Jay Daubenberger
Seward County Volleyball kicked off their 2024 season on Friday with a road trip to Nebraska to compete in the McCook Invitational where the Lady Saints took on both the host team in McCook as well as Highland in tough back-and-forth contests and despite remaining close through every set on the day, Seward County fell in both contests with a 3-1 loss to McCook and a 3-2 loss to Highland.
The Lady Saints started the day with a matchup against the McCook Indians where a 4-0 start in set one helped light a fire for Seward County as Lajla Rasljanin and Zeynep Olcay Balci both connected on some powerful swings to push their team ahead. A few points from McCook brought the score back to within two but a pair of kills from Mariana Silva helped the Lady Saints grow it back to three 9-6. Seward County and McCook exchanged blows throughout the set with multiple ties before another hammer from Silva put SCCC back in front 17-16 that was followed by a hit down the middle from Rasljanin to make it 22-20 Seward County. Rasljanin made her presence known again a few points later as she rose up for a block at the net to clinch set one and take a 1-0 lead over the Indians.
Set two remained within just a few points the entire set as the Lady Saints and Indians battled it out with Camden Bizot finding her spot on an overpass kill and later Ana Nikolic slamming one off the blocker to lock it up 11-11. McCook managed to stretch their lead out to four at 21-17 to push SCCC’s backs against the wall but it was once again Rasljanin who stepped up to the plate with back-to-back kills combined with an ace from Silva to cut it down to 24-22 before a final point from McCook ended set two 25-22 Indians.
McCook shot in front first in the third set to put the Lady Saints behind by three quickly with a 12-9 advantage before Seward County managed to find some rhythm and push ahead off an absolute rocket from Silva who put the score at 17-16. Kills from Nikolic and Rasljanin helped the Lady Saints retain their advantage at 22-20 as they looked to close out the set but were unable to prevent a 5-1 run from the Indians who took set three and a 2-1 set lead on the match.
The final set saw McCook pull away early and never look back as they started off 15-4 over Seward County who despite getting some help offensively from Olvay Balci and Silva to trim the gap down to 20-13, they could not stop the overwhelming power from the Indians attacks as the Lady Saints fell 25-18 in the fourth and 3-1 overall in the match.
Game two of the day put Seward County against another Kansas opponent in Highland who fell behind to the Lady Saints quickly in set one as Nikolic connected on an emphatic kill to put SCCC ahead 11-8. An ace from Rasljanin helped keep their lead at three to force a timeout from Highland with the Lady Saints up 20-17, and later another dominant attack from Nikolic led to the set winning kill to take the first set 25-20.
Set two was as competitive as they get with Seward County and Highland keeping the score within two as the Lady Saints fell behind 14-12 bur managed to cut the difference back to one with a block in the center of the net from Marcelina Pyka. Seward County continued to fight back against Highland with Silva helping to tie the score up at 23-23 with a high rising swing that went through the opposing defender before back-to-back scores from Highland resulted in a 25-23 loss in set two.
SCCC capitalized on some Highland errors to stay within reach in the third while another hammer from Silva made it a three-point game at 10-7 and later connected on another kill to remain close behind 17-14. Although the Lady Saints managed to find ways to put themselves on the board, their defense could not prevent Highland from taking set three 25-20 as well as a 2-1 set advantage.
The Lady Saints refused to shy away however as they battled tooth and nail with Highland in the fourth to extend the match. Rasljanin put SCCC ahead 13-12 with a strong ace while a block from Pyka helped to extend the Seward County lead by three. Lisa Gomez helped to grow the Lady Saints lead even further as she served up an ace to make it 23-18 while a final kill from Silva forced a fifth set with a 25-19 finish to the fourth.
The final set saw Seward County once again take a quick lead behind a block from Rasljanin and an overpass kill from the Libero: Beniz Mirel Tasdemir to take a commanding 5-1 advantage. Highland did not back away as they continued to slash away at the Seward County lead despite some crucial kills from Nikolic and Rasljanin late to make it a 12-10 SCCC lead. Despite their best efforts however, Highland had just enough left in the tank to pull ahead and capitalize on costly errors from the Lady Saints to claim the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
Seward County will be back on the court tomorrow for day two of the McCook classic when they face #15 Casper at 10:00 AM and later Laramie County at 12:00 PM before returning home to Liberal in the afternoon.