Well Rounded Effort Gives Seward Saturday Sweep at Odessa

Using a number of different rotation combinations, the Seward County Lady Saints didn't miss a beat Saturday afternoon as they finished up action at the 2016 Odessa Invitational in Texas.  The Lady Saints opened the day with a 3-1 win over Midland and wrapped up the tourney with a 3-0 sweep of Lamar to finish the weekend 3-1 and improve their 2016 record to 8-3. 

The Lady Saints didn't exactly get off to the best start on Saturday, committing three different types of errors in the first four points of their match against Midland to fall behind 3-1 against the Chaparrals.  They quickly recovered though, eventually taking a 15-11 lead midway through the set on a big block from Belissa Guidotti and Paulina Zach on the outside.  The Lady Saints stayed hot, eventually pushing their advantage to seven at 19-12 on another block before wrapping up the set win with a kill from Kaysie Paxton to take the first 25-16.   

Seward and Midland played even through the first 16 points of the second in an 8-8 tie, but the Lady Saints fell flat from there.  Midland scored six in a row and 12 of the next 14 points, turning a tight set into a blowout as they took a double digit lead at 20-10.  It remained a 10 point cushion for the Chaps at set point before Seward scored five straight to make the score respectable, but a Lady Saint service error sealed their fate as Midland took the set 25-19 to even the match 1-1. 

The left arm of Maritza Mesa got the Lady Saints back on track in the third as the sophomore right side reeled off four kills in the first half of the set to give Seward a 12-9 lead midway through the crucial period.  Seward continued to come at the Chaps in all directions, eventually blowing their lead up to 20-12 and finishing Midland off 25-15 to go ahead 2-1 in the match. 

Seward carried the momentum right over into the fourth, jumping out to a 12-7 lead before a Chap timeout was called. The Lady Saints didn't let up, ballooning the lead to 19-11 and continued to comfortably lead deep into the set when Mesa's 11^th kill of the match gave Seward a handful of match points as they led 24-17.  Midland scathed off a pair of chances by the Lady Saints, but Paxton banged a ball down the line for the exclamation mark, giving Seward the set 25-19 and the match 3-1. 

Seward hit an efficient .309 in the win, getting a match high 11 kills from Mesa and eight from Paxton on the outside.  Amanda Pereira dished out 26 assists while running the Lady Saints offense while Daimond Aguinaldo anchored the back row with a team best 16 digs.

SEWARD COUNTY/MIDLAND BOX SCORE

With a pair of big Jayhawk West Conference games looming around the corner Monday and Wednesday, Seward Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen knew she would have to give some of her stars a rest on Saturday and their final match of the weekend against Lamar was when she pulled the trigger.  Seward employed a 6-2 offense, giving their two setters some time to rest while also sitting a pair of regulars in Mariana Nascimento and Kaysie Paxton. 

The decision to rest some of her regulars looked like it might backfire on Baziquetto-Allen early as the Lady Saints struggled at the onset against the Runnin' Lopes, finding themselves in a 16-10 hole midway through the first set.  Seward continued to trail by five at 19-14 before a big stand at the service line from Jazlyn Smith pushed the Lady Saints on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the match at 21-19.  After the Lopes finally broke Smith's serve, back to back kills from Guidotti and Briana Domino put Seward up three and two big aces from Pereira sealed the comeback for the Lady Saints in a 25-20 win. 

The second set got off to an even more disastrous start for the Lady Saints as their passing failed them en route to a 6-0 deficit.  Slowly but surely they got things figured out to come back midway through the set to tie the score at 11.  Back to back Lope errors gave Seward their first lead of the set at 13-11 and they used the momentum to run their lead up to five moments later at 19-14.  Playing in her first match as a Lady Saint, Erica Ferreira showed off her deadly serve with three straight aces late in the set, extending the Seward lead to 24-16 before a kill from Domino crosscourt sealed the set for the gals in green as they took it 25-17 to go ahead 2-0 in the match. 

Following the script of the first two sets, the Lady Saints watched as Lamar took the first three points of the third on a Seward service error, attack error, and blocking error to begin the set.  Once again though, they bounced back from the slow start, eventually retaking the lead on a pair of Mesa kills mid-set to go in front 13-9.  A kill later on from Guidotti put Seward ahead 18-11 and with their newfangled rotation, Guidotti found herself in a rare spot, at the service line for the Lady Saints.  Guidotti took advantage of the opportunity, dialing up her first career ace in 52 matches to give Seward a 19-11 lead.  The Lopes never came close to Seward again as the Lady Saints eventually closed out the set 25-18, taking the match in sweeping fashion 3-0. 

The Seward offense was a balanced attack, led by Mesa with a near flawless match as she banged home 11 kills without a single error to hit .688 for the Lady Saints.  Guidotti finished with not only a career high nine kills, but also a career best five digs to go along with her first career ace in the win.  In her Seward debut, Ferreira had seven kills and nine digs while also serving up four aces. 

SEWARD COUNTY/LAMAR BOX SCORE

The Lady Saints improve to 8-3 on the year with the day two sweep in Odessa, marking their best start since the 2011 season.  Seward continues a busy stretch of their schedule on Monday when they make the long trip Northeast to Concordia to take on Cloud County in a 6:30 Jayhawk West contest before returning home on Wednesday to take on longtime rival Garden City in the Greenhouse.