COLUMBUS

Unable to build and sustain momentum, the Seymour volleyall team was handed its third straight loss Tuesday night — a 25-14, 25-17, 25-13 setback at Columbus East.

Falling behind 18-9 in the first set, the Owls (1-3) put together a small run, crawling back into the set 18-14. The Olympians (2-1) then put a hold on any run Seymour strung together.

That became a theme throughout the match, and East finished the set with a 7-0 run of its own.

“I think there were several points in each set where we were putting together a string of plays that looked like what we are trying to get out of this season,” Seymour coach Holly Birdsong said. “Passing is still really a sore spot for us. We work on serve and receive everyday in practice, and it’s just not there yet.”

Early into the second set the Owls held a 4-1 lead, but allowed East to crawl back into the match and take a 6-5 lead. Seymour kept the set close, trailing 18-16 when the Olympians put the clamps on, finishing off the set on a 7-1 run.

The third set would continue the trend. The Owls hung tough early on. Trailing 14-11, they gave up a 7-1 run, allowing East to take a commanding 21-11 lead.

Jessica Blevens led the Owls with 10 kills, while Makenna Fee added 20 assists and four blocks. Emily Corcoran had seven digs, and Abby Schmidt contributed one ace.

“I do think we had some big plays to take away for some of our hitters,” Birdsong said. “The pass was there, the set was there and we are right there with the hitters on blocking. We had a lot of net violations though that stopped some of our blocks that we had, so we will have to spend some more time on that this week.”