Seward Shot Down in Wyo-Braska Shootout

It certainly wasn't the weekend the Seward County Lady Saints were looking for Friday and Saturday in Torrington, Wyoming as they competed in the 2013 Wyo-Braska Shootout.  Coming off of maybe their best performance of the year in a swift three set win over Garden City at home on Wednesday, Seward fell flat at the annual tournament, winning just one of four matches to fall back to .500 on the season.  The Lady Saints couldn't hold a 2-1 lead in their opening match against Eastern Wyoming, losing in five, but came back to beat a red hot Sheridan team in three in their second match of the weekend.  Saturday was really a grind for the Lady Saints as they lost six straight sets to Central and Western Wyoming to lose both matches in three to end the tournament.  

                The Lady Saints took on the host Eastern Wyoming Lancers in the opener of the tournament.  Seward and Eastern played a tight first set before the Lady Saints pushed through in the end to win 27-25.  In the second Eastern Wyoming took advantage of a number of Seward errors, including 9 hitting errors to even the match with a 25-21 victory of their own.  In the third Seward again grinded out a 27-25 win and looked like they were in good shape, needing to win just one of the final two sets to take the match.  The Lady Saints couldn't close in the fourth as the Lancers came back to knot the match at two with a 25-20 win.  The deciding fifth was a see saw battle as Seward took a 6-5 lead before Eastern came back to lead 8-6 and the Lady Saints led 10-9 later on, but in the end it was the Lancers who came out on top, knocking off the Lady Saints 15-13 to take the match 3-2.  Carolina Gasparini led Seward with 15 kills and 14 digs in the loss while Morgan Riley also had a big match at the net with 10 kills and 8 blocks.  Stepping into the starting role on the outside, Sheree Ryan finished with a career high 11 kills as well as a career high 5 blocks for the Lady Saints.  Both Seward defensive specialists had big matches as Kelci Bedingfield pulled up 30 digs and Kari Anderson finished with 17. 

SEWARD COUNTY/EASTERN WYOMING BOX SCORE

                Seward had a tough task in front of them trying to right the ship in their second game of the tournament as they took on a red hot Sheridan team who had yet to lose to an unranked opponent (10-0) in the month of September.  The Lady Saints didn't buy into the hype.  Seward came out aggressive and took it right to the Generals, winning the first set 25-21 to get on the board first.  In the second it was more of the same for the gals in green as the Lady Saints matched the score of the first with another 25-21 win to take a commanding 2-0 lead.  Trying not to repeat the actions of their first match and lose a late lead, the Lady Saints didn't give Sheridan any breathing room, winning a marathon third set 31-29 to sweep the match 3-0.  Seward's offense was running smooth in the win as Nacole Miller dished out 33 assists including 11 to Gasparini and 10 to Kristen Anderson.

SEWARD COUNTY/SHERIDAN BOX SCORE

                Saturday the Lady Saints woke up looking to keep the momentum going, but Central Wyoming quickly showed that they had different plans.  The first set was a highly competitive one, but it was the Rustlers who came out on top of a 25-21 victory to take an early 1-0 lead.  In the second Seward had a golden opportunity to even things up, but once again it was Central coming up big in the clutch to win 25-22 and go in front 2-0.  Seward battled in the third with their backs to the wall, but for the third straight game had trouble finishing as Central swept the match with a 27-25 win to end things.  Gasparini and Anderson again supplied the bulk of the offensive firepower for Seward, Gasparini finishing off 14 kills and Anderson 9 for a combined 23 of the Lady Saints 34 as a team.  Kari Anderson was the only Seward player to finish with double digit digs as she pulled up 19 in the loss. 

SEWARD COUNTY/CENTRAL WYOMING BOX SCORE

                Things wouldn't get any easier for Seward in their final game of the tournament.  The Lady Saints task was a large one as in front of them was the 7^th ranked Western Wyoming Mustangs.  Western Wyoming flexed their muscles in the first set, pounding Seward 25-13 to go up 1-0.  In the second the Lady Saints were more competitive, but once again it was the Mustangs who came out with the victory 25-21.  Facing a monumental chore of a comeback against the mighty Mustangs, the Lady Saints fell flat in the third, letting Western have their way in a 25-17 win to sweep the match 3-0.  It was a tough way to end the tournament for the Lady Saints as Seward hit just .070 as a team in the match, led for the fourth straight match by Gasparini who ended the night with 8 kills.  Miller recorded a double double with 19 assists and 10 digs while Annelise Sanchez ended the loss with a team best 12 digs. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#7 WESTERN WYOMING BOX SCORE

                The 1-3 weekend drops Seward back to .500 at 10-10 on the year, the second straight year that they have failed to have a winning record at the 20 match mark, just the second time in program history for that to occur.  The Lady Saints will look to rebound in a busy and important week of Jayhawk West action as they hit the road to Dodge City and Hutchinson on Wednesday and Friday before returning home to take on Pratt on Saturday in the Greenhouse.