High school volleyball is a tough, long season, and our own Seward Seahawks did well this year. Every game I went to and heard about was close in score, no matter the competition. So the overall record of 4-14 does not seem to match the actual skill of the team. This season was very tough due to the team losing last year’s seniors, but everyone stepped up. This was a learning season. We are excited to see how the team grows.

As for the seniors, Naomi Ifflander, Kyrsten Johnson-Gray, and Daisy Terry all had an outstanding last year. I spoke with Naomi and she stated, “The last few years have been super rewarding and a joy.” She had been playing since middle school, and is sad her last season ended; however, she hopes all these girls who she has spent so much time with will continue to play with their all. 

The team ended the season with wins over Grace Christian, and two over Houston. They only lost to state championship contenders, and even then, they were close in all the games. After everything they went through, I believe they set themselves up for a very good next season.

This year, we hosted regions. The tournament involved all the teams in our region competing for the last games of the year, and good seeding at state. On varsity, was Angel Purigay, Hannah Schilling, Gaia Casagranda, Shelby Sieminski, Sofia Perazzi, Naomi Ifflander, Kyrsten Johnson-Gray, Sequoia Sieverts, Calysta Lohman, Selma Casagranda, Hailey Anderson, and Anna Endres. The JV/C team consisted of Renee Elhart, Rowan Bean, Daisy Terry, Jazmyn Musick, Jennifer Gomez, Leilani Lackey, Linda Jack, Mikya Wallace, Savanna McCarty, Trinity Cline, and Ailaina Armstrong. 

At every tournament, the girls were awarded for their efforts. At the North-South Tournament, Selma Casagrada got put on the all-tournament team. At the Valdez Tournament, Angel Purigay and Hannah Schilling made the all-tournament team. For the regional tournament, Selma received the sportsmanship award in addition to the second all-tournament team, while Sequoia Seiverts got first team. All in all, we should be proud of these ladies and everything they did this season.