Seward Downs Beavers to Finish First Half 5-2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pratt Community College | 22 | 15 | 18 | 0 |
|
Seward County Community College | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
In a tough back to back, coming off of a road loss at Hutchinson Friday night, the Seward County Lady Saints rose to the occasion Saturday afternoon in the Greenhouse, knocking off the Pratt Lady Beavers 3-0 to finish the first half of Jayhawk West Conference play with a 5-2 record. Seward struggled early on but were able to recover to take the first set 25-22 before controlling the pace in the second and third to win 25-15 and 25-18 to sweep the conference match.
The Lady Saints got off to a slow start in their first home match in 10 days. Pratt took the early lead before Seward came back to tie things up and go in front after a strong string of serves from freshman Carolina Gasparini. Up 12-9, the Lady Saints got back to back aces from Gasparini to force a Pratt timeout and give them a 14-9 lead. The timeout rejuvenated the Beavers and stopped the Lady Saints run as Pratt went on an 11-4 run and late in the set had a 20-18 lead. Seward came back to their senses, retaking a 23-21 lead before getting another ace from Gasparini to close things out at 25-22.
Pratt had another early lead in the second at 7-6 but once again Seward owned the middle part of the set. The Lady Saints used a 7-1 run to erase the Beaver lead and take one of their own at 13-8. Seward continued to keep their distance from the Beavers, avoiding a first set repeat and the Lady Saints went on to take the set 25-17.
The third set was much like the second with the pace being controlled by the gals in green. Seward took a 6-2 lead to start things and remained up by four 10-6 later on. Pratt made a comeback later on, but Seward pressed through to the finish line and took the set 25-18 to sweep the match 3-0.
Gasparini owned the stat sheet for Seward in the win, hammering down 11 kills and finishing with a career high 5 aces. Sheree Ryan also sparked the Lady Saints, coming off of the Seward bench to finish right behind Gasparini with 7 kills in just 17 swings without committing a hitting error. Morgan Riley also played well in the middle for the Lady Saints ending the afternoon with 7 kills and a team best 4 blocks. Quarterbacking the offense, freshman setter Nacole Miller notched a team high 28 assists for the Lady Saints.
Seward gets their heads back above .500 at 12-11 overall while more importantly improving their Jayhawk West Conference record to 5-2 as the first half comes to a close. Pratt continues a downward spiral, dropping its fifth consecutive conference match to fall to 2-5 in league play and the Beavers see their overall record drop to 3-13.
The Lady Saints begin the second half of conference play on Wednesday when they make the long trek to Cloud County to take on the T-Birds before returning home to host the 2013 Ozfest Invitational in the Greenhouse on Friday and Saturday.