Lady Saints Split Tough Slate in Sterling

In what quite possibly was their toughest weekend schedule of the 2013 season, the Seward County Lady Saints came out 2-2 in Sterling, Colorado, picking up wins against 10-1 Otero and DII #11 ranked North Platte to move to 8-7 on the year.  

Following the long drive to the Eastern plains of Colorado, the Lady Saints opened up play in the 2013 Pizza Hut Classic at Northeastern Junior College against a red hot Otero team who came into the match at 10-1.  In the first set the Lady Saints took an early 6-5 lead on the Rattlers and stretched their lead to 13-9 midway through the period.  Seward continued to have control of the set as their lead grew to 20-14 before finally putting it away 25-20 to take a 1-0 lead. 

In the second set they once again grabbed control from the start, coming out of the gates up 7-4.  It remained a three point spread as the halfway point hit at 15-12.  That's when Seward stepped on the gas.  The Lady Saints scored five of the next six points to go in front 20-13 and continued on their roll, outscoring Otero 10-2 in the final 12 points of the set to blow the Rattlers out in the second 25-14.  The Lady Saints were nearly unstoppable in the second set, hitting .650 as a team, their highest hitting percentage as a club in a set all season.  They finished the set with 14 kills and just 1 error on 20 attacks. 

The third set was much like the first two, a good thing for the Lady Saints.  Seward gave themselves a nice cushion early on in the set, leading 9-4 and remained in front by three 11-8 later on.  Otero came back to tie the set at 13 and then took their first lead of the match at 15-13, but the Lady Saints were ready to put the Rattlers away.  Seward came back to tie the set at 16 and went back in front at 19-18.  They stretched their advantage to 21-18 before finishing things off 25-21 to sweep the match 3-0.

The numbers were pretty for the Lady Saints after the win.  Carolina Gasparini and Annelise Sanchez each finished with 13 kills with Gasparini hitting .571 and Sanchez hitting .313 in the match.  Also shining on the offensive end was Kristen Anderson who moved back to her right side position after setting for Seward the two weeks prior.  Anderson ended the match with 7 kills and a hitting percentage of .333.  Returning back to the lineup after missing the previous four matches, Nacole Miller led the Lady Saints with 28 assists in the win.  Kari Anderson paced Seward with 19 digs. 

SEWARD COUNTY/OTERO BOX SCORE

Next up for the Lady Saints was a true road test against the host school and 20^th ranked Northeastern Plainswomen.  It was a dreadfully slow start for the Lady Saints in the first as Seward immediately found themselves down big 15-3 to start the set.  Their deficit remained a large one as the set continued as the Lady Saints trailed 19-7 and 21-8 later on.  In the final 20 points of the set the Lady Saints played Northeastern even, but it was the 15-3 early deficit that did them in as they fell 25-13. 

Seward once again got off to a slow start in the second, falling behind 9-5 before a 3-0 Northeastern run stretched their lead to 12-5.  The Lady Saints battled back to make it close midway through at 15-10, but the Plainswomen opened the lead back up to 20-13 before putting Seward away 25-16. 

Off to a good start in the third, the results were much different for the Lady Saints.  Seward scored the first three points of the third set and led comfortably 10-4 as things got rolling.  The Lady Saints pushed their lead to seven at 15-8 and continued to lead by the same margin later on at 22-15.  Seward finished the set as strong as they started it, putting the Plainswomen away 25-16 to send the match to a fourth set. 

A 5-1 early run in the fourth had Seward out to a 10-6 lead after the teams played even through the first 10 points and the Lady Saints continued to lead midway through at 15-12.  Northeastern closed the gap to just one later on at 19-18, but two straight points gave the Lady Saints some breathing room up 21-18.  Seward once again played the end of the set well, keeping their distance from the Plainswomen before finally landing the knockout blow in a 25-21 win to force a fifth set. 

In the fifth the Lady Saints did the one thing that had plagued them in the first two sets, getting behind early.  Seward found themselves down 6-3 to get things going and then had to battle back to the changeover where they trailed 8-6.  A 5-1 burst from Northeastern gave the Plainswomen the steam they needed to go up 13-7 and the deficit was too large this time for the Lady Saints to overcome as they fell 15-9 to lose the match 3-2. 

