Coming back from an early-ending season last year, the Blue Valley Varsity volleyball team is hungry for a trip back to State. Among the returners, c0-captain senior Lauren Stubbs currently leads the teams in kills and kill percentage.

Shortly behind on the stats board is co-captain senior Courtney Carpenter and junior Katie Upton, with great all-around stats from seniors Whitney Hinmon and Abby Blackburn and sophomores Alison Tinberg and Cassidy Carpenter.

This season, there are three new faces to the varsity team: freshmen Evelyn Diederich, Taylor Dauernheim and Lindsay Lahr. According to the other returning players on the team, all three freshmen have played in multiple sets, and are making great contributions to the team.

Lahr said after the official announcement that she made varsity came out, she was a mix of nerves and happiness.

Diederich said she was also very relieved and excited for the upcoming season. She said the upperclassmen and returning sophomore have made the transition a lot easier for her.

“The older girls have been awesome,” Diederich said. “They’re all so kind, and they’ve treated me so nicely. They’re very fun.”

From grade school until high school, volleyball athletes compete against their own age group. This changes for a freshman if they make varsity, as most of their across-the-net competition is older, more mature players.

“It’s crazy I’m playing against 18-year-olds as a 14-year-old,” Diederich said. “It’s really exciting playing with older girls — I really like it. “I’m looking forward to playing in all of our different tournaments and seeing other freshmen my age on varsity.”

Dauernheim, Diederich and Lahr all agreed the main goal for their season is to make the BV volleyball team the best it can be, while personally continuing to improve.

“I’m excited for this season,” Dauernheim said. “I want to beat people, and we want to go to State.”