COLUMBUS
Seymour overcame a little bit of a slow start in Tuesday’s volleyball match at Columbus North, but when the Owls got going, they were hard to stop.
The result was a 25-21, 25-15, 25-15 sweep for Seymour.
“I think the first set was slow,” junior outside hitter Olivia Fish said. “Our passing, our serve-receive wasn’t there, but as the night went on, we progressed, and I think our blocking got better, too, which helped us throughout.”
The Bull Dogs jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first set and led 8-6 before the Owls scored five in a row behind the serving of Valeria Ramirez. North came back to take an 18-17 lead, but Seymour rallied to pull out the first set, with set point coming on a kill from Cali Cummings.
“The outcome of that first set was kind of crucial to how the match was going to go,” Seymour coach Angie Lucas said. “I’m really glad we started to pass better because honestly, when we have a good pass, then our setter Addi (Lemon) can get her job done and the outsides with Liv and Bre (Lawrence) and our middles, we just have hitters, but we have to be able to get the ball to them.”
The Owls did that in the second set. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead with Paige Lawrence at the service line. The Bull Dogs were within 11-9 before Seymour ran off five points in a row with Gracie Adams serving. The Owls finished off the set on a kill by Fish.
In the third set, the Owls jumped out to a 12-3 lead and never looked back. They secured the match on a kill by Journee Brown.
“Slowly bur surely, we’re starting to do some things,” Lucas said. “Our offense is starting to play a little bit better, but it really comes back down to the passing. It was kind of rough in that first set. In the second and third, I felt like we passed very well.”
Fish led Seymour with 17 kills and five aces.
“We have times where we really peak to the best we’ve ever played, and then we also have times where we stoop really low,” Fish said. “So I think there were times when we played better, but there were also times where we didn’t play as good.”
Lemon finished with 25 assists, and Paige Lawrence recorded 13 digs for the Owls. Brown was 11 for 11 hitting with five kills, and Cummings was 15 for 15 with four kills. Kierstyn Ellis had one solo block, Brown and Leman each had two assist blocks, Paige Lawrence was 13 for 13 serving with two aces and Adams was 11 for 11 serving with two aces.
“I felt like our libero, Paige Lawrence, played very well, and then obviously Olivia Fish is a dominant hitter for us,” Lucas said. “She played well. Our two middles (Cummings and Brown) stood out and did a nice job, as well. I’m really happy with Journee’s progress. She’s a young kid, long lanky kid, and she’s really starting to come into it for us.”