The Seymour volleyball team stayed hot by sweeping Southport 25-9, 25-9, 25-14 in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium Thursday night.
The Owls have won seven in a row since a loss in the Avon Invitational, and are 16-4 for the season.
Coach Angie Lucas says she is happy with the level at which her team is performing.
“I’m very pleased. I felt that our serving was very, very good. We were hitting our zones. Coach Richey was giving them zones to hit, and the girls were hitting them. It was causing disruption for their side.
“They couldn’t get anything set up because of that, so that was a huge benefit for us. One of the things we wanted to focus on this week was serving, to get more aces, and we did that.”
Seymour had nine aces with Greer Henry serving six.
The Owls got off to quick starts in all three sets against the Cardinals.
After Southport scored the first two points in the first set, Olivia Fish began attacking with power and the Cardinals couldn’t return.
The Owls scored 10 straight points with Fish getting four kills during that string with Paige Lawrence and Henry serving aces.
Fish also had an ace later in the match and finished with 6 kills, and Cali Cummings had 5 kills. Set point came on an ace by Addi Lemon.
Henry opened the second set with another ace, a block by Lemon gave her team a 7-2 lead, a kill by Cummings made it a 15-5 score, and Henry served two more aces before Fish had a kill for set point.
Back-to-back kills by Fish helped the Owls to a 4-0 lead in the third set. A kill by Breanna Lawrence gave Seymour a 9-4 lead, a block by Journee Brown made it 20-10, and a kill by Breanna Lawrence ended the action.
Valeria Ramirez, one of the three seniors on the roster, is a back-row specialist and a server, and credits the Owls’ success to teamwork.
“I think we played as a team,” she said. “We had good communication and we had a ton of energy. We started off strong and we won strong.
“Our team is so connected, and we play so well together. Our friendship outside of the court and inside of the court, we’re so well put together. Our theme is ‘we are one.’”
Fish finished with 18 kills and Cummings had 12 kills.
Lucas said a lot of Seymour’s strong play at the net came from Southport sending the Owls free balls “for easy roll shots, and we were able to control the ball and get our offense going.”
“Serving and passing is such a huge part of this game,” Lucas said. “It’s big, so when we do that well, we look really well. I’m pleased with what I saw tonight. They’ve been working hard. This is a fun group to coach. They’re very coachable and they just want to win.
“I feel like we’re ahead of where I thought we would be at this point in time just because our passing and serving game wasn’t where I had hoped. So for them to show me that they are doing that now, that is a positive for us. We’re going to need that come tournament time.”
Seymour swept the Cardinals at all three levels, winning the freshman match 25-24, 25-11, and the junior varsity match 25-19, 25-15.
The Owls will play in the Franklin Invitational Saturday, and will play Indianapolis Scecina and Greenwood in pool play beginning at 9 a.m.