The Girls Varsity Volleyball team is looking to have its first shot at being conference champions this year. Hopefully if we win the rest of our games we’ll be the conference champions”, junior Blythe Rients said. Rients is a veteran player with 303 kills this season.

“I started playing volleyball in 5th grade for SPA, and then in 6-7th grade I played for a traveling team. I made varsity in 8th grade, and the team was mostly seniors, I was the only eighth grader.”

Rients knows that her actions have an effect on the whole team. “I definitely think that a lot of pressure gets put on me sometimes in games, so if I’m not having the greatest game usually there’s some impact on the rest of the team. Whenever I’m not playing my best I try to stay positive and making sure that I’m giving out good vibes to other people so that they can have their best game,” Rients explained.

Rients has committed to play Division 1 volleyball. “I’m verbally committed to play volleyball at the University of Iowa. It’s all verbal now, but November of my senior year is when I can make it official. I committed the summer between 9th and 10th grade so it’s pretty exciting.”

Sam Hanson may only be a sophomore, but he’s no stranger to running cross country for SPA. “I started running cross country in sixth grade, and that was the same year that I started running with SPA.”

Hanson spent a year on the middle school team.

“I ran for the middle school team in sixth grade but I made varsity in seventh. I was pretty much alone.”

He attributes the fact that more girls at SPA run cross country than boys to the reason why he made the team at a young age. “There were a lot more girls that run cross country than boys.”

Even though this season is not their best, the team uses it as a chance to get better. “For the team, we’re making some really good improvements this year, and have more team unity, we’re running together more in races.”

His goal is to “not to be afraid to push myself and try to stay with the other runners. I hope to make state my senior year,” Hanson said.

Ninth grader forward Olivia Lagos is a born-and-bred soccer player. “I’ve basically been playing soccer my whole life, because my family’s a soccer family.” Lagos said.

This is her second year on the varsity team. “I think the season’s going pretty well, we’re 13 and 2, and last year we did really well too.” Lagos said.

Lagos definitely not only wants to win sections, but she also “want[s] to make it all the way to state.”

The team’s chemistry shows itself in tradition. Lagos and some of her teammateremember each game. “Every game, Muriel [Lang], Tessah [Green] and I take a piece of grass from each field.” Lagos explained.

Going into sections, Lagos is feeling the pressure. “I put [pressure] on myself to score goals,” Lagos said.

[In Print] This story is reprinted from The Rubicon print edition: Oct 24, 2017