Cloud County Volleyball Wins 4th in a Row, Takes Four-Set Home Battle Against Seward County

Things were as tight as they could get through the opening three sets of play before seeing the Cloud County Community College volleyball team run away with a double-digit fourth set victory to defeat visiting Seward County Community College by a score of 3-1 inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Wednesday, September 20th.

Picking up their third win in as many days to improve to 13-5 overall, Cloud County has won each of their past two Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference matches to move to 3-4 in the KJCCC while sending Seward to a 10-9 overall record and 2-4 mark in conference.

Separation would be hard to come by throughout the first three sets with each of the first two sets being decided by extra points and all three sets being won by the bare minimum. Following the first 18 points of the match that would see six ties and four lead changes between schools, Cloud County would grab a slim 11-9 lead following a block by Emery May and Katelynn Brogan before getting an Ashley Suter kill to cap off a 3-0 rally. The Saints would battle to keep things close before seeing another 3-0 spurt from the T-Birds put CCCC up 16-12 on a service ace by May with the lead eventually reaching five at 18-13. Chipping away at the deficit, SCCC would go on a 3-0 run of their own thanks in part to a block and pair of Cloud County errors to get back within two at 19-17 before seeing four of the next six points be scored by the T-Birds to put CCCC just two points away from an opening set victory. The four-point cushion for Cloud County would be short-lived as a timeout by the Saints would spark a 6-1 run by Seward County that would suddenly see SCCC at game point with a 25-24 advantage as it would be Cloud County now using a timeout to try and keep the set alive. Turning to their sophomore returning players, CCCC would get things tied back up one final time in the set with a kill by Doga Eski before seeing Brogan lay down a kill to get things back to set point in favor of the T-Birds before having Eski record her fourth kill of the set to give Cloud County a 27-25 opening set win.

As if the opening set wasn't entertaining enough, the two squads would once again provide a barnburner in the second with five ties through the opening 14 points as things would be deadlocked at 7-7 in the early going. Once things were tied up, Seward County would score each of the next four points to take an 11-7 lead before adding another three straight points following a Brogan kill as the T-Birds would suddenly be facing their largest deficit of the match with SCCC up 14-8. A quick flip of the script however would see seven straight points rattled off by CCCC to completely erase the deficit and go back up by a score of 15-14 as the Saints would be forced to use their first timeout of the set. Adding to the run, Cloud County would manage to score five of the next seven to cap off a 12-2 T-Bird run that would give CCCC some breathing room at 20-16 with a chance to go up 2-0 in the set on the horizon. Both teams would manage to trade the next four points before seeing Seward County close the gap to two at 22-20 as Cloud County would again struggle to try and fend off what a pesky Saint squad. Just like the first set, Seward would put together another rally by reeling off four straight points after trailing 23-20 to go up 24-23 and get to set point but a quick kill right down the middle by freshman Kloë Waymel would ensure that extra points would again be needed. The set would continue for another eight points as the T-Birds would have four opportunities to try and close out the set with the final opportunity getting converted off kills from Eski and Jacey Schurle to end a 29-27 set win.

It would yet again be more of the same in the third set with both teams appearing to be as evenly matched as they come with neither team being able to take a lead larger than three in the set. Trading three leads before seeing a 4-1 Cloud County run put the T-Birds up 6-4, it would be Seward County who would respond with three straight points to claim a one-point lead before giving up three straight to put things back at a two-point CCCC advantage. Things would get knotted back up at 9-9 before the T-Birds would start to take control of the set with a 4-1 run as part of a larger 5-2 run that would give Cloud County their largest lead of the set at 14-11. Just as quickly as the lead appeared did it get erased by SCCC as the Saints would pull back even at 14-14 before seeing ties at 15-all and 16-all as the set would still be up for the taking. Back-to-back points by Cloud County would put the T-Birds up 18-16 before a timeout by Seward would be called and eventually spark a 6-1 Saint run that would see SCCC go up by a 22-19 advantage. A push from CCCC would see the T-Birds utilize a service error by Seward County to kick of a 4-1 run that would tie things one final time at 23-23, but ultimately it would be the Saints who would be able to extend the match with a kill and a Cloud County attack error to take a 25-23 win.

Momentum would look to be on the Saints bench as the first four points of the fourth would be scored by Seward County before a kill by May would spark the home crowd in favor of the T-Birds to respond with a 4-0 run of their own. Following another two points from SCCC, Cloud County would come back with six-straight points to force Seward County to call their first timeout that would prove to be of little use as CCCC would continue their run that would wind up becoming a 9-1 streak to go up 13-7. A clearly rattled Saint squad would continue their woes as a 4-0 spurt from Cloud County would run the score all the way to 17-8 as the T-Birds would be in full control with everything seemingly going the way of CCCC. Out of timeouts and looking for answers, SCCC would muster only four points the rest of the way as Cloud County would break the streak of two-point set wins for either squad by running away with a 25-13 set win to close out just their second win over the Saints since 2012.

Outhitting Seward County in every set, Cloud County would finish with a .202 attack percentage on the night with three players winding up in double-digits in the kill column led by a match-high 14 from Eski. Recording their second-highest total in service aces on the year, CCCC would make the most of 13 service aces and seven blocks to outscore SCCC by a combined seven points in the two categories that very much helped decide the match. In addition to the 14 kills from Eski, the Kastamonu, Turkey native would have a team-best 18 digs to finish as one of two players with a double-double to join a 10 kill, 26-assist outing from Brogan.

What's Next?
A season-high six-match road trip for Cloud County will commence on Saturday, September 23rd when the T-Birds make the short drive down Highway 81 to take part in a triangular hosted by the Kansas Wesleyan University JV team. Joining CCCC and KWU JV will be Ottawa JV with Cloud County taking on the host Coyotes at 10 AM before playing the Braves at 12 PM.