Lawrence High's Jasmyn Turner spikes the ball against Blue Valley North. The Lions went 1-2 on senior night on Tuesday at LHS.

Lawrence High’s volleyball team finished 1-2 at the LHS Quadrangular, although it hardly seemed significant on Tuesday night.

Both inside and outside the gymnasium were reminders of what really mattered – recognizing this as the swan song for a senior-laden Lions team playing its final matches inside the home gym.

There were eight girls to be exact – seven players and a manager – and all were honored for their contributions. Outside the gym, eight posters held by up easels lined the entranceway with red and black helium balloons hovering above. Plastered to the posters were photos of each girl’s volleyball careers in an LHS uniform.

Inside, LHS coach Stephanie Magnuson played only her seniors for much of the night, making her first non-senior sub after 72 points. But the Lions were hard-luck losers to both Emporia (25-18, 14-25, 22-25) and Blue Valley North (35-37, 25-18, 15-25) before the final senior-night ceremony took place. Magnuson took the microphone as each senior emerged from the locker room flanked by her parents.

Lions senior Lindsey Murray was among the group of eight.

“It was kind of weird because I’ve played varsity since sophomore year, and I’ve seen many senior nights,” Murray said. “I never was like ‘oh, that’ll be me in three years.’ I didn’t think it was going to be as emotional.”

As they tried fighting back tears, some unsuccessfully, before their final match against Topeka West, the Lions clearly weren’t playing under optimum conditions. But LHS refused to go out with a loss on its home court, sweeping the Chargers 25-18, 25-17.

“I think all the emotions sort of led into that win,” senior Rachel Van Horn said.

Said Murray, “I think getting introduced between games kind of set it in stone that this was our last game at home and we really needed to pull it together.”

As the match-up with the Chargers neared its conclusion, Magnuson strategically subbed each of her seniors out of the game for one last round of applause. But with 12 girls on the team, someone had to stay in the game, so Van Horn remained on the court, surrounded by those about to take her place.

“It was almost like I was handing them a torch to say, ‘go on,'” Van Horn said.

At LHS, the class of 2008 currently makes up more than half the roster, and Magnuson said a special group like that doesn’t come along often.

“They are so unique, and I’ve just enjoyed every single minute with them,” Magnuson said. “It’s going to be hard to see them go in a couple weeks.”

Murray paced LHS (13-21) with 25 kills and 17 digs. Van Horn tallied 55 assists. Seniors Emily Bracciano and Kate Melton had 21 and 20 digs, respectively. Other seniors honored were Darcy McDonough, Brea and Bridget Wenger and manager Natalie Rabiola.