It’s almost playoffs time. Regionals start on Saturday for girls tennis, next week for girls golf, and most of the other high school sports follow over the next several weeks.

You can tell it’s that time of the year because players and coaches are talking about it more, and you can see the intensity raised during games about playing mistake-free, and making sure everyone is doing the right assignment.

One team heating up at the right time is Free State’s boys soccer team. The Firebirds are on a three-game win streak, and their 7-3-1 record is their best start through 11 games since 2009 when FSHS earned a trip to the state title game.

One of the biggest improvements this year has been their defense. Once thought of as their weakness, they’ve been playing really well lately.

“Defensively we’ve been cleaning up some things a little bit more,” FSHS coach Kelly Barah said. “That was the unit that we’ve always really worried about, but the boys are really starting to put some things together and we’re starting to understand the concepts a little bit more.”

I saw their game against Shawnee Mission South on Tuesday, a 4-1 victory, and though senior goalkeeper Tyler Bryant had to make 10 saves, the defense — led by Jordan Patrick, Briceson Junge, Daulton Sharp and Nicholas Larkin — looked strong denying a lot of runs for the first 2/3rds of the match.

“We’ve had some solid games, and then some games we’ve had a little bit of shaky times here and there,” senior Randall Schmidt said. “But overall, I’m happy. We’ve really improved the last couple of games.”

Add in an offense that has room to grow, but has shown they can cause a lot of havoc when they’re playing up to their potential.

“When we’re able to move the ball and have clean touches in the final third, we can score on most teams,” said junior Will Laufer, who has scored three goals in the last three games. “But what lets us down is the transition from the midfield to the forwards. Sometimes it doesn’t connect as well as it should — miscommunication or misunderstanding.”
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Lawrence High’s volleyball team went 4-3 last week, but those losses weren’t anything to feel bad about. The Lions lost twice to Blue Valley (21-8, ranked No. 5 in 6A by the Kansas Volleyball Association) and once to Shawnee Heights (18-2, ranked No. 3 in 5A).

After a slow start to the season, the Lions have played well, even giving Blue Valley a tough match in the third-place game.

“Lately we’ve been really up, and I’ve been really proud of every single person on my team,” senior Keeli Billings said. “We’ve all been working, helping each other out in every way, and pushing each other to be better.”

With strong net play from Billings, Caroline Dykes, Cienna Sorell, Jensen Edwards, Makayla Wagner and Nez Iskandrani, the Lions can cause a lot of matchup problems for opponents. The biggest key for LHS is learning to play from behind against tough teams, and not falling into huge holes when things go wrong.

But for a team that is 5-4 in the Sunflower League, the Lions know there’s a lot of potential to improve before regionals near the end of the month.

“Overall, I’ve been happy with our team,” Dykes said. “We’ve really been improving each game, and that’s a good sign.”
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Free State’s girls golf team finished third in the Sunflower League, led by senior Emily Bermel, who finished second individually.

It wasn’t always that easy. Bermel and some other girls on the team struggled with their swings in the middle of the season, even as recently as last week.

“I know that they’ve been disappointed in their play lately,” FSHS coach Layne Meyer said Monday after the FSHS Invitational. “So I was glad to see them get back on track, and I’m very pleased with them. I’m sure that they’re very happy with their play.”

But most of the Firebirds are hitting their strides at the right time. Karen Campbell was tied for 28th after the first round of league play, and finished in 14th place. Savannah Reeb also jumped from 38th to 30th.

“A lot more confident now, for sure,” Campbell said on Monday. “I think there’s a lot of room to improve … but we’re going to try to keep focus.”

The Firebirds will tee off at 9 a.m. Monday in Manhattan for regionals.
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It opened a few weeks ago, but there haven’t been many games inside Free State’s newly remodeled main gym, which is the first renovation since the school opened in 1997.

Construction started during the summer, and ended just before the sub-varsity volleyball team’s first home game on Sept. 15.

What led to the changes?

“There were mechanical issues with the bleachers,” Free State athletic director Mike Hill said. “They were certainly showing their wear as was the gym floor. It just was time.”

The renovated gym was sanded down, repainted and refinished. Both of the bleachers on the north and south sides of the gym were replaced, and even the ceiling was cleaned. The school also replaced both east and west scoreboards, which are now wireless.

“We’ll also be doing some things with new banners and the like to recognize our athletic teams and our championship teams,” Hill said. “Basically it’s a total overhaul and we’re really pleased with the way it looks.”

For the volleyball team, they reconfigured the courts from east and west to north and south, so now the south side bleachers can pulled out entirely.

“It created a better layout for the girls, and I think it’s much preferable to what they had and much more friendly for fans,” Hill said.

The renovation was paid for by the school district’s capital outlay project, according to Hill. Next on the list of renovations is a new scoreboard for Free State’s softball team, which is expected to be in place by the upcoming spring season.

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