Liberal, Kansas – After two full weeks on the road to begin the 2024 campaign, the Seward County Lady Saints Volleyball team finally competed inside of the Green House for the first time this season as they took on the Hutchinson Blue Dragons where despite finding ways to compete with the Blue Dragons, SCCC eventually fell 3-0 at home.
Seward County was in a fight all three sets with set one being the most promising for the Lady Saints as Mariana Silva and Ana Nikolic rose up high for a pair of kills to push SCCC out into an early lead. Hutchinson remained close fifteen points into the set with Lajla Rasljanin rising up to combine with Zeynep Olcay Balci for a block at the pin. Seward County put the momentum in their favor but lost control when the Blue Dragons went on a run of their own to take over the lead. Nikolic added on a trio of kills to try and gain the lead back for the Lady Saints but could not succeed with SCCC falling in set one 25-22 to the Blue Dragons.
Set two was a constant battle through the first twenty points as Silva skied high off the set from Camden Bizot where the Brazil native slammed home a monster kill to keep the score even. Rasljanin helped to add on to the Lady Saints scoring as they tried to keep within reach of the Blue Dragons with the sophomore middle sending a rocket down the middle to bring the score within four as Hutchinson led 22-18. A three-point run by the Blue Dragons resulted in a swift end to the second set with a 25-18 finish and put Seward County in a 2-0 set hole.
In the final set the Blue Dragons took over the contest as the Lady Saints tried to push back and compete against their Jayhawk foes. Nikolic connected on her tenth kill of the match to trim away at the Blue Dragons lead while Marcelina Pyka sprung up for a quick kill from the middle to put pressure on Hutchinson. Silva once again found her spot at the pin for a big Lady Saints kill while a few points later Olcay Balci stuffed the Blue Dragons at the net with a solo block. A strong run from Seward County late in the third was not enough to overcome the powerful flame from Hutchinson as the Lady Saints fell 25-18 for a 3-0 sweep in the match.
Seward County now falls to 3-7 overall on the 2024 season with an 0-1 start to conference action in the KJCCC. The Lady Saints will be back on their home floor this Saturday to compete with Cloud County inside of the Green House with first serve taking place at 6:30 PM.