Sanchez certainly gave it her all in the loss as the Seward sophomore finished with a career high 23 kills, shattering her previous high of 18.  She notched her fifth double-double of the season, also adding 14 digs in the defeat.  Gasparini also reached double digits in kills with 11 while Anderson added 8 for the Lady Saints.  Miller dished out 41 assists and had 8 digs.  The reigning Jayhawk West Defensive Player of the Week Kelci Bedingfield finished with 24 digs for the Lady Saints while fellow defensive specialist Kari Anderson had 9. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#20 NORTHEASTERN BOX SCORE

The Lady Saints looked to regroup on Saturday, but they knew their task would be a tough one against #16 North Idaho.  The Lady Saints got off to a good start against the Cardinals, leading 5-2 early in the first set, but North Idaho stormed back, erasing the Seward lead and taking a 12-9 lead of their own at the halfway point of the first.  The Lady Saints closed the gap to just one at 18-17, but North Idaho would show why they are a perennial contender at the NJCAA National Tournament, pushing their lead to 22-19 before closing out the Lady Saints 25-21. 

North Idaho jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second and remained in front 10-8 later on.  The Cards stretched their lead to 15-10 as they began to get momentum and the Lady Saints found themselves in trouble, down 20-13 late in the set.  North Idaho went on to score the final five points of the second and came out with a 25-13 win to go up 2-0. 

The third was nearly an identical set to the second.  North Idaho took a 5-2 lead for the third straight set and pushed their lead to 10-5.  Seward couldn't stop the powerful Cardinal front line as the Lady Saints gave up five straight points to find themselves down double digits at 15-5.  North Idaho continued to dictate the tempo as they remained in front 18-10 later in the set and they again put their foot on the gas late to finish off Seward 25-14 in a sweep. 

Seward finished the match with just 24 kills as a team, a season low, with 16 of the 24 coming from Sanchez and Gasparini who each had 8.  The Lady Saints also finished with just 4 total blocks as a team, 3 from Morgan Riley and 2 from Kristen Anderson. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#16 NORTH IDAHO BOX SCORE

In their final matchup of the weekend the Lady Saints took on another ranked foe in Division II #11 North Platte.  The Lady Saints got off to a good start, leading 5-1 out of the gates, but after taking a 10-7 lead later on, the Knights came storming back, erasing Seward's advantage and taking their first lead of the match at 15-13.  The Lady Saints tied it back up at 15 and retook the lead at 18-16, but the seesaw battle continued as North Platte knotted it back up at 22.  With the set on the line in the final three points, it was North Platte who made the push to the finish line, scoring the final three points of the set to take it 25-22 to take a 1-0 lead.  It certainly wasn't a lack of offense that was to blame for the first set loss by the Lady Saints.  Seward had a season high 17 kills in the first set, including 5 from Sanchez. 

The second set belonged to the Lady Saints.  Seward got in front early 5-2 and quickly put some distance between themselves and the Knights at 10-4.  North Platte gave their best effort, drawing back to within three at 13-10 and then 15-12, but the Lady Saints were just too much for the Knights as Seward opened the lead to six once again at 20-14 before evening the match at one with a 25-18 victory. 

It was another good start for Seward in the third as the script remained almost the same as the first with the Lady Saints going up 5-2 and then 10-7 early in the set.  Also like the first, it was North Platte with some steam midway through, coming back to tie the set at 16 as both teams worked to take control. But this time  Seward took the lead back at 18-17 and stretched it to 23-21 before finally putting North Platte away 25-22 to give the gals in green a 2-1 lead. 

For the fourth straight set, it was Seward County getting out to a good start and leading 5-2.  Also once again, the Lady Saints took control of the set early on, pushing their lead to 10-5 before really opening it up to 15-7 as the midway point hit.  Seward continued to drive and led 20-11 late in the set before closing out the Knights 25-15 to win the match. 

The outside was once again a key attack spot for the Lady Saints who saw Sanchez bang home 19 kills and Gasparini another 12.  Both Lady Saints registered double-doubles as Sanchez also had 14 digs while Gasparini one upped that with 15.  Riley was big at the net once again for Seward, adding 10 blocks to her conference leading 53 while Miller pitched in with 5 blocks and a team high 34 assists in the win.  Bedingfield led five Lady Saints with double digits in digs.  The Seward libero finished with 20 while Kari Anderson and Miller had 11 and 10 respectively. 

SEWARD COUNTY/DII #11 NORTH PLATTE BOX SCORE

The Lady Saints stay one game over .500 after the 2-2 weekend at 8-7 overall.  They will take on Garden City in a midweek conference tilt in the Greenhouse at 6:30 on Wednesday before hitting the road once again on Friday when they will travel to Torrington, Wyoming for the Wyo-Braska Shootout.