After not playing for quite a few days, the Lady Saints started a little slow Wednesday, Oct. 22, against Garden City. In front of an optimistic and support crowd at the Green House due to Dig Pink Night, a night raising funds and awareness for breast cancer, the Lady Saints found a way to knock off their rival for the 19th straight time.

The Lady Saints didn’t make it easy on themselves in the first match. The 8-18 Busters jumped out to a 6-1 lead over the Lady Saints to start off the match. Seward eventually would take the lead 10-9 when Megan Sharratt aced a serve.

Seward didn’t take off from there though as the Busters would jump back to 15-13 lead. Seward then came storming back and after a couple aces and a powerful kill from Thayna Silva to take a 21-17 lead, but the Lady Saints then got dominated on the final 10 points on the set losing them 8-2, and the Busters ended the first match with a score of 25-23. The Lady Saints didn’t die though, and came out in the second match seeking vengeance. Six players combined to get Seward a 8-2 lead. Then Seward continued to a 12-6 lead, but then, after three straight errors from the Lady Saints, the Busters found themselves creeping back into the game down by two at 12-10. Then another error lead to a deadlock game at 13. After a pair of Garden City kills, giving them a 15-14 lead, Seward called a timeout to get back on track.

The Lady Saints then ran away with the game with an eight point run making it a 20-15 game. Alex Wood closed out the game with a devastating kill to win the game 25-19 and even the match at 1-1.

The third game started out just like game one for Seward as they found themselves tied at 11 midway through. Then Seward found a way to start pushing through the wall. Two kills from Alex Wood and two blocks from Carolina Gasparini and Lindsey Schwab lead to a 8-0 run and an eventual 19-11 lead. The Busters never seemed to make another push as Seward would run away with game three 25-14 putting the Lady Saints up 2-1 in the match.

Seward didn’t stop the run as they went into game four. They jumped out to a 6-2 lead as Wood and Schwab got a block, and then Silva unleashed a violent kill right on the line.

They finally ran out of their streaky magic though as the Busters took the lead at 9-8. Seward jumped back out to a 15-14 lead on a Garden City error. Then after a Seward error, the Busters found themselves with a 16-15 lead. It continued to be a barnburner down the stretch. Seward then pulled ahead late after an ace from Silva, her seventh ace. That put the Lady Saints up 23-20. The Lady Saints then closed up the win on their third attempt at match point to win 25-23.

Seward hit .183 as a team and had 48 kills. They got out with a win despite a night with 20 errors. Silva was a team leader in kills with 12 and she added 19 digs. This was her 15th double double of the season and Gasparini continued it with a double double of her own (11 kills and 20 digs). Megan Sharratt had a solid night hitting .476, had 10 kills and 0 errors. Wood finished with eight kills.

Nacole Miller was the leader in assists with 23, and Kari Anderson led the team in digs with 25. The Lady Saints are now 19-12 and 7-4 in the Jayhawk West.

Seward hosts Lamar on Friday in a non-conference match beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Green House.