Jay Daubenberger
Liberal, Kansas – Seward County caught fire early on Tuesday and never looked back as they steamrolled past the Butler Grizzlies in a ferocious 3-0 sweep to win their second straight conference game and grow their spot in the Jayhawk standings.
The Lady Saints opened the match with a barrage of kills against the opposing Grizzlies with Marcelina Pyka helping to put SCCC in front midway through the first with a kill down the middle for a 12-11 lead. Mariana Silva Rose up high for another Lady Saints kill to propel Seward County ahead by four to keep the momentum rolling with a 19-15 lead. A late run from Butler closed the gap back to one but a final kill from Silva helped clinch the first set in favor of the Green and White with a 25-23 finish to take a 1-0 set lead.
Ana Nikolic and Keala Wilson combined for a pair of powerful kills from each side of the net to kick off set two while a hammer down the line from Lajla Rasljanin made it a 15-13 lead in favor of the Lady Saints. A 5-0 run for Seward County put the Grizzlies in a corner with Rasljanin once again connecting for a big kill down the middle to force a timeout from Butler with SCCC ahead 20-16. With set point in hand for the Lady Saints, Pyka rose up for back-to-back stuffs at the net to hold back the Grizzlies and clinch set two for her team with a 25-22 win to push their set lead to 2-0.
Set three was all Lady Saints through the first ten points with point eleven coming from an ace by Wilson to take an 8-3 lead early over Butler. A short run by the opposing Grizzlies trimmed the fap back to one before Pyka rose up with a spring in her step for a superman spike through the heart of the opposing player to keep the SCCC lead alive at 14-12. Wilson struck again a few points later with a perfectly placed kill between two Grizzlies defenders that was quickly followed by a kill from Rasljanin to make it a three-point game at 20-17 in favor of the Lady Saints. It did not take long for Seward County to finish what they had started as Nikolic jumped up for a final kill that completed the 3-0 sweep over Butler.
Nikolic and Silva each finished the night with 10 kills apiece while Rasljanin added on 9 in a well-balanced offense from Seward County. Reigning KJCCC Defensive Player of the Week Lisa Gomez added to her work from a week ago with 19 digs through three sets against the Grizzlies.
Seward County will now turn their attention towards one of their top rivals in the KJCCC in the #4 nationally ranked Barton Cougars with the Lady Saints staying right here on their home court inside of the Green House next Wednesday on September 18th at 6:30 PM.
