Jay Daubenberger
Liberal, Kansas – Seward County volleyball found a way to break out of their recent slump over the past week when Cloud County entered the Green House and could not fend off the oncoming barrage from the Lady Saints who took control from the start and ended the week with a 3-1 win over the T-Birds.
Seward County stormed in front of Cloud County with a big lead led by a pair of kills from Ana Nikolic followed by a hammer down the middle from Lajla Rasljanin for a 14-7 lead. Mariana Silva rose up and slammed down a kill from the pin to keep their lead alive before Keala Wilson connected with Marcelina Pyka for another Lady Saints kill to make it a double-digit lead. A final kill from Nikolic in the first secured the set 25-15 and put Seward County ahead with a 1-0 set lead in the match over the T-Birds.
Set two started with Cloud County pulling away with a small lead over SCCC but was quickly slashed away by the Lady Saints when Pyka sent a spike through the heart of the T-Birds to tie the set up at 9-9. Nikolic once again rose to the occasion for a pair of kills to take over the lead 15-13 in the second while a high flying kill from Silva increased it to three at 23-20. Pyka ended the second with another rocket down the middle to secure a 2-0 set lead after winning the second 25-21.
It was tough for Seward County to continue their momentum entering the third as Cloud County quickly forced the Lady Saints into a timeout with an 8-5 lead. SCCC stormed back to remain in reach however as Keala Wilson scored from the right side to trim the gap down to two at 16-14. A 9-2 run however led Cloud County to a 25-17 win in the third to put themselves on the board but remained one set behind as Seward County continued to hold a 2-1 set lead.
Rasljanin was the focal point of the fourth and final set of the match as she took match into her own hands with a multitude of kills and blocks to put the Lady Saints ahead. Despite the T-Birds creating a miniscule lead over SCCC, Rasljanin kept Seward County within a few points of Cloud as she connected on a big swing to trim the margin to one at 18-17. A few points later Wilson found Rasljanin off a slide for another thunderous kill to make it a two-point SCCC lead and with one final stuff at the net for a solo block, she secured the match 3-1 with a 25-22 win in the fourth.
Nikolic led the way for the Lady Saints in total kills with 12 while Rasljanin put up 11 of her own on a .647 kill percentage. Camden Bizot recorded a team high of 21 assists followed by 18 from Wilson with Lisa Gomez recording a career high of 24 digs.
Seward County now improves to 4-7 on the 2024 season and now sit even at 1-1 in Jayhawk conference action. The Lady Saints will now look towards this upcoming Tuesday when they face the Butler Grizzlies in their final of three straight home games with first serve taking place at 6:00 PM on September 10th.
