Jay Daubenberger

Liberal, Kansas – Seward County returned to the Green House on Wednesday afternoon for a match against the Pratt Beavers who built a dam in their previous contest that the Lady Saints broke down with an emphatic 3-1 win to maintain their positioning in the Jayhawk standings entering the final stretch of the 2024 regular season.

Marcelina Pyka helped get the Seward County offense rolling early in set one with a pair of kills from the middle spot before Lajla Rasljanin stepped in her place to slam the hammer down to put the Lady Saints ahead by four at 13-9. Despite a strong performance to open the match with Mariana Silva rising high for multiple kills and Ana Nikolic connecting on a pair of her own, Pratt managed to storm back off a multitude of SCCC errors to take over the lead 22-17 and force a Seward County timeout. Despite trailing by as much as five, the Lady Saints held strong and found a way to climb back point by point as they eventually tied and retook the lead in extra points before Pyka sent a rocket down the middle to clinch the first 26-24 in favor of SCCC.

Set two was a struggle for Seward County as they gave up a seven-point lead early to the Beavers before Pyka scored her fifth kill of the afternoon to trim the deficit down to 14-8. Rasljanin rose up for an overpass kill before combining with Keala Wilson at the pin for a roof raising block to try and climb back to within reach but could not get past a five-point gap. Silva and Pyka each connected on a few late scores in the set but saw the Lady Saints fall short 25-18 to tie the match up at 1-1.

Seward County got off to a hot start to open the third with a 4-0 run led by a pair of scores from Nikolic and Rasljanin while an ace from Lisa Gomez helped put the Lady Saints firmly in the driver’s seat. Nikolic continued her success at the pin with a monster kill before quickly following it up with another kill from the right side to make it a 19-13 advantage over Pratt in set three. Rasljanin seals the third with a pair of spikes down the middle through the heart of the Beavers to lock up a 2-1 set lead after taking the set 25-14.

Rasljanin continued her dominance into the fourth as she once again rose up for a stuff at the pin and later dropped in an ace on the back line to give Seward County a 12-10 lead over Pratt. Silva and Nikolic once again laid on a barrage of kills for the Lady Saints to grow their lead out while Zeynep Olcay Balci connected on a cross court kill from the right side to keep the lead alive and eventually it was Seward County who finished off the Beavers with a 25-21 win in set four and a 3-1 win overall.

The Lady Saints now improve to 8-13 overall on the 2024 season while moving up their KJCCC record to 4-7 after taking down Pratt. Seward County now begins a three game road stint that will start in Great Bend as the Lady Saints face #5 Barton in battle between the past two Region VI champions.