By Chris Parker
Seymour went winless in its first season back on a varsity volleyball court last season. The Tigers enter their second season looking to continue to learn and grow.
“Our biggest strength this year will be our willingness to learn the game of volleyball,” Seymour head coach Jorden Stacey said. “We have a lot of young players who are very eager to get better. They have an understanding of what it is going to take to build a program from scratch. With a year under their belt, they have had time to understand how to play the game instead of trying to figure it out while they were on the court like their first year.”
Kaylynne Bull (senior middle blocker), Addie Kelley (senior setter), Paisha Sturdefant (junior setter) and Elianna Wallace (sophomore libero) return this season.
Stacey on Bull: “Kaylynne will be back in the middle position again this year. She works hard and wants to be the best she can be in this position for her team. She is one who just hustles 100% of the time because there is no other option. She can jump out of the gym and is very quick, so she was our leader in blocks last year. We expect her to continue to gain confidence and experience to play a larger role in the offense this season.”
Stacey on Kelley: “Addie is calm and collected. We look for her to bring that type of leadership style on and off the court. She is someone who will play any position to do what is best for the team, front row or backrow. She has great hands for this only being her second year setting. She is the type of player who includes everyone and brings joy to her teammates.”
Stacey on Sturdefant: “Paisha is a consistent player on the court. She had an injury at the beginning of last year which took away some playing time for her, but we look for her to run our offense as the main setter this year. Being a setter is a hard job and it comes with a lot of responsibility to make quick decisions, but we know she will be up for the challenge. She also had our highest serving percentage last year. We look for her to be a vocal leader calling plays and controlling the energy of the game this season.”
Stacey on Wallace: “Elianna is a competitive athlete who is very driven to succeed. We put her as the libero as a freshman, which shows her ability to compete at a higher level and handle the pressure that comes along with that. We look for her to continue playing at a consistent level in that position. We also look for her to be more of a vocal leader this year as she continues to gain an understanding of how the game works.”
Destiny Green (senior opposite), Isabella Vega (senor defensive specialist), Lilly Inman (sophomore middle blocker) and Laikan Newman (sophomore outside) will be newcomers according to Stacey.
Stacey on Green: “Destiny is someone who just loves to play the game and radiates so much positive energy. She always brought a ton of energy when she played on JV last year, and we look for her to bring that same energy to varsity on and off the court.:
Stacey on Vega: “She played libero on JV last year and got a little varsity time, so coming up to varsity full time is a big step, but we are confident she can fill the role of being a solid defensive player for us. She has improved a lot on serving and serve receive.”
Stacey on Inman: “Lilly played middle on JV last year. She’s worked hard at adding more shots to her toolbelt this year to move up to a varsity spot. She’s not just a front row player, but she also has the ability to step into serve receive rotations if needed.”
Stacey on Newman: “Laikan played all the way around on JV last year and got a little time on varsity. We expect her to step into a six-rotation position on the outside on varsity this year. She is becoming more aggressive, confident, and consistent at taking whatever ball is set to her.”
“There are several other new and young players that could potentially see some varsity time based on their work ethic and skill improvement over the past year like Haydon Gage (senior outside), Lilly Tennis (sophomore middle blocker), Emma Bennett (sophomore middle blocker), Chloe Johnson (sophomore outside), and Ivie Hickey (freshman setter),” Stacey said.
Seymour travels to Mansfield on Aug. 27 for a jamboree with Gainesville, Bradleyville and the host Lady Lions before opening the regular season on Aug. 31 at the Koshkonong Tournament.
“We are focusing on growing our volleyball IQ and gaining the necessary skills to compete against schools our size,” Stacey said. “These girls want to be more competitive and are ready to get a win for the varsity program. As a whole, we want our team to have that internal motivation to get better, so we can develop that type of culture in our volleyball program.”
