While the Loyola volleyball team executes drills on formations, serving and speed during practice, few would guess that the team’s most virulently offensive weapon is the quiet 6-footer at outside hitter.
Over the past couple of years, Mary Seals, accounting senior, has been awarded the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and National Athletic Intercollegiate Association Region XIII Player of the Week Award. The 2006 all-regional, all-Louisiana Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athlete led the team with 495 kills. She currently ranks sixth on the Loyola career kills list and 26th in the NAIA, averaging 4.2 kills per game.
But when asked about which one of these awards was her favorite, the humble Seals replied, “I try not to think of individual accomplishments because it takes away from the team’s accomplishments.”
This native of Austin, Texas, started playing sports very early, at the encouragement of her athletic father, Paul Seals. In second grade, Seals played youth league volleyball and transitioned to the more competitive club volleyball in fifth grade. Inspired by University of Texas 2007 Hall of Fame inductees Demetria Sance and Sandra Brown, Seals continued to play middle hitter for her junior high and high school teams. It wasn’t until her senior year of high school that she moved to her current position at outside hitter.
When it was college decision time for Seals, she wasn’t sure about New Orleans because of the wild atmosphere. But she liked Loyola’s small size and location in the historic
Uptown area. What sealed the deal for her was enrollment size and the volleyball team itself.
“I got along with them really well,” Seals said.
Her family supported her decision to attend Loyola and regularly support both her and her teammates. Her mother plans to cook dinner for the entire team when they play in Austin, and her father regularly flies from Austin to watch her play. At games, he passes out Wolfpack volleyball stickers to support the team.
Her sorority sisters in Gamma Phi are also frequent fans, cheering for her from the stands.
Since volleyball takes up most of her time, Seals enjoys watching TV, going to movies and dining with family and friends. She enjoys pop music, boy bands and almost anything Disney-related, especially “Hannah Montana,” “Aly and AJ” and the popular “High School Musical,” and can imitate Zac Efron’s dance moves.
“He’s ridiculous, but I love him,” Seals said of Efron.
“(Mary) is a great student who is intelligent on and off the court,” said head coach Tommy Harold. “She’s a steady player, consistent in her approach to the game and a fixture on the outside force. (She has) worked hard to improve her game.”
The other 6-footer on the team, Danielle Posey, mass communication junior, leads the ‘Pack in blocks and has played with Seals for two seasons.
“She has definitely become more of an all-around player this year. We all know she can hit, but she has really worked hard to excel in other positions as well. She is definitely a major contribution to Wolfpack volleyball,” Posey said.
Harold considers her a quiet leader who leads by example. Seals said a good leader should “know what they’re talking about and follow through because nobody wants to listen to someone who’s not doing what they say. Actions speak louder than words.” She laughed and said, “It’s hard to be a good leader,”
While Harold said her decision-making skills are her greatest asset, the humble Seals said it’s her height.
“It helps with my ability to hit, and hit hard,” Seals added. She thinks she needs to work on her defense, and the team needs to work on serving. However, “(the team) tunes into each other and plays with each other well,” Seals said of what she is most proud of the team for.
Harold agrees that the team enjoys playing together but insists they still have work to do.
“We need to work on the little things and have our main focus be on improvement and not worry about wins or losses. We need to improve from the practice and improve from the games, and everything else will take care of itself.”
Seals said she is unsure about her plans for the future but hopes to have a family someday and work in accounting or finance. For now, she looks forward to enjoying the rest of her senior year and the rest of the season.
More than halfway through the season the team, ranked second in the conference, is confident in attaining its goals.
“(We) are in a position to do some special things and reach the goals (we) set for (ourselves),” Harold said.
“We are all confident that we can really push far this season. Conference, regionals and of course, nationals being our goals,” agrees Posey.
Seals also remains optimistic that they will continue to win and go to nationals for the first time when she declares, “We’re gonna do it.”
On Oct. 19, the ‘Pack faces the third-ranked team in the Southern States Athletic Conference, Faulkner University at Montgomery.
Contact Info:Briana Prevost can be reached at [email protected].
