Jays end postseason before state tournament

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The Seward volleyball team didn’t have an easy road to make it to the state tournament.

First, they had to get through their subdistrict, which included York (No. 6 in wildcard points as of Oct. 31), Aurora (No. 7 in the wildcard standings) and Northwest (No. 8 in the wildcard race).

Then they had to beat Northwest in a district final to earn a spot in the Class B bracket in Lincoln.

Neither happened.

The Jays opened subdistrict play Oct. 27 against York and lost 25-12, 25-22, 25-19. Coach Tom Pallas said the team got off to a slow start but competed better in sets two and three.

Seward’s serve receive did well, committing just three errors, Pallas said. Although the Jays had 29 kills in the three sets, they also committed 16 attack errors.

“We were steadier after the first set,” he said.

Abbey Ringler led the way with 14 kills on 26-29 attempts. Grace Vyhnalek added eight kills. Ellie Sagehorn and Madison Dominy served two aces each.

The match was the third time this season the two teams met on the court. York is a well-balanced team and didn’t commit many errors, Pallas said.

“Unforced errors led to our downfall,” he said.

The loss put the Jays in a holding pattern, waiting to see if they were high enough in the wildcard standings to qualify for a district final.

They were.

The Jays were matched against Grand Island Northwest in the District B-8 game. Seward played very well in the first set but couldn’t maintain the momentum, falling 25-20, 25-16, 25-10.

Pallas said Seward had put together a game plan based on film from subdistricts when Northwest struggled to receive serve against Aurora. In Saturday’s match, the receivers were flawless.

“We had a difficult time getting them out of system,” Pallas said.

Ringler led the Jays with 17 kills. The team served no aces against the Vikings. Desirae Hibbert put up 27 assists, and Sagehorn picked up 11 digs.

The Jays will graduate three seniors – Ringler, Vyhnalek and Anna Hughes. Ringler has committed to play volleyball at Midland.

“These three seniors were a key to our success with as many young players as we had come in,” Pallas said. “They did a great job leading and being good role models. I’m very proud of them. They will be successful whatever they do.”