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Eisenhower volleyball falls to Seneca in season opener

Eisenhower’s Cameran Edwards goes for a kill during a match against Seneca at Eisenhower High School, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. Edwards finished with five kills in the match.

Serving was feast or famine for Eisenhower Tuesday night as the Knights had 12 aces and 10 service errors in a 25-15, 25-21 and 25-17 loss to Seneca.

“We got tentative on some of our serves,” said Eisenhower coach Scott Olson. “We’ve been saying we need to stay aggressive and we lost some of that aggression.”

The teams traded points to begin the first set with Seneca’s setter dropping balls just over the net, and Eisenhower utilizing strong serves to gain points. The Knights called a timeout trailing 14-10, then rallied to get within one at 15-14. The Bobcats roared back, going on a 10-1 run to close out the set, 25-15.

“It’s a process,” Olson said. “They’re used to playing to not make mistakes instead of playing to win. Again, it’s a process to change that mindset.”

The second set had a pattern. Seneca would go ahead by two or three points, only to see Eisenhower come back to tie the set. At various points, the Bobcats were up 3-1, 7-4, 11-7 and 14-10. They looked like they might start to pull away when leading 16-12, but the Knights again mounted a rally to get to 17-15. With the score 19-17 in Seneca’s favor, a long volley ended with the Bobcats just getting the ball in bounds to take a 20-17 lead. The Knights tried to rally again, but couldn’t get the lead and ultimately dropped the set, 25-21.

Eisenhower's Caroline Ishman serves to Seneca during their match at Eisenhower High School, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. Ishman finished with three aces on the night, but the Knights fell to the Bobcats 3-0.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” Olson said. “They didn’t quit. I’m proud they kept fighting.”

The third set could almost be divided into halves. Eisenhower built a 9-6 lead on the strength of four aces and more aggressive net play. Seneca called a timeout at that point to regroup.

Regroup they did.

The Bobcats came out of the timeout and promptly went on a 12-1 run. Eisenhower tried to get a rally going late, but the lead was too much as Seneca closed out the match with a 25-17 win.

“We let this one slip away,” Olson said.

Caroline Ishman, Carrie Hultman and Emily Wheeler all had three aces in the loss. Ishman added nine assists, while Wheeler chipped in four kills. Cameran Edwards had five kills and two aces and Tess Morningstar had three kills and the team’s lone block.

Eisenhower hosts cross-county rival Youngsville Thursday.

JV SENECA 2,

EISENHOWER 0

Seneca rolled to the junior varsity sweep, winning 25-11 and 25-12.

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