Grizzlies defeat Seward in five set battle; first win over Saints since 2014

In an NJCAA top-10 battle, the No. 7-ranked Butler Grizzlies went the distance with the No. 10-ranked Saints defeating them 3-2 in a five-set battle in the Power Plant Saturday afternoon.

This is the Grizzlies first win over the Saints since the 2014 season where they defeated Seward in the Region VI tournament. Butler won the first two sets 25-14 and 25-22, lost the next two 25-20 and 25-16 and won the fifth set 15-6. Although the Grizzlies dropped their first set of the season at home, Butler is now on a 15-game win streak having not lost this month.

"This was a good win for us," commented head coach Lisa Lechtenberg after her first career victory over Seward County. "This is a good team and I am happy with how we handled ourselves late in the match when some adversity hit. We buckled in when we needed to and got it done." 

Butler now has three top-10 wins in the past eight days with wins over No. 1 Iowa Western, No. 9 MSU-West Plains and No. 10 Seward.

Butler came out swinging in the first set defeating Seward in dominant fashion 25-14. Set two was a little tighter but the Grizzlies still found themselves victorious after closing the set on a 9-4 run to win the set 25-22. 

Seward didn't fold as they showed up big in sets three and four winning 25-20 and 25-16 tying up the match forcing a fifth and final set.

Butler would not be denied as they took a 7-2 lead in the set forcing a Seward timeout. The energized crowd in the Power Plant powered the Grizzlies all throughout the set as Butler continued to score going onto win 15-6.

Jaryn Benning had a huge night finishing with a team high 16 kills and added in 11 digs. Kayli Duncan posted 13 kills hitting .444 and finished with six blocks. Sydney Morrow added 12 kills and 13 digs in the match for a double-double. Caitlyn Rexroat dug up 20 balls in the match and had a team high three service aces. Rainey Aven had 25 assists while Macie Shaver finished with 23 and eight digs.

Butler will be on the road Monday, September 27^th as they take on a scrappy Dodge City team. They return home on Wednesday, September 29^th for the first of three straight home matches starting with Garden City at 6:00pm on the 29^th.