The Blue Valley volleyball team started practicing in June and had their first game on Aug. 30. With 12 people on the team, five of them seniors, “the team is looking very strong and has a great chance at winning State,” sophomore Jillian Hardeman said. “I think that our league is one of the most competitive in the state, and we work hard,” sophomore Brenna Stroud said. Sophomore Lauren Stubbs said the varsity teams biggest competition is “probably Olathe East because they won State last year, and they didn’t graduate any seniors.” “Varsity lost two of their best hitters last year, Rachel Gearon and Chloe Rogers, which was definitely hard on the team,” sophomore Elizabeth Schrader said. “I think that it will be hard for the new varsity players to take their place.” Junior Grace Gearon said having so many returning players on the team is an advantage because having seniors is always a good thing. “It might be hard to recover from losing so many leaders,” Stubbs said. “We will definitely be down, but we have some other people who are coming up who can probably take their place.” Lydia DeBoer said that the coaches put in a lot of effort, and they take the program seriously by focusing on teamwork a lot instead of just individual athletics. Last year varsity had a record of 31-10 and placed third at the 6A State tournament. Sophomore Kenna Rambo said the team has a chance at winning State this year. “We work hard and have been doing really well this year,” Rambo said. “Everyone is striving to reach that goal of the State title.”