By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – When this season concludes, Jayden Allen will look back with pride and satisfaction. She transferred in as the only senior on the Bedford North Lawrence roster, asking her new teammates to follow her lead in a new direction.
She might edit out the result from her Senior Night, because Seymour taught a master class in communication while blasting to a three-set sweep of the Stars in their home-court finale Tuesday night. Allen’s introduction didn’t take long, and neither did the Seymour steamroll. That softened the celebration, but not the overall impact Allen has made on a program that needed a course change.
BNL (12-10) is one win shy of matching its win total from the three previous years combined. Take a bow, Jayden.
The Owls were too tough, recovering from a rough start to overwhelm BNL 25-21, 25-9, 25-16. Seymour improved to 16-12 overall and wrapped up the Hoosier Hills Conference at 3-3. The Stars will have one more regular-season outing, with a chance to clinch a winning season. After all the struggles the past seven years, that is a remarkable turnaround.
“It means a lot, seeing the growth from the beginning of the season to where we are now,” Allen said. “It’s an amazing feeling, to know I was part of that and watch the program grow, hopefully start to build a better foundation.
“The other girls around me were there every step of the way. They were ready to take on whatever challenges were ahead of them. They’ve been a great support system through it all.”
This challenge was too great, once the Owls shifted into high gear. BNL battled to a 17-17 deadlock in the first set. From that point, Seymour buried the Stars by a 58-29 count. There will be better nights ahead.
“We started very sluggish,” veteran Seymour coach Angie Lucas said. “Our first contact was very poor, and we’re a much better ball-control team than what we showed in those first 17 points. Once we settled down, we did very well.”
Seymour’s attack was two-pronged with senior outside hitter Greer Henry (18 kills, 13 of 15 at the service line) and junior setter Anna Fish (31 assists, 17 of 18 serves) dictating pace, placement and tempo. But the most impressive thing was Seymour’s constant court chatter. It was nonstop, at times annoying and disconcerting, as much a verbal assault as a physical one.
“We work really hard on communication during the play, before the play, and after the play,” Lucas said. “One of the things we stress is during the play. That’s a good thing for us.”
When Seymour turned up the volume, the Stars got quiet. The second set was particularly telling. Of BNL’s few points that frame, most were off Seymour errors, not BNL execution.
“It’s all culture and energy,” BNL coach Aaron Wagoner said. “That first set was exciting. That second one was rough, for sure. Sometimes we’re just not ready, sometimes it takes time to build things.”
Sammie Gratzer paced BNL with 6 kills, Jenna Allen had 3 kills and 3 digs, and Lily Scott had 3 kills.
The Stars, who finished 2-4 in the HHC, will visit Loogootee on Thursday.
