In their final home match of their career at the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium, the Seymour volleyball seniors wouldn’t be denied a victory against Columbus North.
Despite a slow start, the Owls held home court 18-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-18 for the victory against the Bull Dogs.
In the first set, the Bull Dogs were able to build an early 6-2 lead that was capped by a kill from junior middle hitter Imani Guy.
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The Bull Dogs didn’t trail at any point, and Guy came up with the set-winning block at 25-18.
At 4-4 in the second set, the Owls lost lead hitter Emilee Pollmann to an ankle injury.
Both squads traded points until the Owls build a 14-10 lead off multiple unforced errors by the Bull Dogs.
Junior Addie Rudge served up five-straight winning points before the Owls tied the set scoring with a 25-15 win.
“In set one, we switched up our lineup a little bit to allow all our seniors to start,” Owls coach Holly Birdsong said. “We only put one person out of position, but it was enough to throw them off. I don’t think we were ready when the game started. I think as the game went on we got more confident and talking better as a team.”
“Once they get their confidence back, they do great things together as a team. It’s been the same thing all season with the ups and downs.”
North built a 10-5 lead off back-to-back aces from Mackenzie Rooks partway through the third set.
The Owls climbed back to tie the set at 10-10 before winning 10-straight points behind serves from senior Lauren Fleetwood.
Trailing 24-15, the Bull Dogs committed a serving error to drop the set.
In the final set, the Owls and Bull Dogs traded points.
The Owls were able to distance themselves and come away with the win, after tying at 18-18, by winning the final seven points of the match.
Seniros Chandler Clark, Mollie Borcherding, Macey Chase, Mikayla Fee and Pollmann were introduced with their families prior to the game.
“All of the seniors have done great things for us,” Birdsong said. “They started with me on the JV team and got minutes on varsity as soon as they were sophomores. They are good players and teammates, and everyone is going to miss them after this season.”
Seymour (15-11) will play Floyd Central in the Jennings County Sectional semifinals Oct. 24.