Lady Pirates Drop Home Opener To Seward County
August 29, 2018
INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - After starting the season 2-0, the Independence Lady Pirates looked to continue their success against the #9 Seward County Lady Saints. Independence fought hard but was outmatched by the Lady Saints falling 3-0.
"We fought very hard tonight and I'm very proud of the way my team performed against nationally ranked competition," coach Daniela Pena said. "Despite being so young, we competed very well against a such a tough opponent. It was head to head the entire time, but some age and experience from Seward County ultimately played the deciding factor."
"In the KJCCC Western Division, there are no easy opponents, and this is a very high level of competition, so we will have to work harder and harder every day and prepare for the next opponent."
In the first set, the Lady Saints jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Two more points were scored by Seward County as the Lady Pirates seemed dazed by the competition and the Lady Saints led 6-0.
Independence finally got on the board after a 3-1 run making it 9-1 Seward County. A 2-1 even run for the Lady Saints made it 11-2 after Shelymar Diaz slammed one to the court. The Lady Pirates found a 4-3 run as Patricia Seller found a kill and a net ball made it 14-5, but a 2-0 run pushed the Seward County lead to 16-5.
Natasha Colon and Destiny Thomas delivered dynamic kills followed by a spike from Bri Prescott on a 6-1 run cutting the Lady Saints' lead to 17-11. An ace by Kaitlyn Meyer had the crowd fired up as the lead was cut down to five but a service error followed by a kill and block from the Lady Saints extended the lead to 20-12. Independence fought hard, but Seward County would outscore the Lady Pirates 5-3, taking the first set 25-15 and a 1-0 lead.
The second set began with a 1-1 even run after a block from Thomas, but a push too hard stretched the lead back to 2-1 for the Lady Saints. Thomas found fire again with a kill and an ace to tie it before a missed serve put Seward County back up 4-3.
The Lady Saints were cruising on a 4-0 run until a net ball followed by a kill from Alessia Laghi and two straight blocks from Jessie Lewman cut the lead down to 8-7. A 5-2 Seward run had the lead out to 13-9 but a 2-1 run extended the Lady Saints lead to 15-10.
Colon delivered a kill and Kiersten Vincent snuck an ace in on a 2-0 run, but another kill by Seward County pushed the lead to 16-12. Two consecutive miscues later from the Lady Saints had Independence within two points, trailing 16-14 and an ace from Thomas cut it to one before a service error put the lead back to two.
A 2-1 run off service errors cut the Seward lead to 18-17, but a 4-2 run from the Lady Saints pushed the lead to 22-19. Thomas slammed a point down with authority off the next serve, but a 3-1 run gave Seward County a 2-0 lead after a 25-20 set victory.
In the third set, the Lady Saints jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but back to back kills from Colon cut the lead to 3-2. Seward County scored two straight points but Thomas with a spike and a net ball from the Lady Saints cut the score to 5-4, but a 6-1 run pushed the lead to 11-5 for the Lady Saints.
The Lady Pirates went on a 2-0 run and a too far push put the score to 12-7, but a kill from Colon had Independence back within four points before a SC kill pushed the lead back to five at 13-8. Thomas capped off a 3-2 run yet another kill, but a service error pushed the Lady Saints' lead to 16-11.
A valiant effort from the Lady Pirates was very competitive with kills by Lewman and blocks from Noleyshka Santiago, but a 9-3 run closed out the match with a 25-14 third set win for Seward County giving the Lady Saints the 3-0 victory.
The Lady Pirates are now 2-1 and 0-1 in the KJCCC Western Division with the next match Saturday September 1st against the Colby Lady Trojans who sit at 5-0 and 1-0 in the Western Division.