By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By her own admission, Seaman volleyball coach Tatiana Dowling wasn't real happy with her team after a disappointing 1-3 performance in last Saturday's Lansing Invitational.
But the Vikings got back on Dowling's good side Tuesday night at Topeka West, posting a pair of straight-set sweeps over West and Shawnee Heights in their first-ever United Kansas Conference matches.
Seaman's volleyball team celebrates a point in Tuesday's straight-set win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rick Peteron/TSN]
Seaman, now 8-4 on the season, opened the night with a 25-20, 25-15 win over Heights before knocking off host West in its final match, 25-17, 25-16.
"We came back and we had a really tough practice on Monday,'' Dowling said. "They worked hard, we worked them hard, and I felt like it was a good step in the right direction for us to get to where we wanted to be today.''
And overall, Dowling liked what she saw out of her team Tuesday night.
"For the most part, I felt pretty good,'' Dowling said. "I think that we still had a couple of times where we had lulls in the middle, where we kind of let up, but getting two wins was a good way to start off league.''
The Vikings, who have played all season thus far without injured junior standout Taylin Stallbaumer, jumped out to a 6-1 first-set advantage over Shawnee Heights and went up 12-5 on a kill from sophomore Kinley Wilhelm and later went in front 19-9 and 20-12 on a kill from sophomore Meagan Mills.
Shawnee Heights rallied late in the set and was within 23-19 after a kill from senior Emily Loy before Seaman closed out the win on a Mills kill.
Seaman also took control early in the second set with the T-Birds, taking leads of 4-0, 14-2 and 18-5 on a kill from junior Brooklyn Gormley.
Heights battled back to within 22-15 on a Loy kill before Seaman ran off the final three points of the match, including a kill from Gormley and an ace from sophomore Jaida Stallbaumer.
Seaman jumped out to a big early lead over Topeka West in the first set behind a long service run from senior Laynee Brown and went on to build a 15-3 cushion before weathering a late West run in its eight-point win.
West jumped out early in the second set on a kill from senior Makinsey Jones and led as late as 12-11 after a Jones kill before Seaman scored five straight points, capped by back-to-back service aces from freshman Ava Huston to go up, 16-12.
The Chargers cut their deficit to 16-14 before Seaman got a kill from Gormley, two aces from J. Stallbaumer and a kill from sophomore Ava Esser to take a 20-14 lead.
Seaman closed out the win on a pair of kills from Esser.
Shawnee Heights senior Peyton Hack (right) goes up for a kill in Tuesday's win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights, now 4-3, went 1-1 on the night, outlasting Topeka West in three sets in the T-Birds' opening match.
The T-Birds built leads of 15-3 and 21-7 over the Chargers in the first set before closing out the 10-point win on a block from sophomore Kaydence Torrez and senior Haylee Coffman.
Topeka West bounced back in the second set to force a third set, riding a big set from Jones to take the 25-23 decision.
West was within a point in the third set at 22-21 before the T-Birds ran off the final three points of the match.
Shawnee Heights coach Sami Kearney said she saw multiple bright spots Tuesday night, but said the T-Birds spotted Seaman too big of leads in both sets.
"We got stuck in some rotations and couldn't fight our way out of it and mentally weren't there,'' Kearney said. "Something to improve on obviously is to make sure we can find a way to get out of those rotations and not get down those points.''
MATCH RESULTS
Shawnee Heights def. Topeka West, 25-15, 23-25, 25-21; Seaman def. Shawnee Heights, 25-20, 25-15; Seaman def. Topeka West, 25-17, 25-16.
