Garden City drops fifth straight; lose at Seward

By Mike Pilosof

Liberal, KS-All that starts well does not always end well. 

Such was the case for Garden City Wednesday night at the Greenhouse. 

Despite jumping out early on Seward in the first set, Garden City failed to hold on as the Saints roared back to sweep the Broncbusters 25-21, 25-10 and 25-16. 

Garden City has now lost five matches in a row. They dropped to 3-11 overall and 1-5 in conference play. 

"This one was tough; we had five to six girls that had the flu and were up all night; it definitely showed in game two," Head Coach Jacquelynne Matula said afterwards. "I would have liked for them to come togheter a little more."

In the first set, Garden City did just that, giving a Seward County team that entered the night right on the heels of first-place Hutchinson in the Jayhawk Conference, all they could handle. 

"Again, we showed glimpses but not a complete game," Matula added. 

The Broncbusters built a 12-8 lead in the first set, only to watch the Lady Saints eventually tie the match at 17. It was all Seward County (10-3, 4-1) from there. 

The Saints scored eight out of the final 10 points to take the opening frame.

That momentum carried over into the second set when Seward County pushed past Garden City for a 10-4 lead. That edge would increase before Martiza Mesa's kill gave the Saints a 15-point victory. 

The third set was a mere formality. 

Garden City never got any closer than five points as Seward cruised to their first home sweep of the season.

Kaysie Paxton led the Saints' charge with 10 kills; Amanda Pereira had a match-best 13 assists and Kimberly Diaz recorded 14 digs for Seward County, who won their fourth match in a row.

Garden City was led by Megan Besecker's seven kills. Madison Park added six assists and Bailey Martinez had 17 digs.