Bishop Seabury Academy’s volleyball team woke up Tuesday with just two victories in 20 matches this season.

The Seahawks went to bed with victory No. 3 under their pillows.

At its third home triangular of the season, Seabury defeated Kansas School for the Deaf, 25-17 and 25-20, and fell to Cair Paravel, 25-22, 25-13, in the nightcap.

Seabury used one of its biggest strengths in the opener to overpower KSD. Angela Thomas served six aces, and Bria Phipps added five to combine for 11 of the team’s total of 15 aces in the first match.

“We work a lot on serving in practice,” Phipps said. “We serve before practice, we serve at the end of practice. The way we see it, serving starts the point; if you don’t get your serves in, you can’t win the point.”

Thomas took that to heart in the first set of the match, as she served 12 straight points to lift her team out of a deficit and onto victory.

At the end of the night, Thomas said her string of successful serves was nothing more than a little roll.

“It’s probably the thing I’m best at,” Thomas said. “You just have to zone everything out and focus on each serve.”

Phipps added 11 kills in the victory and said her team’s return to the win column was a welcomed relief.

“I definitely think the win was a plus,” she said. “It always feels good to win, but I think we could’ve walked out of here with two wins tonight, so we’re a little disappointed that we didn’t get that done.”

In the second match, the Seahawks’ hot serving continued, but it was joined by the return of some old habits.

“That second match was the story of our season,” Seabury coach Chrissy Leuty said. “We were playing scared, we were playing not to make mistakes instead of being aggressive and expecting to do well. In terms of skill level, they’re there. They can pass, they can hit, they can do all of that. It’s just a mentality now. The girls are just so used to losing.”

As the most experienced player on the team, Phipps said a lot of the responsibility for changing the attitude of the team fell on her shoulders. She has done her best to inspire her teammates to strive to win. Leuty, in her first year with the program, has done the same. But both senior star and new head coach said the change has to come from the players.

“I try to encourage the girls when I’m on the court and in practice,” Phipps said. “But it’s a personal thing. It’s up to each person to have the desire and will to change.”

Next up for the Seahawks is a showdown with Veritas Christian on Thursday at Seabury.