Girls Golf

Junior Lauren Reddin said last season the girls golf team came close to qualifying the entire team for State.

“Last year, we didn’t do as well as we would have hoped,” Reddin said. “Not all of us qualified [for State], which was disappointing, but this year is looking better for us as a team. I expect our team to do really well this season. Everyone has been practicing really hard, and we’ve all been improving.”

Reddin said there are specific skills the team has been working on this season, such as the team’s short game to improve accuracy over shorter distances.

“I hope our team improves on chipping and putting,” Reddin said. “Our coach has been having us focus a lot on it at practice because it will help improve our scores. We started practicing [when school started,] and we’ve been practicing four times a week in order to prepare for tournaments.”

Reddin said she enjoys attending the tournaments and getting to spend time with her teammates.

“I’m looking forward to becoming even better friends with everyone on the team,” Reddin said. “My favorite part about golfing for BV is spending time with my teammates while playing a sport I’ve always enjoyed.”

Football

The 2016 BV football team went undefeated in the regular season; won EKL, Regionals and Substate; and finally ended their season with a loss against Derby in the State championship game. Senior Benjamin DeZube said the Tigers were mostly satisfied with their results from last year.

“We did really well last season,” DeZube said. “We beat Shawnee Mission East in the Substate game, and we unfortunately lost to Derby in the State championship game. I would say we were pretty disappointed we lost in the State championship, but at the same time it was a really great season, and it was a lot of fun.”

DeZube said this season they have similar goals.

“The EKL is really good this year,” DeZube said. “We want to compete, hopefully win the EKL and make it back to the State championship.”

He said now that he’s a senior, he needs to be an example for the younger players.

“I’ve gotten to watch a lot of good players,” DeZube said. “It was really cool having really good guys to look up to, so this year we should lead like the players have before and serve as an example for the younger players.”

DeZube said he enjoys the opportunity to be able to play with his teammates.

“We have a lot of great guys on the team,” DeZube said. “I look forward to getting on the field with some of my best friends.”

Girls Tennis

The BV girls tennis team had to cut 18 players, which was more than in previous years. Junior Gabby Lee was the only player on the girls tennis team to qualify for State. She lost in the quarterfinals at State and said she was disappointed with the result.

This season, Lee hopes to qualify for State and, at least, make it to the semifinals. She said the team also hopes for better results in the postseason.

“The team’s expectation this year is to qualify as many girls as possible at Regionals [for State], Lee said. “[We also want to] have some upset matches [in Regionals], especially against Blue Valley North.”

Lee said now that she is an upperclassman, she has a different leadership role.

“This year is the first year I will be an upperclassman on varsity,” Lee said. “I feel like I can help my other teammates with any problems they have. I try to always cheer on the girls in their matches and encourage them to get better.”

Lee said a challenge of playing singles in tennis is not having anyone else to play with, but it’s also what makes tennis enjoyable.

“I love how independent tennis is,” Lee said. “Everything that happens in a match is dependent on the decisions you make every point. It’s a great characteristic of the sport.”

Boys Soccer

Last year the boys soccer team went 5-11 and lost in the first round of the State tournament, a result which senior Anthony Sobolevsky said was disappointing for the team. He said this season they have higher expectations.

“We didn’t finish the best possible way we could have,” Sobolevsky said. “It just ended up not in our favor. This year, we know we’ve have the most experience we’ve had in the past couple years. Our goal is to have a positive winning record in the regular season, win Regionals and go for State.”

The Tigers opened up their season on Aug. 21 with a historic win against BV West.

“We’ve lost to BV West eight years in a row. This year is the year we finally beat them with the biggest crowd we’ve ever had, and it was a really exciting finish. This was our second overall win in history against BV West, which made it even better.”

Sobolevsky said he also seeks to better himself, as well as his teammates as the season goes on.

“I hope to make my teammates better every practice and game,” Sobolevsky said. “Our number-one area for improvement is scoring, and we have the potential to do that. We have some great talent and some great seniors who can put the ball in the back of the net.”

Sobolevsky said he is going to do the best he possibly can in his final year of high school soccer, and he looks forward to every opportunity he gets to play with his teammates.

“I love soccer, and I’ve played it all my life,” Sobolevsky said. “Playing with my best friends I’ve had since childhood is a great feeling, and every practice and game is always great.”

Volleyball

Middle hitter senior Katie Upton is one of only two seniors on the volleyball team. She played on varsity last year and said the season didn’t end how the team wanted it to.

“We lost in the third set to Shawnee Mission East at Substate by two points,” Upton said. “[It] was tough for all of us to go out on that note.”

She said this season they have even higher expectations.

“[I hope to] get to State and win,” Upton said. “I expect everyone to give it their all, and I really hope for us to be successful and to develop some really good team chemistry.”

Upton said her role has changed on the team into more of a leader as a senior.

“As you get older you get more of a leadership role,” Upton said. “Coming in [as a freshman,] I looked up to the upperclassmen for leadership and guidance. Now I am the upperclassman, and I need to do the same.”

Upton said she looks forward to the competition and being able to form new relationships with her teammates.

“I just love playing with people I have become so close with,” she said. “I love to win and have fun with my team.”

Cross Country

A major goal for both the boys and girls cross country teams is to qualify for State this October, senior Chris Meissner said.

“Last season [the boys team] finished fourth at Regionals,” Meissner said. “The top three teams at Regionals qualify for State, so that was pretty disappointing. The girls team didn’t qualify for State either.”

Meissner said as he has gotten older, his role on the team has changed.

“Sophomore year, I was 10th on the team,” Meissner said. “I was an alternate for varsity when Regionals and State came. Last year I managed to make varsity as one of the last runners on the team. This year I’ll be the top of varsity, so I’ll need to step up.”

He said now the younger runners, especially, will need to work hard.

“Our number-two runner went down for six to eight weeks — that’s really going to hurt,” Meissner said. “We need some of the younger people to step up and perform.”

Meissner said the friendships are what make cross country so enjoyable.

“My teammates are really great,” Meissner said. “I really enjoy talking to anyone, whether they’re on varsity, junior varsity, C-team, boys and girls, they’re all just great people. It’s a great team atmosphere, and I really look forward to being a part of that this season.”