lady eagles split matches with cak, catholic

After a demanding stretch that included 15 matches in five days last week in contests against some of the top high school volleyball teams in the area, the game-tested Lady Eagles of Seymour has a more typical schedule of matches on the docket for the week ahead.

The Lady Eagles (9-8) embarked on their current stretch of action with yet another tough one. Seymour traveled to Catholic High School Monday to face the talented Lady Irish and the Christian Academy of Knoxville Lady Warriors in a challenging three-team date.

In the opener against the private school Lady Warriors, Seymour fell behind early but rallied behind the efforts of Rachel Smith and Hailey Lindsey to steal the game, 25-22.

If Smith and Lindsey’s names aren’t familiar yet to area volleyball fans, it’s because SHS head coach Ed Irvin is in the process of molding a new core of players to replace a group of seniors that formed the nucleus of last year’s Lady Eagles’ squad that won the most games in school history.

Rachel Smith and Hailey Lindsey are a couple of names, along with names several other rising stars, that Lady Eagles’ fans are bound to get very used to in the weeks to come.

The molding of a volleyball team is a game-by-game process that’s not always pretty, but Irvin, a veteran of the local prep volleyball landscape, has proven to know the blueprint for success.

Too bad, though, it’s rarely instant.

A pair of strong CAK servers dominated the early portion of the second game and pushed the Lady Warriors on top 19-12. It proved to be a hole too deep for the young Seymour squad to climb out of, and CAK held on to win 25-16.

The third game of the match was a back-and-forth battle that appeared to be falling the same way as the previous game did when CAK staked out to a 17-14 advantage.

The Seymour team has shown flashes of courage and grit while struggling through its growing pains during the latest portion of the challenging 2007 grid.

A perfect example of the Lady Eagles’ glimpses of brilliance occurred during the second half of the third game of the match with CAK.

Megan England and Courtney Ervin lifted the squad upon their respective backs and carried it back to victory with matching four-point runs that proved to be the difference that gave the Lady Eagles’ a 25-19 victory in the third and deciding game.

As was the case in a couple of contests in the KIL Tournament held last week, the Lady Eagles were simply overmatched by a veteran Catholic club in the other match of the evening. The Lady Irish of Catholic lost in the state finals last season and appears to be on a mission not to let their season end the same way this year.

The future does indeed look bright for Seymour though. The Lady Eagles’ JV squad remained undefeated with a two-game victory over CAK Monday night.

In Seymour’s match with CAK, All-State performer Morgan Peterson led the way with 25 spikes, 12 kills and four points. Lindsey finished with 30 sets, 11 assists and seven points.

In the loss to Catholic, senior LouAnna Smith contributed seven spikes and nine digs, while Rachel Smith added seven digs.