By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Night is always special for the athletes being honored.
And Seaman's volleyball team made it an extra special occasion for its six upperclassmen on Thursday at Seaman, with the Vikings taking wins over a pair of Kansas' most storied programs.
Seaman volleyball celebrates a kill from Maegan Mills (23) during the Vikings' Senior Night win over St. James Academy Thursday at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The defending Class 5A state champs opened their night with a hard-earned three-set 23-25, 25-19, 25-23 win over nine-time 4A and 5A state champion St. James before taking a 25-14, 25-19 win over eight-time 6A state champion Washburn Rural.
Seaman, now 30-2 on the season, could have picked easier opponents for its Senior Night festivities but Viking coach Tatiana Dowling said her team welcomed the challenge.
"I feel really passionate that our girls are the right group and they can take it to whoever they want to as long as they play together and play as a team,'' Dowling said. "I'm really proud of them. I told them, 'Play with a lot of confidence tonight,' and I felt like they did and they believe in each other and in themselves.
"I've got to credit that to our captains and our seniors. They really run this team. They do a great job of making sure that everybody's always on the same page, that we're moving in the right direction and we're focused, so I'm really proud of them for that.''
Seaman will close out their regular season in Saturday's Emporia tournament before beginning defense of their 5A title in postseason and Dowling said matches like Thursday will help the Vikings to continue building momentum.
"I think it's really good to play tough teams at the end of the season because it prepares you for your ultimate goal, which is a state championship,'' Dowling said. "St. James and Washburn Rural are consistently tough teams that do that for you.''
St. James and Seaman battled throughout the first set of the night, including a 23-all tie before, the Thunder closed out the win with two straight points.
Seaman answered with a wire-to-wire second-set win over St. James after opening up early 5-1 and 8-3 leads.
The Vikings went up 12-8 on a service ace from senior Campbell Chabot, 14-9 on a kill from senior Ava Esser and took a 16-12 lead on a kill from senior Maegan Mills, who was dominant at the net throughout Thursday's triangular.
St. James remained within striking distance throughout the set but Seaman took a 22-18 lead on a kill from senior Maggie Moulden, went in front 23-19 on a Mills kill and forced the third set when junior Kinsley Smith capped the Seaman win with an ace.
The third set was tied on multiple occasions, as late as 21-all, before Seaman got three straight kills from Mills on its final three points to take the victory.
After Washburn Rural (24-5) took a 25-21, 25-22 win over St. James (23-6) in the middle match, city rivals Rural and Seaman met up in the final match of the evening, with the Vikings controlling the match most of the way.
There were several early ties in the first set before Seaman went up 14-8 on a Moulden kill and went up 19-13 on a kill from junior Addison Sibley, 21-13 on a service ace from Mills and took a 24-14 lead from Esser before closing out the 11-point win.
Seaman never trailed in the second set against the Junior Blues, going in front 12-5 and 15-7 on Moulden kills and taking a 17-9 advantage on a Mills kill before closing out the win on a Moulden kill.
Washburn Rural split its matches in Thursday's Seaman Senior Night triangular, including a win over Class 5A power St. James Academy. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The highlight of the night for Washburn Rural was the two-set win over St. James, with the Junior Blues avenging an earlier loss to the Thunder.
Rural took control late in the first set against the Thunder with a kill from senior Layla Collins to go up 23-19 and a pair of kills from junior Dayne Shriver to close out the four-point win.
The Junior Blues went in front 13-8 in the second set on a Shriver kill and 17-9 on a Collins kill before halting a late-match comeback by the Thunder to close out the win on a Collins kill.
Veteran Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick was pleased with the Junior Blues' play against St. James but disappointed that his team couldn't duplicate that performance against Seaman.
"It's kind of how our mentality's been, we suddenly become satisfied,'' Bordewick said. "St. James was a little bit down because they lost a heartbreaker (to Seaman) in three sets and turn around and have to play again. We're fresh and at least we took advantage of that and I thought our mental toughness looked better, but then we've got another match.''
But Bordewick was also quick to give credit to Seaman.
"I'll tell you, Maegan Mills is a menace and (Seaman's) whole team played great defense and they are an awesome team,'' he said.
MATCH RESULTS
Seaman def. St. James Academy, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23; Washburn Rural def. St. James Academy, 25-21, 25-22; Seaman def. Washburn Rural, 25-14, 25-19.
