By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
Defending Class 5A state volleyball champion Seaman opened the home portion of its 2024 schedule on Thursday night against Free State, rallying from a slow start to take a 3-1 dual decision over the 6A Firebirds.
Seaman senior Ava Esser spikes the ball in Thursday's 3-1 dual volleyball win over Free State. [Photo by Travis Brown/Seaman Athletics]
After dropping the first set 26-24, Seaman reeled off 25-18, 25-21 and and 25-21 wins to close out the match.
“I was proud of the way we fought back after being down one game at the beginning,'' Seaman coach Tatiana Dowling. "However, we had far too many unforced errors and we need to work to be more consistent.
"Our serve receive and defense looked great tonight. I love a scrappy team and I felt like we did that tonight.”
The Lady Vikes were led in serve receive by seniors Kinley Wilhelm and Maegan Mills along with junior Kinsley Smith. Seniors Ava Esser, Maggie Moulden and Mills led the team in kills. Senior Campbell Chabot and junior Harper Hafenstine led the Lady Vikes in assists while Wilhelm, Chabot and Smith led in digs.
In set one, Free State jumped out to a 7-2 lead, causing Seaman to call a timeout. The Lady Vikes were able to cut the lead to 10-9, but Free State went on a run to lead 18-15 and finished off the set, 26-24.
In set two, Seaman shrugged off their sluggish start and took a 13-7 lead and continued to maintain the lead to win, 25-18.
Set three was back-and-forth, with the Lady Vikes taking an early 10-5 lead before the Firebirds came back to tie the score at 12. Seaman took control by outscoring Free State 7-1, taking a 19-13 lead and closed out the set at 25-21. Set four was controlled by Seaman where the Vikings maintained a 5-7 point lead throughout and finished the match with a 25-19 win.
Seaman senior Maegan Mills spikes the ball in Thursday's 3-1 dual volleyball win over Free State. [Photo by Travis Brown/Seaman Athletics]
With the victory, the Lady Vikes improved to 3-1 on the season and Dowling discussed the improvements needed to be made throughout the remainder of the season.
“I think we have improved defensively over the last few matches,'' she said. "We need to work on our connections with hitters and consistency, but we are headed in the right direction. We are going to keep pushing defense and ball control because that’s at the base of everything we do, but we will also hammer blocking and ways to speed up our offense. I also think we need to serve more aggressively, so we will get after it behind the serving line as well.”
Seaman will be in action next Thursday for a home quad with Manhattan, Shawnee Heights and Silver Lake.
SEAMAN 3, FREE STATE 1
Seaman def. Free State, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19.
