Seward County Earns Pair of Sweeps Over Midland and Ranger

Liberal, KAN – On Saturday morning the T-Bird Invitational reached day two which saw the Seward County Lady Saints volleyball team take on two more opponents in Midland and Ranger and once again the brooms were brought out, but this time Seward County was the team doing the sweeping as they took 3-0 wins in both games to end the weekend.
Day two of the T-Bird Invitational started early in the morning for the Lady Saints as a 10:00 AM matchup put them against Midland College for their third game of the weekend. It didn't take long for Seward County to take the lead as Winiffer Rodriguez dropped in an ace to put SCCC ahead 4-3 and when Dora Filipovic connected on a kill from the pin a few points later to increase the lead to 10-7in the first, Seward County never looked back. Rafaela DaSilva was able to find Marcelina Pyka who scored the kill with authority to put the lead 16-10 and that lead grew quickly when Keala Wilson put the Lady Saints up 20-16 after an ace of her own. Clara Duarte sealed the deal with a kill to the corner to win the first set 25-18 and move up 1-0.
Midland came out swinging in the second as they were able to take an early 8-4 lead over SCCC but the Lady Saints were constantly cutting it down as Lajla Rasljanin sent one down the middle to bring it to 10-6. Wilson sent one down from the pin to put the score 15-10 and it looked like Midland was going to maintain their lead until Rodriguez connected on not one, not two, but three aces in a row to cap off a 6-0 run to tie the set 16-16. Momentum shifted towards the Lady Saints and they kept the good times rolling as a big dig on the defensive end from Rodriguez quickly set up Duarte on the slide to bring it to set point at 24-21 and a triple block by Filipovic, Pyka, and Duarte locked up the second for SCCC 25-21 to grow a 2-0 lead over Midland.
Aces seemed to be a theme throughout this morning match and DaSilva continued to grow the trend with two aces of her own to start the third with a 2-0 SCCC lead that only grew from their as she and Rasljanin combined for the block to put the Lady Saints ahead 9-6.  Seward County began to pull away and when Duarte and Pyka once again sent one back for a block to put the score 17-11, their lead never decreased again with the Lady Saints taking the third 25-16 and completing the 3-0 sweep to start the day off on a high note.
Seward County's second match of the day put them against a familiar foe in Ranger who earlier in the 2023 season, the Lady Saints swept down in Texas 3-0. Just like their first matchup a few weeks ago Seward County ran out in front early as they took control from the start, putting themselves ahead with a 15-10 lead and never looked back, taking set one 25-22 over the Rangers to go up 1-0.
SCCC kept their onslaught going into the second set as Pyka and Wilson combined to raise the roof for a block at the net to put the Lady Saints up 8-4. Rasljanin threw down the hammer with a ferocious skip set kill to grow the lead to 12-5 and Wilson kept the Rangers from crawling back by snuffing their flame with a kill off the block to put SCCC up 18-12. Once again, the Lady Saints took the set as Pyka scored back-to-back kills to win it 25-20 and move to 2-0.
With the first two sets going so well, Seward County decided to repeat their success and Wilson helped get them started by floating in a kill to put the Lady Saints up 7-4 but the Rangers wouldn't leave on their own as they fought back to tie the third at 10. Again, a lead started to grow but this time it was for Ranger as they pushed in front 19-16 until the Lady Saints shifted back into gear and retook the advantage and eventually the set 25-22 to complete their second 3-0 sweep of the Rangers this season.
Seward County volleyball improves to 10-6 on the season and will now head to Barton on Monday with a two-game win streak under their belt as they face off with the cougars in a 6:30 PM Jayhawk conference action.