Senecas sink Lakers in opener

Calvert volleyball is on to a whole new season, but there are many familiar names to watch for this year as they put in the work to have another great season this year. The Senecas came out strong in their season debut and conference opener, and never looked back. The Senecas took down Danbury 25-14, 25-14, 25-10.Calvert coach Lori Rombach was proud of the way her team came out to play Tuesday and looked forward to the growth ahead. "There is always some anxiousness when it comes to the first match of the year," Rombach said. "I think the girls came out strong tonight. There is a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be by the end of the season, but we don't have to be there on August 22nd."The Senecas worked through their first game jitters quickly. While there were serving errors on both sides of the ball, Calvert's aggressiveness threw Danbury off their game. The closest the Lakers got to Calvert in the first set was 11-7 before Emily Miller went on a streak from the serving line, pulling the Senecas ahead 15-7. Though the lead was on the side of the Senecas, Danbury played with heart and hustle, putting forth every effort on every ball. Calvert finished out the first set in resounding fashion with a couple kills by Emily Miller ending the first set, 25-14.Calvert picked up where they left off and started strong in the second set. Danbury couldn't handle their bold serving, forcing coach Keith Deibler to call a timeout at 5-1 to regroup his team. However, Calvert continued to plow ahead to 15-7 before running up on a controversial call. After a discussion with the line judge at the stand, the official ruled that it was a kill for Calvert's freshman Karris Marinis, which upped the score to 16-7. Danbury continued to play as scrappy in the second set as they had in the first, but it wasn't enough to stop the Senecas. A big block by Caroline Lanicek and Alli Porter took the score to 19-9. Danbury fought for momentum but Calvert ended up finishing the second set as they had the first.The third set began in thunderous fashion with a huge point by senior Lanicek, who also handled the first three kills. While Danbury was persistent in their pursuit to try to keep the ball off the floor, Calvert continued to be relentless and pushed the score to 9-3. With the Senecas beginning to taste a three-set victory their hustle and play ramped up throughout the third set. Those first-game jitters were long gone. Before the Lakers could make a push at the end of the match, the Senecas had taken the score to 21-5. Though Danbury's Mia McDonald had a massive solo block, it wasn't enough to slow Calvert down. The third and final set ended with a Miller-to-Miller kill, 25-10.With this first win under their belt, Calvert is on their way to achieving their goals and expectations. When asked about her takeaways from the match, Rombach replied: "Keep winning. We will achieve that if we continue to come together as a team. We are working through different lineups to build trust. That trust and cohesion will help us attain our goals." Calvert had solid performances from those familiar names, though they may be some different faces. Lanicek led all hitters with 11 kills, followed by Camryn Shook with eight and Emily Miller with six. The offense was quarterbacked by Olivia Miller with 15 assists and newcomer Bryn Dircksen with 12. The back row efforts were led by Cecilia Palm with 21 digs, Porter with 12 and Claire Schoenberger with 11.Danbury's offense was led by Lia Brown with five kills, Kelly Uhinck with three, as well as Kendall Shanteau with three. Dishing out the assists were Alexa Masters with eight and Kalanie Owen with four. Defensive work was led by Maci Brown with 15 digs, Masters with nine and Lia Brown with eight.