The Seneca Royals Volleyball Team completed a busy week on the court last week. The Royals began the week with a trip to Kickapoo last Tuesday, Sept. 15 for the first quadrangular of the season.

First up was the La Farge Wildcats. Seneca’s strong offense led the team to a first set victory of 25-3. There was more back and forth in the second and third set but Seneca was able to secure both wins with a score of 25-14, and 25-15. Anne Manning led with 19 kills followed by a season high for Rita Sime with 10. Addison Davidson controlled the offense with 39 assists. Lily Payne led the defense with 16 digs followed by 8 from Emma Manning.

Next up was the scrappy Kickapoo Panthers team. The Royals struggled to get the ball rolling in game one, with 5 missed serves which allowed the game to stay close. The Royals finally came alive to win set one 25-22. Keeping the intensity high was important and necessary to win games two and three with a score of 25-18 and 25-11. Leading the attack was A. Manning with 12 kills followed by Payne with 9 and a breakout performance by freshman Violet Varo with 7. Davidson controlled the offense with 27 assists. Strong digs in the back row. Leading was Payne with 16, followed by E. Manning with 15, Davidson with 11 and Varo with 10 digs.

Next up the Royals hosted the North Crawford Trojans two nights later on Thursday, Sept. 17. The Royals were ready right from the start and jumped out to a strong first set victory of 25-8. Strong serving from the Royals continued in sets two and three and the ladies recorded 16 aces on the night. A. Manning led the attack with 13 kills followed by 7 for Sime. Davidson controlled the offense with 25 assists. E. Manning recorded 12 digs followed by Addison Davidson and Grace Varo with 8 digs each.

Up next was the eight team Iowa-Grant Tournament where the Royals looked to defend their title from 2025. Seneca competed hard to come away with the win against Belleville winning 25, 21-25, and 15-13. Moving on to play Portage in the second round of pool play, the Royals defeated the Warriors in two sets (25-9 and 25-22). Next up was Highland where Seneca was able to put a complete game together winning 25-20 and 25-23. That gave them a record of 3-0 playing the second place team from the other pool play Darlington. The Royals had a slow start again but never gave up and really played as a team to win in three sets 24-26, 25-15, and 15-11.

Highland made their way back to the championship game and the Royals had to face Highland for the second time. Despite a slow start, the Royals remained composed and displayed a ton of grit to win in three sets (17-25, 25-22 and 15-13). The Seneca Royals Volleyball Team was able to repeat as the winners of the Iowa Grant Tournament Champions. With these wins, the Royals improved to 14-1 on the season.

Following last night’s match at North Crawford, the Royals are back home tomorrow night to host Weston before ending the week this Saturday, Sept. 26 when they compete at the annual Richland Center Invitational starting at 9:00 a.m.