Win Over South Mountain Highlights Seward Weekend
KSCB News - September 8, 2015 1:12 pm
The Seward County Lady Saints continued to show their youth this weekend in another long road trip to Prescott, Arizona, picking up a big win over #11 South Mountain and another against Central Arizona, but dropping 3-0 and 3-1 matches to Yavapai and Lee to finish the Yavapai Roughrider Classic 2-2 on the weekend.
The Lady Saints started the weekend off with a tough match as for the second time in the young season, they went up against #11 South Mountain. The first time the two hooked up it was a five set battle in which Seward prevailed, this time there wouldn’t be quite the same amount of drama. In the first set, the Lady Saints were efficient, registering 11 kills with just three errors against the Cougars to pull out a 25-21 win to take the early lead in the match. In the second, the Seward offense ramped it up even more, finishing with 13 kills as a team, but the Lady Saints committed seven hitting errors in the set to allow South Mountain to hang around. In the end, Seward was too much for the Cougars as the Lady Saints hung on to win 25-23 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. With confidence on their side, the Lady Saints rolled in the third, blasting a season high 17 kills on just 31 swings, good for a .484 hitting percentage as they ravaged the Cougars 25-15 to close out the 3-0 victory. Alex Wood had a big match for Seward, finishing with 15 kills and 13 digs in the win while fellow sophomore Megan Sharratt had 10 kills and finished with a season high .533 hitting percentage for the Lady Saints.
SEWARD COUNTY/#11 SOUTH MOUNTAIN BOX SCORE<http:
In their second match of the day, the Lady Saints took on the tournament hosts in Yavapai. The Roughriders came out swinging in front of their home crowd, taking the Lady Saints down 25-19 in the first despite 15 Seward kills in the first set. The second set was a close one, but the Lady Saints offense never found its footing, managing just nine kills while coupled with five hitting errors to end the set hitting just .100 as a team as they went down 25-21. Seward shot themselves in the foot with mistakes again in the third set, registering 13 kills to Yavapai’s nine, but committing seven hitting errors to allow the Roughriders to come away with a 25-20 victory to sweep the match 3-0. Wood was again solid on the attack for the Lady Saints, pounding down 15 kills for Seward while Viviane Viana and Megan Sharratt combined for 16 kills for the gals in green. Outside of those three, the Lady Saints managed just six kills and hit -.028 as a group. Jade Piper had 16 of Seward’s 25 assists in the match while Kimberly Diaz had a team best nine digs. The Lady Saints had just three total blocks as a team in the loss.
SEWARD COUNTY/YAVAPAI BOX SCORE<http:
Saturday the Lady Saints took the court once again, this time against another Grand Canyon State squad in Central Arizona. The Vaqueros came out hot against Seward, finishing the first set with a .290 hitting percentage to take the set against the Lady Saints 25-19. The Lady Saints responded with one of their most efficient offensive sets of the season, putting down 10 kills and committing just a single hitting error to hit .391 as a team in the second to win 25-20 to even the match at one apiece. In the crucial third set, the Vaqueros crumbled under the pressure, committing 10 hitting errors to all but hand the Lady Saints a lopsided 25-12 victory to give Seward a 2-1 lead in the match. With the good natured feeling of giving in the air, the Lady Saints gave one right back to Central in the fourth as they gifted the Vaqueros eight points on hitting errors and had just three kills as Central raced past Seward 25-17 to even the match at two. The deciding fifth set was a dogfight from the start with neither team able to take control. Seward used their offense and Central used their defense to go back and forth before finally the Lady Saints prevailed 19-17 to take the match 3-2. Wood led Seward for the third straight time on the weekend with 12 kills and also had a team best three aces in the victory. Kaysie Paxton had one of her best showings as a Lady Saint, finishing off nine kills and ending the match with a .412 hitting percentage. Piper dished out 30 assists while Amanda Pereira had 17 for Seward. Diaz led the back line with 16 digs while Maritza Mesa had 14. Viana and Sharratt were solid on the block for Seward in the win, combining for nine blocks.
SEWARD COUNTY/CENTRAL ARIZONA BOX SCORE<http:
In their final match of the weekend the Lady Saints went up against a red hot Lee College squad who entered the match with a shiny 13-1 record on the year. The Lady Saints did not look intimidated in the first set, taking it right at the Rebels to the tune of a 25-17 win. The Lady Saints finished with 13 kills in the set and hit .357 to come away with the victory. Seward had a golden chance to take a 2-0 lead on the Rebs in the second, but seven hitting errors by the gals in green kept that from happening as Lee took advantage with 25-20 win to even things up. In the third it was more of the same for the Lady Saints as Seward finished with 15 kills, but also handed Lee eight points on hitting mistakes as the Rebels again came away with a 25-20 win to go up 2-1. In the third Lee took care of business themselves, hammering out 16 kills to put the Lady Saints away 25-16 to close out the match with a 3-1 win. Viana had her best match of her young Seward County career, posting a 13 kill, 11 dig double-double. Sharratt also played well, registering 13 kills of her own while picking up a team high four blocks in the defeat.
SEWARD COUNTY/LEE BOX SCORE<http:
The weekend split moves the Lady Saints to 4-6 on the season. They will now focus their attentions on Jayhawk West action where they will play three straight against conference foes at home over the next eight days. Their stretch will begin Thursday night in the Greenhouse in their 2015 home opener where they will take on Dodge City in a 6:30 start.
Roy Allen