SENECA - The Seneca volleyball team had a hard time with a very strong Royall team, losing in three sets (20-25, 18-25, 14-25) in the last game of the regular season on Thursday, April 8. That’s not to say there was anything regular about the condensed, fall-sports-in-spring-season.

The difficulty of playing in this unusual season was not lost on second-year head coach Jessica Dworschack.

“It would have been helpful to have more time to rebuild before our season started,” Dworschack explained. “Before this year, we had a few weeks to practice before our season started. This year, we had a week (whether you played in the fall or spring). 

“We had a rough start to our season. Our team had a ton of talent, but I noticed that they lacked confidence,” the coach said. “I always knew that they could hang with these teams, but it took a few weeks for our team to believe that was true, and it is something that we had to work on every day. 

“The second half of the season was much better, we played some tough teams much better than we did the first time,” Dworschack recalled. “We had a lot of close competitive games. I would say that our season turned out to be a success after a rocky start. 

“Our team got so much better and started to play a much higher level of volleyball,” the said. “Our girls were more aggressive, became better teammates, and were smarter players by the end of the season. I think we surprised a few teams at the end of our season. We had some close sets against the top three teams in our conference, Royall, Wonewoc-Center, and Bangor.”

Royall Stats:

Nicky Trautsch: Setter, Senior: 20 assists, 13 digs, 1 block

Anya Aspenson: Outside, Senior: 15 digs, 12 kills

Ava Payne: Middle, Senior: 2 digs, 5 kills, 2 blocks, 1 assist

Delaney Boland: Middle, Senior: 4 kills,1 block

Kendra Chambers: Outside, Sophomore: 4 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist

Grace Check: Libero, Sophomore: 23 digs

Lindsey Sime: Right Side, Sophomore: 15 digs, 1 block, 5 assists

Bridget Hagensick: DS (Defensive Specialist), Sophomore: 5 digs

“We didn't have any aces against Royall and we had some tough serves,” Seneca coach Jessica Dworschack said later. “They are strong passers, they have a strong setter, and strong hitters-blockers. It’s a solid team.

“I'm really impressed with Royall's team,” Dworschack acknowledged. “They have an all-around team (front and back-row), strong in every position. I could see them going all the way.”

The Seneca volleyball team came ready to play in first round of the WIAA Regional on Saturday, April 11 at Riverdale.

Seneca lost in three sets (21-25, 22-25 and 20-25). However, it must be noted it wasn’t for lack of effort–every player was giving al they had and it showed.

“Our best serve receive and blocking all season was at regionals against Riverdale,” Seneca head coach Jessica Dworschack said after the game. 

“We were down eight points early in the first set and then turned things around,” Dworschack said. “I thought we dominated the second half of that set. Unfortunately, it was too late and we lost that set 21-25. 

“I was proud that our team never gave up when we were down and that we fought to come back,” the coach said. “The second set was also super close. We had a lead the majority of the set, but there were a couple of errors and net calls that cost us at the end of the set and we lost 22-25. 

“I think the girls were happy with how they played,” Dworschack said. “There were a lot of tears and emotion for sure after our loss. We had four seniors who were always willing to help our underclassmen and were patient and kind to them. 

“It was a mixture of our underclassmen realizing that was their last time playing with the seniors and the seniors realizing that was the last time they would play high school volleyball,” the coach said.

Riverdale Stats:

Nicky Trautsch: Setter, Senior: 26 assists, 12 digs, 2 aces

Anya Aspenson: Outside, Senior: 17 digs, 8 kills, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 ace

Ava Payne: Middle, Senior: 3 digs, 2 kills, 6 blocks

Delaney Boland: Middle, Senior: 5 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs

Kendra Chambers: Outside, Sophomore: 12 kills, 5 digs

Grace Check: Libero, Sophomore: 12 digs

Lindsey Sime: Right Side, Sophomore: 11 digs, 2 blocks, 5 assists, 5 kills, 1 ace