Seward County advances to their eighth consecutive Region VI Championship

LIBERAL, Kan. - Seward County Community College advances to the Region VI Championship match for the eighth consecutive season, back to the 2015 season, with a 3-0 sweep over Dodge City Community College on Friday night. The top-seeded Lady Saints will face off against the No. 2 seed Butler Community College at 2 pm on Saturday, November 5th, with a trip to the NJCAA National Tournament on the line. 

Seyun Park led Seward County with 13 kills and a .600 hitting percentage, and Sarah Cruz added 11 kills with a .556 hitting percentage in the victory. Rafaela DaSilva had 37 assists in the contest, and Logan Dodge provided three aces for the Lady Saints. 

The Lady Saints started the match with a strong serves game and led the Conquistadors 11-7 in the first set. Seward County went on a 7-2 run to take an 18-9 lead after a DaSilva kill at the net. With a kill by Park, Seward County went on to win the first set 25-16 and led 1-0 in the match. 

Dodge City started strong in the second set as the Conquistadors took a 6-3 lead over the Lady Saints. Aubreigh Haxton put Seward County in front 11-10 with a kill from the right side. With a kill by Cruz, the Lady Saints took the momentum back into their favor, had a 19-14 lead, and looked confident in their attacks. The Lady Saints won the second set 25-17 after a Conqs hitting error, and Seward County had a 2-0 set lead in the match. 

In the third set, the Lady Saints led early, 5-2, but the Conqs came back to tie it at seven all. A kill by Jessica Sales gave Seward County a 16-14 lead, with Dodge City fighting to keep the match and their season alive. As the set continued, each point would get harder and harder as the Lady Saints took a late 21-19 advantage over Dodge City. Cruz put the finishing touch on the set with a monster kill to give the Lady Saints a 25-23 third and final set victory. 

The Lady Saints will take on the Butler Grizzlies at 2 pm in the Greenhouse Saturday, November 5th. these two programs split during the regular season as the Lady Saints won 3-1 on October 14th and fell to the Grizzlies 3-2 on October 26th. the Lady Saints are nationally ranked No.14, and the Grizzlies are No. 13 in the NJCAA and will fight for the National Tournament automatic bid to West Plains, Missouri.