Stephanie Croston

    Seward's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches last week, setting its season record at 5-4.
     The Jays hosted David City Aquinas Sept. 18 and lost in five games-20-25, 25-18, 25-12, 20-25 and 9-15.
     Coach Tom Pallas described the match as "a roller-coaster momentum match."
     In game one, the Jays led 9-2 at one point before losing 25-20. In game two, the Jays trailed 9-5 before rallying to win 25-18. SHS was able to put together some consistent play in game three to win 25-12, but then went back to the roller coaster in game four, losing 25-20. They lost the decisive game five 15-9.
     "We weren't consistent with hitting or on serve receive," Pallas said.
     The Jays committed 18 attack errors and 17 serve receive errors in the match.
     "We had good runs, but Aquinas kept coming after us," he said. "At the end, we were too tentative. We didn't keep the pressure on."
     Zoie Smetter led the Jays with 14 kills, and Sydney DeBoer added 12. DeBoer also put up three solo blocks, and Megan Schmidt notched two.
     From the service line, Amber Topil finished with four aces, and Schmidt, Smetter and Kristen Kohlwey served three aces each.
     The Jays played better Sept. 20 at Central City but still came home with a loss, 25-19, 25-19 and 25-20.
     "Central City plays excellent defense," Pallas said. "They scramble well and pick up a lot of balls."
     The Jays were more aggressive on offense, he said. Schmidt led the way with 10 kills.
     Pallas said the match featured some long rallies, including one that went back and forth 10 times. The Jays were able to maintain their intensity better in this match, he said.
    Upcoming action
     The Jays were to host Aurora Sept. 25 and then travel to York Thursday, Sept. 27, for a 7:30 p.m. varsity match. Saturday, Sept. 29, the team will host the eight-team Phil Wurst Invitational. Seward's first match will be at 10:30 a.m. in the new gym against Newman Grove. Each team will play three matches.