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Defending state champion Seaman volleyball improves to 6-1 with quadrangular sweep
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman volleyball got through a tough early-season stretch without senior star Maegan Mills and is now back at full strength and beginning to flash the form that produced the first Class 5A state championship in school history last fall.
Mills, the reigning Topeka Shawnee County Player of the Year and a 5A All-Stater, missed the Vikings' first three matches after suffering a minor knee injury in Seaman's jamboree, but Seaman went a respectable 2-1 during that stretch and has not lost since, improving to 6-1 with a sweep of Thursday's home quadrangular.
Seaman, ranked third in 5A by the Kansas Volleyball Association, opened its night with a 25-19, 25-14 win over Manhattan, followed by a 25-14, 25-21 decision over Silver Lake and a 25-14, 25-17 win over Shawnee Heights.
"You never complain when you go 3-0 against some pretty decent teams,'' Seaman coach Tatiana Dowling said. "I think that we definitely have our stuff that we've got to work on -- defensively, connecting with our hitters, speeding up our offense -- but I'm happy with how they stayed calm, cool and collected no matter what the situation is.
"I think that their experience really shows in those situations. They don't seem rattled.''
Mills, who has orally committed to Tulsa, also gave her team passing grades for its performance thus far, but is expecting more as the season moves on.
"I think we're doing pretty good,'' said Mills, who has committed to Tulsa. "I would say we definitely have a lot of ways to improve. We've worked on blocking a lot, but I think today we blocked pretty well. Our defense has been struggling a bit but we've just been doing a lot of defensive work in practice and we just need to work on coming out strong.
"The first couple of games we kind of came out kind of weak in a sense and we've just been focusing on coming out strong. We have our areas where we need to improve, but it's been a really good season so far.''
Mills said Seaman realizes that teams will be shooting for the Vikings as the defending state champion, but she said her team is up to the challenge.
"I would say we know there's pressure, but I don't think we feel it,'' Mills said. "We just know that everyone's going to come in guns blazing and they're not going to lay off so, we have to come out stronger and just really focus on our side and keep our errors down and that just comes from being a mentally strong team.''
Hayden soccer shows progress in tough 3-2 loss to Eudora
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A 3-2 loss to Eudora on Tuesday kept the Hayden boys soccer team out of the win column, but was a sign of improvement and effort for the team to build on.
Trailing 3-1 at the intermission, the Wildcats shut down the visiting Cardinals’ offense and scored a goal with 5:50 remaining to raise the temperature of the final minutes.
“The effort was good. We just didn’t make very good decisions at times,” Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer said. “I told the guys their effort was good, but we have to play with that effort and intensity when we’re close, not to get close. We have to have that intensity the whole game.”
Junior Uriel Cruz led the fight for the Wildcats, scoring in each half. His goals were assisted by senior Evan George and junior Lane Neuman.
Hayden volleyball takes straight-set wins over Centennial League foes Emporia, Topeka High
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After giving birth to her and husband TJ's fifth child on Aug. 13, Corrinne McGreevy took time away from her duties as Hayden's volleyball coach to focus on her newborn son.
But McGreevy knew that the Wildcat program was in excellent hands in her absence, turning the reins over to her high school coach, Jesica Farmer-Walter.
McGreevy was back on the bench Tuesday night, tag-teaming the coaching duties with Farmer-Walter as Hayden earned straight-set victories over Centennial League foes Emporia (25-15, 25-18) and Topeka High (25-12, 25-18) at High.
"Farmer has been such a lifesaver,'' McGreevy said. "I mean she has got them all ready. She has all the lineups and everything and I just come in and she kind of lets me do my thing and it's been awesome. She's been the backbone.''
When McGreevy comes back on a full-time bases, Farmer-Walter, who coached Hayden to five state titles, will serve as assistant coach for her former star.
"It's come full circle,'' McGreevy said. "She went from yelling at me all the time and making me run all the time to now we're sitting on the sidelines best friends coaching together.''
The young Wildcats, who have just two seniors on the roster, are now 4-1 on the season after Tuesday's triangular sweep, with their lone loss coming against perennial Class 6A power Washburn Rural in three sets.
"I'm so proud of them,'' McGreevy said. "The young ones have stepped up and our junior, sophomore and senior leaders, they've all just really came together and support each other and they've done a great job.''