After a rough start on Friday to begin their 2024 season, the Seward County Lady Saints Volleyball team rallied together and came back with a vengeance on day two of the McCook Invitational with a 3-0 sweep over a top fifteen opponent in #15 Casper that was followed by a comeback victory over Laramie 3-2 with Seward County taking each of the last three sets to even out their record in Nebraska at 2-2.
The Lady Saints came out firing from the first serve against Casper but gave up a quick run by the T-Birds to even out the score in set one 12-12 halfway through. Keala Wilson made her 2024 debut for SCCC and showed her skillset across the court with a quick kill at the pin and later setting up her teammate Marcelina Pyka for an easy kill down the middle to help the Lady Saints retake the lead 17-16. Wilson continued to dominate in the set as she hammered in back-to-back kills and sunk in an ace to make it a two-point lead before Ana Nikolicwrapped up set one with a 25-22 finish and a 1-0 set lead for Seward County.
Marianna Silva helped keep the Lady Saints in front throughout set two as she connected on a pair of kills to create separation against the T-Birds while a perfect serve from Silva resulted in another ace to force Casper into a timeout at 15-14. Beniz Mirel Tasdemir dove down for a spectacular pancake save to prevent the T-Birds from trimming the gap and helped lead Camden Bizot to a cross court kill and increase the Lady Saints lead to three before clinching the second 25-21 for a 2-0 set lead.
Pyka continued to be a force at the net entering the third set as she rose up and sent back an attack from the T-Birds for a big solo block followed by another emphatic ace for SCCC, this time from Sophia Escolano to push the Lady Saints’ lead out to three 13-10. Despite a shortly lived run from Casper to put Seward County behind temporarily, Wilson refused to back down as she slammed in a crucial kill from the right side to tie things up at 18-18 and from their Silva took full control with three straight kills down the line to win the set 25-22 and sweep the T-Birds 3-0.
Game two of the day saw Seward County face off against Laramie County who competed with the Lady Saints down to the wire in set one as both sides exchanged blows. Wilson and Pyka combined for a trio of kills to keep the score within reach while Lajla Rasljanin shined in the middle with an absolute hammer to put SCCC ahead by two. Laramie County answered with a run of their own to force the set into extra points and despite reaching the 25-point mark, Seward County fell behind by two to lose set one 27-25.
Set two was all Laramie County as they propelled in front of the Lady Saints from the start and never looked back. Rasljanin tried to create some momentum with a brutal rocket serve which led to an ace and trimmed the gap to eight, but a 4-2 run ended the second with Laramie County taking the set 25-15 and a 2-0 set lead to put all the pressure on Seward County.
The Lady Saints showed that they thrive under pressure throughout the third set as they bounced back from a rough start but managed to close the gap off a block at the pin from Nikolic and Pyka before a big kill down the middle from Rasljanin brought the score back to within reach. Another monster block at the net for the Lady Saints from Rasljanin and Bizot made it a one-point game while Pyka found an open spot in Laramie’s defense to punch home another kill and give SCCC a 22-20 lead. Once again, the two teams went into extra points but this time it was Seward County who came out on top 27-25.
After finding their rhythm in the third, it was all Lady Saints in the fourth with Rasljanin leading the way with a solo block to stretch their lead while an ace from Wilson made it 10-6 over Laramie County. A 5-0 run by Seward County forced their opponents into a timeout off a kill from Nikolic to push the score to 15-6 and a few points later Nikolic combined with Silva for a one-two punch to grab the fourth set 25-12 and force a fifth and final set.
Nikolic opened the final set with some finesse at the net as she tipped a kill over the opposing blocker for a 5-3 lead while Silva later sent one screaming down the line to grow their lead further to 11-6. Another stretch of kills from the Lady Saints helped to separate themselves from their opponents and eventually completed the comeback with a 3-2 win over Laramie County.
The Lady Saints now improve to 2-2 on the 2024 season after wrapping up the McCook Invitational. They will head back home for a few days before heading out west towards Lamar for a Tuesday afternoon matchup on August 27th.