photo by: Submitted photo

Seenane Brewer is ready for one last ride with the Lawrence High volleyball team. Brewer is committed to continuing her athletic and academic career at the University of New Mexico.

Senior Spotlight is a summer series highlighting incoming area high school senior athletes.

Volleyball was always part of the plan for Seenane Brewer.

The daughter of longtime college volleyball coach Nana Allison-Brewer, Seenane raised her game to become a three-year varsity starter on the Lawrence High volleyball team and will be a key returning piece on Stephanie Scarborough’s squad this fall.

Brewer considers her junior season, in which she helped the Chesty Lions reach the Class 6A substate title match, a formative step of her volleyball career. The Journal-World All-Area First Team selection ended the year with 170 kills, 161 digs and 16 blocks as an outside and right-side hitter.

“I want the incoming juniors to use (the senior class) as an example of how they would want to be next year,” Brewer said. “I want to be a good role model.”

Reflecting on her freshman year — specifically a state tournament match against crosstown rival Free State where she twisted her ankle — Brewer said she’s gradually learned the value of flushing the nerves and sticking to her instincts.

One last season at LHS means a chance to play at her highest level, too.

“I’m most excited to play free,” Brewer said. “Obviously, we want to be as successful as we can but I want to just make this year really fun for everyone and be memorable in a positive way.”

When the calendar flips to August, it’ll mark one year since Brewer’s verbal commitment to continuing her volleyball career at the University of New Mexico, where her mother played during the late 1990s.

A member of the Navajo Nation who is also of Cherokee and Oglala Sioux descent, Brewer said her roots down in the Southwest made her college decision pretty easy.

“I’m very connected with my Native American community down there,” Brewer said. “It’s truly one of the most beautiful states I’ve ever been to.”

The thought of arriving on campus next year takes Brewer back to the countless summers she spent in New Mexico with her family.

“It was just kind of set in stone whenever I was younger,” Brewer said. “I had to work really hard to get into the (New Mexico) program. I always knew, if I didn’t want to play volleyball, I wanted to go there.”

Brewer’s sister, I’yawa, shared a similar path to Seenane while at LHS as a multisport athlete. She recently transferred to Kansas City from Illinois State to continue playing soccer this fall.