Box Score CONCORDIA, Kan. - Mid-set runs by visiting ninth-ranked Seward County Community College would be the undoing of the Cloud County Community College volleyball team in a 25-19, 25-20, 25-19 home defeat in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play inside of Arley Bryant Gymnasium in Concordia, Kansas on Wednesday, September 8th.
Dropping to 6-5 overall on the season, CCCC is now 0-3 in the KJCCC while the Saints picked up win number nine to improve to 9-2 and 2-0 in Jayhawk Conference action.
After grabbing a 4-3 lead early in the first set, Cloud County would see SCCC use a 7-0 to go up 10-4 before finally ending the rally on a
Hollie Stewart kill. A 3-1 spurt from Seward County would follow to give the Saints a 13-6 lead over the T-Birds as Cloud County would call their first timeout of the match in hopes of stopping the mounting momentum. Out of the timeout, back-to-back service aces and a pair of kills from Seward County would extend the lead and allow the Saints to go up double-digits at 17-6 as Cloud County never would be able to fully recover from the hole that was dug as the set would come to a close with SCCC taking a six-point opening set victory.
In the second set, Cloud County would avoid going into an early hole as the first 13 points of the set would be traded by the two squads to lead to a 7-6 Seward County lead. The Saints would then use a kill and service ace to extend their lead to three at 9-6 as Cloud County would eventually see the deficit grow to five at 13-8. Needing to try and get back in the set, a service error from Seward County would spark a 3-0 run from the T-Birds to get back within three at 14-11 but it would be quickly thwarted by the Saints who would go on to score five of the next seven and force a CCCC timeout at 19-13. Seward County's lead would reach seven points down the stretch with things sitting at 22-15 in favor of SCCC, but Cloud County would make one final push at getting back into the set. Following an attack error from the Saints, sophomore
Geraldyn Palacios would come up big with back-to-back blocks to spark the home crowd and pull the T-Birds within three at 22-19. The potential rally once again would come up short however as Seward County would go on to score three of the final four points to take the set by a score of 25-20 and go up 2-0 in the match.
The T-Birds would manage to avoid a slow start in the third as a pair of Palacios kills along with a few Seward County miscues would allow CCCC to jump out and score five of the first six points of the set to force the Saints into an early timeout. The Cloud County lead would manage to hold up until 8-7 as SCCC would find a way to claim the lead at 10-9 following a kill and service ace as the points would be part of a 7-1 run to force Cloud County into a timeout trailing 15-10. Three of the next four points would be scored by the T-Birds with
Natasha Dooley connecting on a pair of kills, but Seward County would still find a way to keep just enough distance from the T-Birds to hang onto the lead. Following the run from CCCC, the Saints would go on a 4-1 run to go up by a score of 20-14 as the T-Birds would get no closer in the set and fall by the same score as they saw in the opening set to see the match come to a close.
What's Next?
A short memory would serve the T-Birds well as Cloud County is back in action tomorrow night with a 7 p.m. road match up in Columbus, Nebraska to take on Central Community College in the first of two meetings between the two teams in the next 12 days. Central is off to a 7-2 start on the season and will be coming off a four-set win at home on the road Wednesday night over Southeast Community College. Central CC is 3-1 at home this season as the Raiders opened the year with four matches at home before playing the last five on the road.
