Saints Squeeze Past Dodge

Taking on a Dodge City team who had lost 21 straight games going into Saturday’s contest, the Seward County Lady Saints thought that they would have an easy one on their hands against the Lady Conqs. They thought wrong as the two teams split the first two sets before Seward snuck past the Lady Conqs in the final two sets to take the match 3-1 and improve to 8-4 overall in Jayhawk West Conference play.

In a rare 11:00 am conference start, the Lady Saints started off slow, but quickly found their footing in the first set against the Lady Conqs, going on a 5-1 run led by a pair of kills from Angelina Minor and Carolina Gasparini to take an 11-5 lead. The big lead didn’t last long though as Dodge City battled back on their home floor to cut the Seward advantage to 18-16 and then made it a one point contest moments later at 21-20 after a Lady Saint attack error. The two traded points to 22-21 when a key Dodge City service error gave the Lady Saints the momentum they needed and Seward finished it off with a perfect Taryn Bedore to Megan Sharratt connection to win 25-22. For the second straight match, the Lady Saints put up 20 kills in a set, finishing the first against Dodge City with 20 kills and 4 errors on 40 attacks, good for a .400 hitting percentage.

Seward struggled from the start in the second set, watching Dodge City jump out to an 11-6 lead to get things going. The Lady Saints cut the Conq lead to 11-9 after a pair of aces from Sharratt, but Dodge quickly pushed their advantage back to five at 18-13 and extended it on an ace to make it 19-13 Lady Conqs. The Lady Saints deficit grew to 23-16 before they got things together, using the serve of Thayna Silva to roll off six straight points to climb back to within one at 23-22. A huge service error stopped the Lady Saints momentum and Liberals own Cynthia Cisneros aced the Lady Saints to give Dodge a 25-22 win in the second. The set win for the Lady Conqs marked just their second set victory in the entire month of October.

It was tough sledding for the Lady Saints once again in the third as they only managed to play even with the Lady Conqs through the first 18 points as the score was tied 9-9. A kill from Gasparini got Seward going and they used an 8-2 run to take control at 17-11. Once again though, a Seward error broke their momentum and before the Lady Saints knew it, it was a one point contest at 19-18. After a Dodge City service error gave the Lady Saints the ball back, a kill by Gasparini and two straight aces by Silva put the Lady Saints back on top 23-18. Dodge drew back to within two after a mishandled set by Seward, but Bedore went back to Gasparini on the next play to finish it off for the Lady Saints, giving them a 25-22 win to go on top 2-1 in the match.

Seward and Dodge played to a 6-6 tie early in the fourth until a 3-0 run by the Lady Saints put the gals in green up 9-6. The run spurred a 10-3 run for the Lady Saints, finished off by an ace by Nacole Miller to put them up 16-9. Seward extended their cushion to 20-12 on a kill by Miller and finished the Lady Conqs off with an ace from Sharratt to win 25-16.

The Lady Saints were impressive offensively in the win, finishing with 60 kills and a .364 hitting percentage, their best of the 2014 season. Silva led the Lady Saints with 15 kills and 21 digs in the victory while Gasparini ended the matinee affair with 14 kills and 18 digs. Angelina Minor added 9 kills for the Lady Saints and Sharratt continued her efficient hitting with 8 kills and just 1 error, good for a .350 hitting percentage in the match. Bedore led the Lady Saints with a career high 28 assists while Miller dished up 22 helpers for Seward.

Seward improves to 21-12 overall as they win for the 9th time in 10 tries while the Lady Saints remain in the hunt for the 2nd spot in the Jayhawk West at 8-4. Dodge City continues a miserable 2014 as they drop their 22nd straight match to fall to 4-27 overall and remain winless in conference action at 0-12.

Next up for Seward is a huge Monday affair as they host the rival Hutchinson Blue Dragons for a 6:30 first serve.

SEWARD COUNTY/DODGE CITY BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/wvball/2014-15/boxscores/20141018_14qv.xml>

Roy Allen