The Seymour volleyball team gathered in the high school commons to celebrate its 2021 season, which was a success from all three levels — freshmen, junior varsity and varsity.

The freshmen team went a perfect 10-0, and coach Lydia Cockerham had two awards to hand out.

Emerson Johnson received the coaches award, and Cierra Bledsoe got the mental attitude award.

The Owls JV team went 19-9, and JV coach Tricia Richey gave her mental attitude award to Jaidyn Nichols. Richey was torn between her coaches award nominees, so she gave them to both girls, who were Katherine Veatch and Maddie Schrader.

As for the varsity, the Owls were 26-5 this season and finished second place in the Hoosier Hills Conference. Seymour was 15-15 last season, and head coach Angie Lucas said she felt like this was a turning point for the program.

“What a change from last year to this year,” Lucas said.

The Owls won the Connersville Invite, won the Franklin Invite, placed second in the Brownstown Central Invite and fourth at the Avon Invitational.

They had a 17-match win streak going into sectionals before having the season come to an end with a four set loss to Providence.

“More important than the wins I stressed developing positive teamwork,” Lucas said. “I feel like we made great strides toward being able to do that, and I think we’re going to continue to be able to do that.”

Lucas handed out five statistical awards.

The serving award went to Addi Lemon, who had a serving percentage of 96.3. Lemon added the short serve to her game, and Lucas feels like that helped the team a lot.

Olivia Fish earned the hitting award with 492 kills, breaking the school record for career kills against Bloomington South. Fish now has 1,053 career kills.

“I know that Meghan Stout in 1997 set those records, and I thought, ‘man those are gonna be hard to beat,’” Lucas said. “Then Olivia came along and she’s done that. She’s still got another season to go, so I think that’s going to be up there for awhile.”

The assist award also went to Lemon, who had 844 assists, accounting for 88 percent of the Owls’ assists this season.

The defensive dig award went to Fish, who dug 289 balls this season. Senior Paige Lawrence was a close second with 274.

The blocking award went to Cali Cummings, who had a total of 73 blocks. Cummings also reached the 500-career kill mark this season and has 536 for her career now with one season to play.

Greer Henry earned the most improved player award for Seymour.

Lucas’ mental attitude award is named after Laura Culp, who graduated from Seymour in 1998 and continued playing at IUPUI. Culp was diagnosed with cancer and passed away on March 26, 2002.

“I always described Laura as a person with a bright smile and inner-strength and competitive spirit like no other,” Lucas said. “She loved playing volleyball, and she had a dream of being a teacher and a volleyball coach here at Seymour High School. She never gave up, and she kept fighting until the day she passed away.”

Lucas gave the Laura Culp mental attitude award to Valeria Ramirez, one of the three seniors on the roster.

Earning HHC all-conference honorable mention was Lemon, who was one of ten players in the conference that made the list. HHC all-conference first team features 12 players, and Seymour had two on the list, which were Fish and Cummings.

Seymour’s three seniors — Ramirez, Lawrence and Kierstyn Ellis — all earned academic all-state.

Finally, Lucas gave out her MVP award, and that went to Fish.

“She became an outstanding teammate by holding herself accountable and others accountable,” Lucas said. “She grew tremendously this season and worked hard in every practice and every match.”

After the individual awards were handed out, Seymour’s three seniors all gave heartfelt speeches about what the program has meant to them.

The speeches embodied the team camaraderie that Lucas talked about at the top, and it’s what she hopes to continue to see at Seymour volleyball as the Owls look to build off this successful 2021 campaign.