Seward Drops Two at Laramie

Jay Daubenberger
After splitting results against their competition from day one in Wyoming, the Seward County Lady Saints struggled to create any offensive fire power against #3 Northeastern and Trinidad State as both of SCCC’s opponents swept the Lady Saints 3-0 on the day to conclude the Marriot’s SpringHill Suites Cheyenne Invitational.

The first set of the day was one that Seward County will leave in the past as they fell to Northeastern 25-8 with only a few kills coming from Mariana Silva and Keala Wilson to show any kind of positives for the Lady Saints.

Set two saw more points get on the board for SCCC starting with a rocket down the middle from Lajla Rasljanin who led the way for a scoring streak to keep the Plainswomen of NJC on their toes. A pair of aces from Lisa Gomez and Samantha Esteshelped Seward County poes a threat to their top three opponent in the second until Northeastern began to pull away and eventually grab the second set 25-17 for a 2-0 lead in the match.

Once again, the struggles on offense appeared for the Lady Saints as self-inflicted errors cost Seward County any chance to put points together. Wilson rose up for a soft touch to score a kill on the right side that was followed by Silva slamming in another kill to try and trim the Plainswomen lead as far as they could but eventually fell in the set 25-13 and the match in a 3-0 sweep.

The next game put Seward County against the Spartans of Trinidad State where the two teams battled back and forth in set one for the lead with the Trojans pulling away slowly before a kill from the right side by Wilson trimmed it to one at 13-12 Trinidad. Silva and Nikolic combined for a pair of kills from the outside spot while Rasljanin and Camden Bizot rose up for a block to keep the Lady Saints within reach, eventually it was the Trojans who began to stretch their lead out and take set one 25-17.

Set two started off with a pair of rockets from each side of the net as Bizot and Silva helped SCCC take control of the second with Trinidad on their tail before quickly taking the lead for their own at 9-8. Nikolic helped keep Seward County deficit to a minimum with an attack off the blocker for a kill to make the score 22-20 while an ace from Sophia Escolano made it a one-point game. Despite closing the gap to one, a quick run from the Trojans once again sealed the set as the Lady Saints fell 25-23 and put themselves in a 2-0 hole against Trinidad.

Another competitive set in the third saw both sides exchange blows with Marcelina Pyka rising up for a solo stuff to keep the score tied up at 10-10 twenty points into the set. Both the Lady Saints and Trojans continued to battle with Trinidad beginning to inch away with what became a six-point lead before a rocket down the middle from Rasljanin and an ace from Wilson trimmed it back to four at 19-15. Unfortunately, it was not enough to create a spark for SCCC as they fell in another 3-0 sweep to end their trip to Wyoming.

Seward County now falls to 3-6 on the 2024 season and will now return back home to Liberal for their KJCCC opener this upcoming Wednesday on September 4^th with the first serve taking place at 6:30 PM.