Painful production
PITTSBURGH — Angela Seman grabs a roll of medical tape out of her bag, pulls a length of it and cuts it with her teeth.
She wraps her bruised and swollen fingers snug with it, then jogs out onto the volleyball court, ready for another night of abuse.
The sophomore libero for the Seneca Valley volleyball team is used to the aches and pains associated with her position.
Grueling practices have prepared her for every dive on the hard court and every spike that glances off fingers, wrists and arms.
“I have so many bruises,” Seman says, laughing. “I get murdered — a lot — in games. It’s really painful, like bags of ice all over my body every night painful.”
But Seman is one of the best defensive specialists around. Her knack for keeping the ball off the floor has helped the Raiders win an elusive WPIAL Class AAA title and has them a few precious steps away from a PIAA championship.
Her older sister, senior middle blocker Cate Seman, has had a front-row seat at the pain and sacrifice her younger sister has made for the team.
“I’m so proud of her,” Cate said. “She’s stepped up and she gets to balls that everyone expects are going to fall. It takes a toll on her physically. She has gashes and scars and bruises on every inch of her body. Stuff has popped out of place and she goes through a lot of pain.
“On the court,” Cate adds, “you don’t see it. She hides it and keeps going and it doesn’t faze her.”
Angela’s brilliance on defense has come by no accident.
The first hour of practice this season was usually dedicated to making life difficult — and painful — on Angela.
“We’ve been working on that
all season long in practice,” said Seneca Valley volleyball coach Karen Martini. “She’s really grown as a player in the last three weeks or so. We probably spend the first hour in practice working on that to make it happen.”And there is no letting up on Angela in practice from a group of seniors, led by Cate, who accomplished a major goal of theirs this season by winning the WPIAL title.Angela sees some of the best hits from anyone in the WPIAL from her own team.“We definitely go all-out on each other,” Cate said. “Does it make me cringe to see some of the balls (Angela) flies on the floor to get? Yes. But in the long run we have to push each other to get better. That’s why we’ve done so well to get so far this season. There’s no mercy in practice.”Angela was just happy to help big sis accomplish a big goal.“It was important and a pleasure to help my sister and all the seniors get that title they wanted for four years,” Angela said.Now, there’s another one to chase.Seneca Valley will face a tough test in Pool B in York starting Friday on its quest for a state title.Cate believes this team can handle anything thrown at them.“This team is so mentally strong,” Cate said. “We’re working for a higher goal now.”
