Seabury's Arielle SpIridigliozzi celebrates a point against Heritage Christian. The Seahawks split a pair of matches Thursday at Seabury.

One big lead disappeared for Seabury Academy’s volleyball team against the first of two opponents Thursday night. The Seahawks hung on to win anyway.

That same big lead disappeared against Seabury’s second opponent. The Seahawks weren’t so fortunate to come back.

The result was a 1-1 split at their home triangular – a victory against Heritage Christian (22-25, 25-16, 25-10) and a loss against Flint Hills Christian (20-25, 22-25).

In each match, Seabury cooled off too soon, letting 16-8 advantages slip away.

“They’re really not used to winning, so they don’t know what that feels like and what it feels like to play ahead,” first-year Seahawks coach Chrissy Leuty said. “Once we get a lead, we always let the other team back in it. Thankfully in our first match tonight, we were able to come back in three and win. Unfortunately, you can’t do that against every team.”

Seabury (2-10) squandered its first eight-point lead in the first game against Heritage Christian but bounced back nicely thanks to superior serving. The Seahawks scored four aces in the second game and seven more in the third. Six came from Bria Phipps and three from Charlotte Burch.

“I was definitely pleased with how we played in the first match,” Phipps said. “I think we did really well to come back and win in three games. In the second match, I don’t think we played poorly. I think our attitudes got a little low, and we didn’t play with a lot of focus.”

Following a wait of nearly 11â2 hours, Seabury trotted out for its second match and looked entirely different against Flint Hills. Phipps’ kill tied the score at 13 in game one before Flint Hills rattled off seven consecutive points to win handily.

In game two, Seabury received aces from Phipps and freshman Alyson Oliver en route to building another 16-8 lead. After falling behind, 20-19, junior Calli Noller provided one last stand, acing Flint Hills to put the Seahawks ahead, 21-20. But Flint Hills won five of the next six points to knock off Seabury.

Leuty still came away impressed with her squad.

“As a team, they’re playing a lot better together,” she said. “It looks like volleyball, when on August 18, I had to teach them the basics of passing and hitting. From where they were a month ago, it’s a complete change.”