Seward Comeback Stuns Colby
KSCB News - August 27, 2015 1:49 pm
Down 2-0 in the match and 7-2 in the third set in their 2015 Jayhawk West opener, most would have left the Seward County Lady Saints for dead Wednesday night at the Community Building in Colby, but following a huge comeback in the third and another in the fourth, the Lady Saints forced a deciding fifth set and won that too, claiming victory on the road at Colby for the first time since 2009.
The Lady Saints got off to a dreadfully slow start in the first set against the Lady Trojans, managing just one kill in the first 16 points of the set to fall behind 10-6. A rash of Colby service errors allowed Seward to stick around and midway through, they remained down just four at 15-11. A Lady Saint service error of their own broke their momentum and two straight attack errors had them down big 19-12. They were never able to recover from there as Colby cruised to a 25-17 win in the first to grab a 1-0 lead. It was a sloppy set for both sides as Colby giftwrapped nine of Seward’s 17 points in the set via service errors while Seward reciprocated the giving with 15 errors of their own in the period.
The second set was more of the same for the Lady Saints as Colby jumped out to an 8-2 lead thanks in large part to a pair of Seward blocking errors and three reception errors to put the gals in green in the early hole. The Lady Saints offense picked up, but Seward struggled stopping the Trojan momentum as Colby continued to lead big into the later part of the set at 18-6. Colby took its largest lead of the set at 22-9 before a late Lady Saint run made the score respectable, but it was far too little too late as the Trojans finished off a 25-16 win to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. After just a four kill first set, the Lady Saints picked up their offensive game with 10 kills in the second, but once again, free points for the Trojans in the way of 11 Seward errors helped push Colby to the set win.
Things looked bleak for the Lady Saints again in the third as Colby again seized the early momentum to the tune of a 7-3 advantage. A number of Trojan errors allowed the Lady Saints to stick around and Seward took advantage of it. The Lady Saints registered kills on four straight points in the middle of the set, getting two from Alex Wood, one from Lindsey Schwab, and a fourth from Maritza Mesa to erase the Colby lead and take a one point lead of their own at 15-14. Later in the set, back to back Lady Saint errors gave Colby a 19-17 lead and once again, Seward had its back to the wall on the road in their league opener. Another Colby service error gave the Lady Saints the window of opportunity they needed and they took it and ran. Two straight kills after the miscue put Seward back in front and the Lady Saints didn’t stop there, outscoring Colby 8-1 to close out the set, remaining alive in the match with a 25-20 win. After 26 errors in the first two sets of the match, the Lady Saints gave away just six to Colby in the third and put together a sparkling set offensively hitting .444.
All the momentum it looked like the Lady Saints had after the third went by the wayside early in the fourth as a change of sides looked like a change of fortune for the gals in green. Colby roared out to a 9-3 lead in the set as they looked to close in front of their home crowd. Behind the right arm of Wood Seward slowly crept back into the game, eventually tying and then taking a 12-11 lead on back to back kills from the sophomore. Seward and Colby went back and forth to an 18-18 tie when back to back Lady Saint point, including a big block from Wood and Megan Sharratt gave Seward a 20-18 lead, their first multi-point lead of the entire match. The rejection sent a shockwave through the visitors bench and the Lady Saints stormed to the finish line, finishing off the Trojans 25-21 to send the match to a deciding fifth set. Seward hammered out 15 kills in the set, including six from Wood while again limiting their error count to just four.
For the first time all night, the Lady Saints staked themselves out to a lead in the all-important fifth set. Seward grabbed a 5-2 advantage early thanks to three Colby miscues and back to back aces by Wood. A Lady Saint serve wide and a miscommunication on a Trojan serve allowed Colby to tie the score at 7 later on, but a tip by Kaysie Paxton found the floor and gave Seward an 8-7 lead at the changeover. It remained a one point lead in favor of the Lady Saints at 9-8 when Wood’s 16th kill of the night put them up by two. A Colby attack into the net gave the Lady Saints an 11-8 lead and Seward started to smell the finish line from there. A heads up play from Schwab on a tip kill kept the Lady Saints up by three at 12-9 and another Colby attack error brought the Lady Saints to within two points of victory. A huge solo block on the outside by Maritza Mesa ignited the Seward County bench as they took a 14-9 lead and a Colby swing wide sealed the deal for the Lady Saints 15-9 to wrap up an improbable 3-2 come from behind victory.
Seward hit .244 as a team in the match, getting 16 kills out of Wood, a career high in Jayhawk West play. Mesa and Sharratt had efficient nights at the net for Seward, combining for 16 kills and a .302 hitting percentage. Jade Piper dished out 19 assists to lead the Lady Saints while Kimberly Diaz led Seward’s backline with 18 digs. Blocking was a group effort for Seward who finished with seven in the match, getting contributions from seven different players in the win.
The victory for the Lady Saints was the first at the Community Building in Colby since the 2009 season and broke a streak of six straight wins for the Trojans in the series. Seward improves to 2-3 on the year but most importantly starts their Jayhawk West run 1-0 while Colby falls to 2-3 on the year and 0-1 in West action.
A tough early season schedule for the Lady Saints will continue on Tuesday when they hit the road for defending Jayhawk West Champion Hutchinson in a 6:30 start in the Sports Arena.
SEWARD COUNTY/COLBY BOX SCORE<http:
Roy Allen
