No. 7 Seward County falls in 5th set to Barton

(Photo Courtesy of Barton Athletics)

GREAT BEND, Kan. - Seward County Community College falls at Barton Community College in the fifth set for the Lady Saints' first conference loss of the season. The final set scores 25-19, 17-25, 17-25, 25-18, and 11-15 in the fifth set and this is the third match in a row that has gone to the fifth set against Barton. The Lady Saints are now 8-3 overall, 2-1 in conference play, and will look to bounce back on Wednesday night against Garden City Community College in the Greenhouse.

The first set started off with the Lady Saints in front 9-6 after a kill from middle hitter Seyun Park. Seward County expanded their lead with three straight points to take a 17-12 lead over Barton. The Lady Saints remained in control of the set and went on to beat the Cougars 25-19 to take a one-set lead in the match.

In the second set, the Lady Saints found themselves down early 10-7 after a couple of service errors and missed blocks. Barton led for the remainder of the second set to win the set 25-17 over Seward County. With the match tied at one set apiece the Barton crowd came to life and created a home atmosphere for the Cougars. 

Barton continued their success into the third set and took an early 10-4 lead over the Lady Saints. The largest deficit so far this season occurred when Barton took a 19-7 advantage over Seward County and the Cougars looked to go up 2-1 in the match. Seward County responded with a late run of 8-2 but the Cougars closed out the set with a final score of 25-17.

To start the fourth set both teams traded off points and tied at 12 all with Barton ahead in the match 2-1. Seward County created separation with a string of kills from the outside hitter Sarah Cruz and the Lady Saints led 18-14. Seward County went on to force a fifth set with a 25-19 fourth set victory. 

The Cougars started off the fifth set with an early 5-3 advantage over the Lady Saints. Head Coach Geno Frugoli had to call a timeout to get the team back on the right path but found themselves down 7-4 and Frugoli called the teams second and final timeout of the fifth set. The Lady Saints responded to get the match down to two points 10-8 but the Cougars went on to win five out of the next seven points to win the fifth set 15-11. 

Seward County could not get into a consistent offensive rhythm with 26 errors in the match and service errors being the difference. The Lady Saints will look to bounce back as they will take on Garden City tomorrow night in the Greenhouse at 6:30 PM.