Seward Swept Away at #7 Colby

Seward County competed in their second consecutive match with a top ten nationally ranked opponent with Wednesday’s matchup pairing them against the Colby Trojans in a battle between the last two Region VI Tournament winners with the Lady Saints unfortunately falling in a 3-0 sweep to their Jayhawk opponents.

SCCC came out of the gates slow, allowing a swift 8-0 run by Colby to begin set one before a kill down the middle from Marcelina Pyka finally put the Lady Saints on the board. Seward County tried to find some offensive firepower to stay within reach as a Lajla Rasljanin sent in a monster kill from the middle spot followed by a kill at the pin from Mariana Silva a few points later to trim the Trojan lead down to 14-8. A block at the net from Pyka and Silva put the Lady Saints in double figures while back-to-back kills from Ana Nikolic kept the score within five at 20-15 but could not get any closer as SCCC fell in the first 25-17.

The two KJCCC foes exchanged scores through the first ten points of set two as Rasljanin connected on a pair of kills with Keala Wilson adding to the Lady Saints total to even the score at 5-5. Nikolic went on a scoring tear for Seward County with two monster kills at the pin followed by a roof raising stuff to put her team in front by one before another kill from the freshman outside hitter forced the Trojans into a timeout with SCCC ahead 12-9. Colby answered back with a 7-0 run to retake the lead over the Lady Saints who tried to find their stride once again with an overpass kill from Pyka closing the gap back to two at 19-17. A final kill from Silva in the second gave her team one final push but could not complete the job as they dropped the set 25 -18 to fall behind 2 sets to 0.

Another Trojan run propelled Colby to a commanding 7-1 lead over Seward County to force the Lady Saints into a timeout eight points into set three. Another massive block from Rasljanin and Nikolic gave SCCC another point to close the gap before Rasljanin added on another rocket down the line to create some firepower for Seward County but still trailed big at 17-7. With Colby continuing to grow their lead the Lady Saint needed a run of their own to answer back which started with Rasljanin launching in a hard hitting ace with Wilson silencing the Trojans at the net with a solo stuff to close the gap down to ten before Pyka nailed in another kill to make it a single digit difference at 23-17. Despite their hard work to climb back into the third, SCCC was unable to prevent the 3-0 sweep as Colby grabbed the final set 25-17 to end the day.

Seward County now falls to 8-15 on the 2024 season while dropping to 4-9 in Jayhawk Conferece action. They will compete in their final road game of the regular season in Hutchinson on Friday as the Lady Saints face the Blue Dragons in a 6:00 PM matchup.