Active Owl always hard at work, play

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Addie Rudge has created a full schedule at Seymour for herself this school year.

She played volleyball and tennis the past three years, added swimming this year and is the senior class president.

This spring Rudge is playing No. 1 doubles after playing No. 2 singles her sophomore year and in both doubles spots her junior year.

Rudge and Katie O’Mara played some doubles matches together at the end of last year and have been together this spring since Rudge recovered from tonsil surgery.

Lessons from the volleyball court translate to the tennis court for Rudge.

“Communication is very similar to volleyball because one of you have to get to the ball,” Rudge said. “Some shots in the middle you could fake each other out, so it’s important to tell where your net person is, that way you don’t hit it right to them. That’s a huge thing, because when you hit the ball you really can’t look up or you’ll probably mess up.”

Rudge said she has become more comfortable playing tennis through her time on the courts.

“When I first started tennis I was so scared of the net because balls are just flying at you,” she said. “But now I love the net. I like look forward when Katie is serving, I can be up there for an entire game. Putting the ball away is my favorite feeling.”

With past successes, Rudge is looking forward to the post-season.

“I’m anxious to see the sectional line up,’ Rudge said. ‘ Our team should win sectional, we’ve won for the past five years. This year Katie and I have the opportunity to move past on past regional (individually). Even though it is a team sport, there is the opportunity to move on as individually.”

In volleyball, Rudge saw limited playing time on varsity her freshman year, and during her sophomore and junior seasons she played in the back row throughout the season.

This past fall, the coaches didn’t take her off the court.

“My senior year I never sat the bench,” Rudge said. “I was outside left side. One thing for me my senior year I really had to step up because we were low on hitters.”

Rudge said playing club volleyball for six years helped her become a better high school player because of the level of competition she played against.

“In high school you don’t see that many (strong) opponents,” she said. “It helps you playing with new people because you get used to how they play and how they communicate and stuff like that.

“Playing in the nationals is fun because it’s in Florida, and it builds up your endurance, too.”

Rudge said two victories stand at the top of her list, beating Providence her freshman season and No. 5 ranked New Albany in 2016.

On the volleyball schedule, Rudge looked forward to playing in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

“Home matches were my favorite,” Rudge said. “You get hot and sweaty but it’s so worth it. Even if it’s not a huge game and there aren’t that many people there I just love that gym. I feel like this school supported us a lot. I liked playing at Floyd Central.”

This winter, Rudge competed with the swim team.

“I was a senior and I’ve always had a huge respect for the swim team, I always through it was the hardest sport at Seymour, so I joined,” Rudge said. “In my opinion, I think it is the hardest sport because of all the practices.

“They practice more than any other sport and it works every single muscle in your body. Even after an hour practice you could sleep the rest of the day, and you could eat so much.”

Rudge said she enjoyed swimming the relays and freestyles.

“The longest swim I ever did was the 200 free,” Rudge said. ‘I also got thrown into breaststroke and backstroke a few times. I was biased toward the 50 because you go up and back. You go as hard as you could. The shorter the better. I swam the 200 and the 400 freestyle relays.”

Swimming left a lasting impression on Rudge.

“Out of all the things I learned from swimming, the best part of it was making new friends and trying something new,” Rudge said. “Everyone was so supportive on the team. Coed meets was a new thing for me. Tennis and volleyball was never coed. Being with the boys it felt like a family. It was exhausting, but it was fun.”

Being named class president was big deal for Rudge.

“It was something I wanted to do this year because I felt like there could be more things done at the end of my junior year,” Rudge said. “ A big thing I did was lead the cheer block.

One of the most recent events the winter dance, my goal was to make everyone feel like they were invited because in past years we would tweet it and that was it. We had posters and banners everywhere and had a huge turnout and it raised $2,000 for the school.”

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Name: Addisen Rudge

Parents: Christin and Ruth Rudge

School: Seymour High School

Siblings: Emily, Andrew, Josiah

Sports: tennis 4 years, volleyball 4 years, swimming 1 year

Athletic highlights: tennis 3 time sectional champions, HHC Tournament champs 2015; volleyball – school record for wins in 2013

Organizations: senior class president, National Honor Society, Students against destructive decisions, student government, Renaissance, Special Olympics, Chess Club

Plans after high school: Attend Indiana University, study nursing

Favorite food: ice cream

Favorite TV show: The Office

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