Seward Sweeps Busters to Move to 3-1 in Jayhawk Play
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Garden City Community College (1-16, 1-4) | 16 | 20 | 9 | 0 |
|
Seward County Community College (6-6, 3-1) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Nearing the conclusion of the first month of the NJCAA Volleyball season, the Seward County Lady Saints might just be starting to find their stride. Monday night in front of a good Greenhouse crowd, Seward blazed past the Garden City Broncbusters 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-9) to improve to 6-6 overall on the year but more importantly, to 3-1, good for 2nd place in the Jayhawk West standings in the early going.
It was a slow start for both teams Monday night as the Lady Saints managed just two kills through the first 22 points of the first set, while Garden City afforded Seward an early advantage thanks to 11 errors in the same span to give the gals in green a 13-9 lead. The Seward offense picked things up from there, getting kills on the next four plays from Viviane Viana, Megan Sharratt, and then back to back put aways from Alex Wood to stretch their lead to 17-9. Later in the set, back to back Seward errors allowed the Busters back to within five, but a pair of kills from Viana and an ace from Jade Piper finished things off for the Lady Saints as they took the first 25-16. The Lady Saints offense was efficient once it got going in the first, finishing with a .333 hitting percentage for the set with 11 kills and just two errors in 27 attacks.
The second set was once again slow going for the Lady Saints as the Busters had them tied 8-8 early on. A Garden hitting error followed by an ace from Seward libero Kimberly Diaz gave the Lady Saints a 10-8 edge and they held that two point advantage to the midway point of the set at 13-11. The Lady Saints extended their lead to 22-17 later in the period, but back to back unforced errors allowed Garden to creep back to within three at 22-19. With the set on the line, Seward went to their sophomore middle Megan Sharratt and she delivered on back to back plays to give the Lady Saints set point before the teams traded service errors to close things out and give Seward the second 25-20. Sharratt led the Lady Saints attack on offense with five kills in the set, Seward hit .364 as a team in the set with 12 kills and four errors on 22 swings.
There would be far less drama for the Lady Saints in the third. Seward bolted out to a 7-1 lead on the Busters and following a solo block from Viana, led 14-5 half way through the set. A barrage of kills from Maritza Mesa gave the Lady Saints a double digit lead at 18-8 and four straight points after that, highlighted by a pair of Kaysie Paxton kills put them on top 22-8. Garden finally got the ball back with a kill at 24-9, but a Buster attack error did them in as the Lady Saints took the third 25-9 to sweep the match 3-0. Seward's offense was unstoppable in the third, connecting on 13 kills in 25 attempts, good for a .400 hitting percentage.
The stat sheet was a clean one for Seward in the win as the Lady Saints hit a season high .365 as a team in the victory, led by a career high 11 kills from Viana. Sharratt and Wood were sharp as a tack in the win, combining for 17 kills without a single error for the Lady Saints, hitting .531 as a duo. Piper dished out 21 assists in the victory while Amanda Pereira added 10. Diaz led the Lady Saints with 13 digs.
Seward wins for the third time in four outings, improving to 6-6 overall on the season while upping their Jayhawk West mark to 3-1 where they are now in a three way tie for 2nd place with Pratt and Cloud County. Garden City's miserable start to the 2015 campaign continues as they fall to 1-16 overall and 1-4 in Jayhawk West action.
Next up for the Lady Saints is a key early season matchup with the Pratt Beavers Wednesday in the Greenhouse. Seward and Pratt are currently tied for 2nd place in the league standings at 3-1. The two teams will get things underway at 6:30 pm in Liberal and as always, admission is free.