Volleyball

The Fluco junior varsity volleyball team had a busy week, taking on Orange County on Oct. 14 and Monticello on Oct. 16. They handily won against Orange by a score of 3-0, then went on to beat Monticello 2-1, thus furthering their great success this season. “Overall we did good, but we need to learn to communicate better. I love my team. As a new player, they’ve been so welcoming. It’s like I’ve been part of the team for years,” said sophomore Tiffany Hoyt.

Continuing their winning streak, the varsity volleyball team also faced both Orange and Monticello last week and won both matches without losing a single set.  While happy with the games’ outcomes, junior Katie Stutz—like many on the team—immediately looked for ways to improve. “We just made simple mistakes, but we stayed on top of it and kept it together,” she said. “Orange, we just played down. Our energy was down [so] it wasn’t a very good game at all,” she added. Their next matches are at Louisa on Oct. 21 and at Powhatan on Oct. 23.

Football

After a one day delay due to weather, junior varsity played Louisa on Oct. 16. It was a hard loss, as the Flucos fell to the Lions 50-8, giving them a new season record of 0-5. “The best part of the game was the second half when there was better drives down the field,” said eighth grader Jacob Hobbs. “The first half we dug ourselves our hole that we were not able to get out of. We were able to score, but definitely not enough,” said Hobbs.

After beating Louisa for the last two years, the Varsity Flucos were hoping to yet again come out on top in their match against Lions on Oct. 17. However, the Lions got their revenge as the Flucos fought valiantly but ultimately lost 48-16. This loss brings the Flucos’ overall record to 1-6.

The game started off strong for Louisa with 36 uncontested points scored in the first half alone. The Flucos seemed had a strong start in the second half but eventually fell to the Lions scoring only two touchdowns. Touchdowns for the Flucos were scored by senior Macen Dahl receiving and junior Gavin Patrick running in to the endzone. Dahl had four receptions against Louisa totaling 88 yards bringing his season total to 802 receiving yards.

“It was a big game for us. We’ve beaten Louisa two years in a row and we kind of wanted to keep that going, but Louisa has a different coach and they’re running new plays,” said senior Raejion White who still managed to get several impressive tackles against Louisa. “We just have to get in the zone. The game is more about the attitude than anything else,” said White. The team is hoping to use this loss as a learning experience as they prepare for their Homecoming game against Powhatan on Oct. 24.

Competition Cheer

The 2014 competition cheer team started off this season a little rough. The girls usually have their routine completed and are doing full run-throughs a few weeks before their first competition. This year, however, the ladies had a very late start. For the past several years, the squad has had a choreographer create their routine for them. All the girls had to do was learn it, tweak it, and perfect it.

This year, between not being able to find the right choreographer and the cost of hiring one, the routine was created with a combined effort of the cheerleaders and their coaches. Having to create the routine themselves caused the team a delay in the actual learning of the routine.  As a result, the team dropped out of their first competition, Spirit Fest, on Oct. 4.

Add injuries to the equation, and the ladies have continued to face battles. Three of the girls received injuries this season, making it impossible for those stunt groups to put up their stunts. One of the girls who was injured was sophomore flyer Emily Baker. Baker fractured her bottom left rib, then developed a bone callus. “While yes, the injury itself was painful, I was most upset about the fact that I felt I was letting my team down,” said Baker.

These struggles have been particularly upsetting to the nine seniors on the squad, since this is their last year to compete. “Everything is physically exhausting, but it is also stressful due to the fact we have little time to learn and put everything together, and the fact that it is senior year for a lot of girls. We want something to remember,” said senior Nicole McCormick.

Even with all these trials, the girls still have still had small victories. They remain positive at practices and celebrate when stunts are hit or a dance is nailed. “When we all stay positive and believe in one another we end up being able to accomplish much more than we originally believed. Win or lose, we know that we are a team, and on competition day we’re going to have to give it our all,” said senior Molly Brennan.

While the Fluvanna cheerleaders might have had a late and bumpy start, they were still able to place third at their district competition on Oct. 11. After pulling together for their first competition, they girls hope to do even better at their Conference competition on Oct. 25 at John Handley High School.