Garden City falls in four at Seward

Liberal, KS-Garden City's rally fell short on Wednesday night.

Seyun Park had 17 kills, Rafaela DaSilva added 13 digs, and No. 15 Seward County defeated the Broncbusters in four sets-23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 18-25 at the Green House. 

Garden City kept things close in the opening set. They led early by two but never trailed by more than four. After Ana Cambraia committed an attack error, the Broncbusters were within one, 20-19. But Sarah Cruz followed with a kill, Apolline Lepuissant and Fiona Arnold committed back-to-back miscues, and the Saints took the opening frame.

In the second, Garden City, who dropped a four-set heartbreaker to the Saints just a couple of weeks ago on their home floor, had a chance to take the lead after Aubreigh Haxton's attack sailed long. But Jessica Sales came right back with a spike. The Broncbusters never got closer than two the rest of the way.

Patrick Hiltz's team responded in the third. After trailing by as many as seven, Garden City answered with a 17-8 run. Jelena Milovanovic hammered home a pair of kills; Kate Perryman blocked a Seward County attack; then dropped in a service ace to give the visitors the lead. The Saints followed with a service error and Ozge Yavuz finished off the set with a cross-court spike.    

Garden City appeared to be well on their way to forcing a decisive set after scoring eight of the first nine points in the fourth. But Seward County countered with a 10-3 run to tie it. After the Broncbusters went back up by three, Park powered home a kill, Malena Catala added a service ace, and the Saints closed the match on a 14-7 surge. 

Milovanovic paced the Broncbusters with 12 kills and 11 digs.