After breezing through the third set and taking a 2-1 set lead, the Lady Saints seemed to be rolling past the Conquistadors. But an injury to a Dodge player early in the fourth set slowed the pace of the game and threatened Seward’s momentum.

“We got the momentum and confidence, and then we had to wait around,” head coach Geno Frugoli explained after the 3-2 win. “That’s not something we’ve practiced or had happen because it’s such a weird thing to happen in a match.”

After the injury on the court that was about half an hour long, both teams warmed up again for the fourth set. It seemed like all of Seward’s momentum had been deflated.

The Lady Saints lost the set 9-25, but Frugoli reminded the players to match the intensity the Conquistadors brought after losing a teammate to injury.

“I said, ‘Do you think that that other team is going to play worse now that one of their players are gone or are they going to play harder that person?’” Frugoli said. “You have to match that intensity. You’re going to get it even harder from them.”

After the lopsided set, Seward came back to win the fifth set 15-12, outlasting the Conquistadors 3-2 win. SCCC is 11-3 overall on the season and 4-1 in the KJCAA conference.

The Lady Saints were hot-and-cold in their play all night. They started off in the hole, 0-1, and battled to win the second set. With the score in favor of the Lady Saints 28-27, Sarah Cruz shot the ball onto Dodge City’s side of the court with the crowd on their feet cheering and tying the game at one set apiece. That got the Liberal team fired up until the injury but it still didn’t hide the inconsistent play. Part of the reason for the issue in the beginning was the lack of Gabriela Badilla starting the first set.

“We didn’t have Gabby in at the beginning because she’s been traveling so much and stuff and I knew that when I inserted her later there would be a little consistency, but I didn’t expect it in the first game,” Frugoli said.

The Saints will play at Butler on Saturday. The Grizzlies have come out hot this season upsetting three top ten teams this past weekend. A win would put Seward back on top in conference standings. 

“That team [Butler] is ranked ahead of us now, and we know it’s going to be a tough challenge especially at their place, so it’s going to be another character tester,” Frugoli said.