Seniors enjoy special night

For the Daily Journal

Senior night can be filled with distractions.

That wasn’t a problem for the host Greenwood Community High School volleyball team Thursday night, when the Woodmen swept Edinburgh 25-16, 25-22, 25-16.

“It’s just focus,” senior Camryn LaMonaca said. “We work on focus every day during practice. We get yelled at it for it a lot. We’ve had a rough season with a lot of injuries. But focus is what we mainly try to work on.”

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Greenwood (8-22) will open against Martinsville at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Class 4A Sectional 13 opener at Greenwood.

LaMonaca had a team-high 13 kills for the Woodmen.

“This gives us a lot of confidence and boosts our energy,” said LaMonaca, who added two aces. “Hopefully we’ll come out strong (against Martinsville).”

Woodmen coach Amanda Ratliff said the team strung together points when it needed them Thursday.

“It’s been a difficult season for us because we have a small roster this year with varsity and JV and some injuries,” Ratliff said.

Edinburgh doesn’t have junior varsity team, so there was only one match Thursday.

“This week is was nice with just our varsity lineup and just our core group,” Ratliff said. “We were able to focus and add some pieces we hadn’t been able to add yet. It worked well. Our girls are having fun. It’s fall break and Senior Night, so they were relaxed. No stress.”

Ratliff said the three seniors, outside hitters LaMonaca and Emily Struewing and defensive specialist Brittany Shellist, played great.

“Our blocking was better than it has been, too,” Ratliff said.

Struewing, who had eight kills and four aces, said she tried to treat it like a regular-season match.

“But it was most exciting because it was senior night,” Struewing said.

“We just wanted to have fun because it has been a rough season. Having fun was key.

“I think this is it for me (as far as volleyball), so I’m trying to make it last.”

Greenwood got off to a 21-10 start in the opening set to grab control. After the Woodmen won a tight second set, the third was tied at 11-11 before the Woodmen went on to hold a 14-5 edge the rest of the way.

“We didn’t play the volleyball that we are used to playing,” said Lancers coach Tina Bottorff, whose team’s record fell to 16-15. “Greenwood played well. I give them credit; they had some really good hits. We didn’t bring our ‘A’ game, unfortunately for us.”

The Lancers will play Greenwood Christian Academy at 1 p.m. Oct. 22 in the Class A Sectional 59 at Indianapolis Lutheran.