5 lead early on. They continued to push, taking the Beavers out of their game with a potent attack that seemed like it could come from anywhere at anytime. Midway through the set Seward led it 12-6 and the Lady Saints extended their lead to 17-9 on a kill from Carolina Freitas and later 21-13 after three straight Pratt blunders. Seward never led Pratt have a chance in the second, finishing off the Lady Beavers 25-16 on a tip from Taryn Bedore to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. After a 14 kill first set, the Lady Saints upped their output to 16 in the second, hitting above .260 for the second straight set.
The Lady Saints fell behind early in the third set, but it didn't take long for them to get it going as a 7-1 run quickly gave them an 8-3 advantage in the period after a combo block by Thayna Silva and Megan Sharratt on the right side. The Lady Saints allowed Pratt to get back to within one with some shaky passing on their serve receive, but they worked through it and got three kills in four points by Silva and Wood to move their lead back to four at 16-12. Pratt hung around and Seward couldn't gain any ground until a block from Gasparini and Freitas extended their lead to five at 22-17 late in the set. Pratt was able to creep back in to within a pair at 23-21, but a kill by Wood gave the Lady Saints three shots at match point and it only took them one as a Pratt attack into the net sealed the Beavers den as the Lady Saints took the third 25-21 and the match 3-0 in a clean sweep.
No individual efforts popped off of the stat sheet at games end, but it was the balanced effort of the Lady Saints, usually a Lady Beaver trait, that did. Seward had five players, Gasparini, Silva, Wood, Minor, and Sharratt all finish with 6 or more kills in the match, led by Sharratt who had 9. Their .268 hitting percentage as a team is their best mark since their August 27th opener against Barton when they hit .304 as a team. Nacole Miller chalked up another double-double with a team best 21 assists to go along with 11 digs while Kari Anderson led Seward with 19 digs and Silva chipped in 17.
Seward wins their fourth straight and improves to 16-11 overall on the year and 4-3 in Jayhawk West action. The Lady Beavers find themselves in their biggest rut of the early season as they lose for the third time in four outs to fall to 14-6 overall and 5-3 in league play.
Next up for the Lady Saints is their longest road trip of the conference season on Saturday when they make the journey to Concordia to take on a pesky Cloud County team whom they are currently tied with in the Jayhawk West standings. The Lady Saints and Lady T-Birds will shoot for a 2:00 first serve in Bryant Gymnasium in Concordia with second place in the Jayhawk West on the line.