SENECA, Mo. — Webb City grabbed the momentum in the opening set and never relinquished it in a quick 3-0 non-conference volleyball victory over Seneca on Tuesday inside the Seneca High School gymnasium.
The Cardinals defeated the shorthanded Indians 25-13, 25-17, 25-13.
Fresh off a Hillcrest Invitational championship, Webb City simply took care of business right from the start.
“We just wanted to stay focused on keeping our level of play up,” Webb City coach Rhonda Lawrence said. “That’s my big challenge in every match we play. We have to be ready for conference play. It’s coming next week.”
After winning the first two sets, the Cardinals rolled in the third set, as aces from Avery Westhoven and Maddy Peeples, along with two kills from Peeples, gave the visitors a comfy 8-1 lead. Webb City led 18-8 en route to victory.
“Once you get the momentum, you have to stay on top,” Lawrence said. “That’s volleyball. We got into a pretty good groove this past weekend too. It’s been encouraging to see the young ones step up. And our older girls are leading like they need to.”
Sophomore outside hitter Brenda Lawrence slammed 10 kills and served three aces, while Peeples had 12 digs and seven kills.
Westhoven had 11 assists, six digs and four aces, while Kyah Sanborn contributed 16 assists. Makenzie Storm and Kearston Galardo recorded five kills apiece. Senior libero Sage Crane had 11 digs and four aces.
Webb City played without starting setter Anna Hettinger, who was recently struck with appendicitis.
Seneca coach Rachel Ayo said her team should benefit from playing a talented squad like Webb City.
“We play these good teams to get better,” Ayo said. “We play these good teams to see good hitters and to work on our defense. Playing teams like Webb City will help us with our conference and district play. We are seeing high-caliber teams so we’ll be ready when we play teams in our conference.”
Seneca played without seniors Kendyl Petty, Myla Hembree and Rylee Nesvold. All three are starters.
“A couple of younger girls definitely stepped up tonight and did a good job against a hard team,” Ayo said.
The Indians received 13 assists from junior setter Rylee Darnell and two aces from sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialist Nevaeh Neal.
Sophomore outside hitter Parker Long compiled 11 digs, five kills and two aces for the Indians, while Jera Jameson added five kills. Ellie Barnes had three blocks.
“Ellie Barnes did a good job at the net tonight,” Ayo said. “She had a lot of touches and three stuff-blocks. That was a good night for her.”
Webb City is at Joplin next Tuesday, while Seneca hosts College Heights on Thursday.
The Cougars improved to 5-0 with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-7, 25-11) win over Jasper on Tuesday night.
