LIBERAL, Kansas — Road matches are always tough. But a trip to Liberal, Kansas for a meeting with Seward County Community College has historically been tough for the Cloud County Community College volleyball team, which entered Wednesday night winless in its last 35 meetings against the Lady Saints.

Unfortunately for the T-Birds, who last defeated Seward County when Cloud County head coach Molly Skocny was an All-Conference player in 1998, the streak continued Wednesday night as they fell in straight, hard-fought sets: 25-22, 25-22 and 25-23.

"We played a well-balanced game. Our passing was good and our hitters were smar," Skocny said. "We blocked effectively too. When it comes down to it, we fell short by a total of eight points the entire match."

The loss dropped Cloud County to 11-14 overall this season, and to sixth place in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference with a conference record of 5-8, while the win lifted Seward County (21-9, 12-2 KJCCC) to the top of the conference a half-game ahead of Colby Community College.

Offensively, the T-Birds had a balanced attack as redshirt freshman Drew Mann had a team-high seven kills, followed by freshmen Irem Bat with six kills and Katelyn Ruth with five kills. Fellow freshman Elizabeth Nobert added four kills and four block assists.

Sophomore outside hitter Cara Flach finished with 19 assists, and sophomore Bailey Lewis anchored the back row with 14 digs.

Up next for the T-Birds will be the two-day Jefferson College Halloween Classic tournament held in Hillsboro, Missouri. Cloud County will play two matches on Friday at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. versus Illinois Central College and Missouri State University-West Plains, respectively.

"We will continue to hard on building our confidence, develop stronger team chemistry, and overall enthusiasm throughout," Skocny said. "The girls realize the most important time in or season is just around the corner, so it's time to come together and compete."