By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's volleyball team has known for awhile that it was going to be without coach Tatiana Dowling for a portion of Saturday's Seaman Invitational, with Dowling leaving after the Vikings' first two pool play matchess to fulfill her commitment to be part of a close friend's wedding.
But the Vikings were able to finish what they started, capping a perfect 5-0 day with a 25-15, 22-25, 25-18 victory over defending Class 3A state champion Olathe-Heritage Christian in the final to claim the tournament championship.
Seaman's volleyball team poses with the championship trophy after winning Saturday's Seaman Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman celebrates a point in the Seaman Invitational championship match against Heritage Christian. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"She told us at the beginning of the season because she wanted to let us know in advance so we could prepare for that, and that's something we've been preparing for all week,'' Seaman senior libero Laynee Brown said. "We've had our assistants (Aubree Taylor and Paul Muzzy) come up and coach us and they basically ran our practices to help us prepare for today.''
And Brown said the Vikings have all been trained to do what they needed to do.
"We all know our part annd where we stand and what we should do,'' Brown said. "I think we did really good. We really pulled together and played together as a team instead of being individuals on the court.''
Seaman started the day with pool play victories over Kearney, Neb. (25-10, 25-9), Heritage Christian (25-17, 26-24) and Hayden (25-11, 25-13) before advancing to the championship match with a 25-17, 25-11 semifinal win over Hutchinson.
The Vikings then survived their tough three-set rematch with Heritage Christian, which advanced to the title match with an 18-25, 25-21, 25-18 win semifinal win over defending 5A state champion Lansing.
Seaman took control early in the first set against Heritage Christian, jumping out in front 11-6, 18-11 and 22-14 and closed out the set with three straight points, including a kill from junior Brooklyn Gormley on set point.
Heritage Christian turned the tables in the second set, building a 14-8 advantage and closing out the set with back-to-back points after Seaman had battled back to tie the set at 20-all.
Seaman posted a solid win in the decisive third set, opening up leads of 14-8 and 20-14 and getting kills from sophomores Reagan McGivern and Kinley Wilhelm to give the Vikings a 24-15 lead on the way to the nine-point win.
Seaman's McGivern and sophomore Meagan Mills were both named to the all-tournament team for the Vikings, who played without injured junior Hope Dapkiewicz and sophomore Ava Esser but recently got junior Taylin Stallbaumer back in the lineup after Stallbaumer missed the early part of the season with an injury.
"We've had so many injuries,'' Brown said. "We've gone through a lot of rotations and trying to work out kinks here and there but I think we kind of have a set rotation now.
"It's definitely nice to have Taylin back. She's a huge leader for us.''
Silver Lake finished seventh in Saturday's tournament, taking a 25-17, 25-18 win over Hayden in the seventh-place match.
SEAMAN INVITATIONAL VOLLEYBALL
Pool play results
Pool A -- Seaman def. Kearney, Neb., 25-10, 25-9; Heritage Christian def. Hayden, 25-9, 25-15; Seaman def. Heritage Christian, 25-17, 26-24; Kearney def. Hayden, 25-12, 25-18; Heritage Christian def. Kearney, 25-17, 25-17; Seaman def. Hayden, 25-11, 25-13;
Pool B -- Lansing def. Hutchinson, 25-21, 21-25, 25-8; Spring Hill def. Silver Lake, 21-25, 25-17, 25-11; Hutchinson def. Silver Lake, 32-30, 25-18; Lansing def. Spring Hill, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21; Hutchson def. Spring Hill, 25-19, 25-17; Lansing def. Silver Lake, 25-15, 15-23, 25-16.
Semifinals -- Seaman def. Hutchinson, 25-17, 25-11; Heritage Christian def. Lansing, 18-25, 25-21, 25-18.
Championship -- Seaman def. Heritage Christian, 25-15, 22-25, 25-16.
Third -- Lansing def. Hutchinson, 25-15, 25-20.
Fifth -- Spring Hill def. Kearney, 25-13, 27-25.
Seventh -- Silver Lake def. Hayden, 25-17, 25-18.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Maliyah Johnson, sr., Hutchinson; Anna Laincz, jr., Lansing; Cy Rae Campbell, jr., Heritage Christian; Rachel Van Gorp, jr., Heritage Christian; Meagan Mills, so., Seaman; Reagan McGivern, so., Seaman.
