Somcheen leads the way during historic week for Laurence Manning volleyball

Laurence Manning senior Ariana Somcheen has been through a lot with the Lady Swampcat volleyball program.

She joined the varsity team as a freshman and during her tenure, team success has not been in the forefront. LMA has struggled to find wins, but she's continued to star and improve every season. Last week, everything fell into place.

The Lady Swampcats earned a pair of wins last week, a rare occurrence for the program in recent history. In the victories, Somcheen has shined, leading the team in both kills and aces. That performance also earned the senior recognition as the Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week.

"It means a lot to be the first volleyball player from Laurence Manning to be the athlete of the week," Somcheen said. "It feels good to be supported by everyone."

Laurence Manning head coach Amy Marshall has always been impressed with Somcheen's play but saw her senior step up in their biggest week of the season.

"Ariana is just an amazing person to watch on a volleyball court," Marshall said. "I think once they got a taste of not being a joke anymore and to be a team that people are getting nervous about, once that fire was lit, it started blazing.

"You can see the intensity she has. She's a leader not only for her teammates on varsity, but those on JV, too. People see Ari play volleyball and they want to be like her. I don't think Ariana even understands how many younger players look up to her."

Somcheen started playing volleyball at Furman as a seventh grader. She started taking the sport more seriously as an eighth grader, playing for Sumter Juniors, a squad led by former LMA coach Heath Griffin, who is now at Lee Academy and USC Sumter after a stop at Sumter High. She made the jump to varsity as a freshman and has steadily improved since then.

"I look at my mom and dad's Facebook and watch videos from when I first started playing and I can't even believe that I was at that point before," Somcheen joked. "It was terrible, I couldn't even serve the ball over the net."

As Somcheen improved, the team around her struggled to keep pace. Volleyball is extremely team oriented, so it can be hard for one star player to carry a team by themselves. That fact was difficult to come to grips with at times.

"It was frustrating sometimes because no one likes to lose," Somcheen. "I never let it get to me where I wanted to quit or stop playing volleyball, because that's what I love."

Still, Somcheen never thought about leaving LMA. While she had offers to transfer schools to find more team success, her heart was always with the Lady Swampcats.

"Even without the wins throughout the years, the family around volleyball has been so big for me. I've never felt out of place since I got here," Somcheen said. "It's always been about family or friends, not wins. I would've have left to go to another school just because they won every game. I had the opportunity to, but I chose not to because this is family."

Somcheen's volleyball family is more than thrilled that she always stayed.

"To me, it's an honor," Marshall said. "Ari and I have a great relationship, I love her like she's one of my own. She could go play basically anywhere, but the fact that she stuck around and that she helps with the younger kids, that's the definition of a true leader and a true athlete.

"She has proven by staying here at Laurence Manning that it's not just about the winning, its about the journey."

Her perseverance made last week even more special. Somcheen had 24 kills and seven aces as LMA won in four sets against Trinity Collegiate before a 3-set sweep of Thomas Sumter.

"I think we came in with confidence that sometimes we don't have," Somcheen said. "We knew we could win and we had the motivation from our coaches and it inspired us to prove to everyone that they were right."

"I think it just shows the dedication that all of the girls on the team have. I've seen it in everyone. We're all just really into it this year."

The matchup with Trinity Collegiate saw LMA learn how to handle defeat within a match. The Lady Swampcats took the first two sets but dropped the third 25-17. Ariana played a major role in picking the team back up as they finished off the win with a tough 25-23 win in the fourth.

"One thing that I've tried to get these girls to live off on the volleyball court is short-term memory," Marshall said. "When we came off the court after that third set, I was trying to make the lineup for the next game and I look at Ari and told her to talk to the team because she's been a leader since Day 1. They follow her lead on the court."

LMA faced their former coach with a trip to Lee Academy on Wednesday. They will close out the regular season with a trip to Pinewood on Thursday before hosting Trinity Collegiate to close out the regular season on Wednesday next week. The playoffs are very much on the table for the Lady Swampcats, which is an exciting prospect for a senior class that has never seen the postseason as an attainable goal.

"It would mean a lot to all of us, but it would mean a lot to us seniors because this is our last year. To have a first for us our senior year would be amazing," Somcheen said.

The Lady Swampcat senior hopes to keep playing volleyball, but that isn't her only priority. Somcheen wants to go to medical school, so she's focused on finding the best school for her degree and will see if volleyball falls into those plans. She's an honors student on top of her success on the court, so education comes first.

"I would love to play in college, it would just have to be about finding the right school," Somcheen said. "It would be about the time, because I want to go to medical school and that's a tough path to also play a sport with."