Former SC Volleyball Players Make Splash at Next Level

Across the Midwest this fall, three former Seward County
Lady Saints volleyball players were letting their play do the talking as
they made their mark at four year universities. Sheina Fernandes,
Courtney Geesing, and Daiane Souza were each All-Jayhawk West performers
during their days in Liberal for Seward and after this season, it is
quite obvious that their hardware will have more company over the next
year after the trio propelled their respective teams to new heights
during the 2012 volleyball season.

Fernandes, who was the Jayhawk West Freshman of the year
for Seward in 2009 and was a 1st Team All-Conference selection as a
sophomore with the Lady Saints in 2010, followed a good junior campaign
for Division I Oral Roberts University, with a spectacular senior season
that saw her climb the charts in the Golden Eagles all-time record
books. In her final season in Tulsa, Fernandes was one of the most
dominating players in the Southland Conference, finishing the season 3rd
in the league in hitting percentage at .337 and 4th in blocks with 1.24
per set. She was a 1st Team All-Conference pick for ORU, leading the
Golden Eagles to the Southland Championship match after upsets over 3rd
seeded Texas A&M Corpus Christi and 2nd seeded Sam Houston State in the
first two rounds of the conference tournament. Fernandes racked up 148
blocks, which oddly enough was almost exactly her total during her
second season at Seward (147), marking the 5th most blocks in a single
season in Oral Roberts history.

Geesing had one of the most dominating seasons in school
history for Seward in 2011, hammering down over 500 kills and pulling up
370 digs, making her one of just four players in school history to
accomplish that feat. She was a 1st Team All-Conference and 1st Team
All-Region pick at seasons end before signing with the Muleriders of
Southern Arkansas University. Geesing made an immediate impact as
expected for SAU this season. She helped the Muleriders to their most
wins since the 1996 season with 23 and led Southern Arkansas to the
Great American Conference semifinals, racking up 13 kills her team’s
final match of the year. She started all 35 matches this season and
ranked 3rd on the team in both kills with 2.56 per set and digs, also
with 2.56 per set. She had double digit digs 20 different times
throughout the season and had 10 or more kills 12 times for the
Muleriders.

Souza was a 2nd Team All-Conference and 2nd Team
All-Region selection for the Lady Saints during her freshman season in
2010 for Seward. During a sophomore campaign in 2011 which was stunted
due to an injury, the Brazilian was still able to finish 2nd on the team
in kills at 2.50 per set and 3rd in digs with 2.48 per set despite
missing 16 matches throughout the course of the year. Souza landed at
Campbellsville University in Kentucky for her junior season and helped
the Tigers punch their ticket for the NCCAA National Tournament last
week with 8 kills in their championship match triumph. Souza ranks 2nd
on the Tigers roster with 2.69 kills per set this season and is 4th on
the team with 17 solo blocks going into this week’s tournament where
Campbellsville is seeded 4th. She had 10 or more kills in 15 different
matches throughout the course of the year and made an impact blocking
with 2 or more solo rejections 5 times for the Tigers.