By: Lee Ramsey
lee@seymourherald.com
The season came to a close for the Seymour Lady Eagle Volleyball Team recently at Sevier County High School as the Lady Eagles were defeated by Morristown East in three sets 25-13, 25-23 and 25-15.
Seymour had an outstanding season going 26-13 and they were the number one seed in one bracket for the 2-AAA IMAC tournament.
Earlier in the week they earned a spot in the finals by defeating cross county rival Sevier County which was their second win in three meetings this season.
It took an extra set as Seymour won 3 out of 4 sets 25-21-, 26-24, and 25-19 dropping the second set 25-20.
As usual, the team was very well coached by Ed Irvin who this season earned his 700th win.  He continues to turn out successful volleyball teams year after year.
The win over Sevier County that got the Lady Eagles into the finals was very exciting.
“It was one crazy match is the only way I can describe it,” said Irvin.
The first set opened with Kasey Norman serving Seymour to a 9-1 lead.  At 18-15, Sarah Stoffle served three straight points and gave the Lady Eagles a 21-15 lead and Seymour never looked back winning the set 25-20.
The second set went back and forth with Sevier County closing it out at 25-20.
The third set was wild. “It was a mind blower of a game,” said Irvin.  
The Bearettes took the early lead 17-8 but Seymour fought back closing the gap to 24-20. That’s when Norman took control and served the Lady Eagles to a win with 6 straight points.
The fourth set was close the entire way as Seymour kept the edge the entire set and closed the Bearettes out 25-19.
The Lady Eagles were led by Madison Coker with 42 spikes, 16 kills and 15 blocks. She was followed by Shelby Maxwell with 35 sets and 8 assists.
In the final match against Morristown East, and the Lady Eagles were never really close.
“Other than a five point lead, 20-15, in the second set that swindled to a 23-23 tie we were never really a threat in the match,” said Irvin.  “East has a good squad and they were on a mission to reach the regional and possibly win the tournament.”
Seymour was led by Madison Coker with 22 spikes and 11 kills followed by Lexi Justus with 19 digs.
Three Lady Eagles who received All-Conference honors were senior Madison Coker (Co-Best Middle Blocker), senior Nicole Warner (Best Server) and junior Kasey Norman (All-Conference).
Coach Irvin summed up the season by saying, “I was very pleased with our record this season along with the number one seed in the IMAC tournament.  We had a young team but still finished with successful results.”

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