After winning a five-set battle over Crete Oct. 10, the Seward volleyball team went 1-3 in the Central Conference tournament Oct. 12 and 14.
Tuesday’s match against Crete was a back-and-forth battle with Seward prevailing 25-22, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-12.
“We showed a great deal of resiliency as we kept fighting when we were behind,” Coach Tom Pallas said. “They are a really good team.”
Kelsey Miller and Kennedy Limback led the Jays with 17 and 14 kills, respectively. Libby Kratochvil put up 39 assists, and Abby Covalt finished with 27 digs.
Seward hosted Grand Island Northwest and Schuyler on the first day of the conference tournament. GINW got the win 25-21, 25-20.
Pallas said the Vikings have a good middle hitter and two right side attackers who the Jays struggled to slow.
“We fought hard in both sets but just couldn’t generate enough offense,” he said.
Miller, Jackie Eberspacher and Gabi Cepek had six kills each.
Against Schuyler, a 25-14, 25-7 Bluejay win, Pallas said the team played a solid match and kept its unforced errors down.
Seward opened Oct. 14’s bracket play with a 25-22, 25-20 loss to Crete in another competitive match, Pallas said.
“They were very aggressive serving and they worked hard to get us out of system. We had a hard time getting any run of points against them as they did a good job of siding us out,” Pallas said.
In the fifth-place match against York, the Dukes did not allow any free points, and Seward again struggled to put any runs together.
York got the win 25-22, 25-19.
Miller finished with 11 kills, Covalt 12 digs and Kratochvil 23 assists.
The Jays (22-7) defeated Blair 25-15, 25-16, 25-23 Oct. 17 in the last home regular season match. Thursday, SHS heads to Ashland-Greenwood for a battle of Bluejays.
Subdistricts are Tuesday, Oct. 24. Pallas said Seward will host its subdistrict tournament with Lincoln Northwest and York. Game times had not been released at press time.
