No. 11 Lady Saints sweep Garden City to win sixth straight

LIBERAL, Kan. – The 11^th ranked Seward County volleyball team is off to their best start since 2008 with their win Wednesday night in the Greenhouse, defeating Garden City 3-0 (25-12, 25-6, 25-19). The win is the sixth in a row to start the season, the most to start the season since the 2008 team won ten straight.

The Lady Saints jumped out to an early lead in set one and never allowed the Broncbusters to make up ground. After trading points the first nine points, the Lady Saints found their groove, scoring the following four points. Giovanna Tapigliani capped the run with a service ace to make it 9-4. The Lady Saints would go on to push the lead to ten before finally finishing the set 25-12.

In the second set, the Lady Saints showed why they made such a leap in the national polls this week. Seward county jumped out to a 19-4 advantage before the Broncbusters knew what happened. Seven straight points helped the Lady Saints gain the lead. Giovanna Kuntze finished the set with a block to give the Lady Saints the victory in the second set.

The final set was the closest for the Lady Saints. The two teams traded points until the score was tied at 11-11. Seward kicked it into the next gear following back-to-back Mariana Nascimento kills, which helped the Lady Saints gain the momentum needed to finish the set and the match.

The Lady Saints were let on offense by Tapigliani who finished the match with 19 points. She ended the night with 12 kills, six service aces and two blocks with a .600 hitting percentage. Viviane Viana recorded her fourth 10/10 match with 13 kills and 10 digs, finishing the match with 13 points.

Defensively, Nathiellen Machado had an answer for almost every Broncbuster attack attempt, finishing the match with 17 digs. Along with Kutze's 37 assists on offense, she had 13 digs on defense. Brianna Bradford and Tapigliani both ended the match with two blocks a piece.

Following a rough stretch to start the year, riddled with errors, the Lady Saints seem to have found their groove. Over the past six sets, the Lady Saints have only recorded 15 errors.

The Lady Saints get a one day break before being back in action. They will participate in the Wrangler Volleyball Classic in Odessa, Texas this weekend. Seward opens the Classic with a rematch against Odessa on Friday (Sep. 8) at 12 p.m. before taking on Temple at 6 p.m. The Lady Saints will round out the weekend with matches on Saturday (Sep. 9) against Richland at 9 a.m. and Western Texas at 3 p.m.

For more information on the Seward County volleyball team, visit SewardSaints.com.