No. 11 Seward rolls through Garden City

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-11^th-ranked Seward County dissected Garden City with surgical precision on Saturday.

Sarah Cruz recorded 19 kills, Gabriela Badilla added nine, and the Saints beat the Broncbusters in three sets 15-25, 15-25, 17-25 at Conestoga Arena. It was Garden City's third straight loss, which kept them in last place in the Jayhawk West.

Seward County was impressive from the start. They stormed out to an early 8-3 advantage and led by as many as nine in the opening frame. Cruz then added two powerful kills from the left side that finished off the set.

The Broncbusters bounced back to begin the second, grabbing a 7-5 advantage following a Seward County net violation. But the Saints took over from there. Badilla pounded a ball down the right sideline, Garden City recorded back-to-back attack errors, and Seyun Park softly tapped the ball over the net for a 15-12 advantage. Following a Broncbuster timeout, the Saints rattled off a 10-3 run to close the stanza.

With Garden City leading 10-9 in the third, the home team was called for a net violation. Badilla then tallied four straight kills, Berfin Mertcan had a block and a spike, and the Saints put this one on ice with a 15-7 surge to win for the seventh time in their last eight matches.

Remi Vargas had 28 assists for Garden City, who dropped to 1-9 in their last 10 games.

Next up: Garden City vs. Barton-Monday, Oct. 18-6:30 p.m.