Volleyball

On Aug. 23, the Fluvanna girls’ volleyball team had their first game of the season away at Turner Ashby. JV lost by a score of 0-2, while Varsity lost by a score of 0-3. “This is going to be one of the most challenging teams we’ll have in the season,” said Sophomore Madison Kennedy. A few weeks ago they played two scrimmages against Waynesboro and Goochland; although no official scores were recorded, the JV team won both games while Varsity lost both times.

While varsity continues under guidance of long-time, awarding-winning Coach Christi Harlowe, this year’s JV team has a new coach, Susan Shields. Shields has encourage the JV and Varsity teams to practice together.  “It brings us closer and we feel more connected with one another,” said JV player McKenzie Wills. The teams do warms ups as one team for about half of the practice, then split up into Varsity and JV for drills for the other half.

The varsity team hasn’t won a game yet, but they feel strong about the upcoming season. “We really unite as a team together, and play as hard and as well as we can,” said Sophomore Hannah Ledford who is in her first season on varsity. “Being moved up from JV to varsity is definitely different from being on JV, because it’s more fast-paced. But I feel like I am keeping up,” she said.

This year’s varsity players are: Victoria Belew, Renee Custer, Britney Dobson, Tyler Haislip, Amanda Harris, Tiffany Hoyt, Sophia Kershner, Hannah Ledford, Katie Morris, Abby Searcy, Abby Sherman, Candice Shaheen, Madison Stoltz, Jilian Stutz, and Christian Walker. The members of the JV team are: Lauren Black, Amy Glowatch, Madelyn Grubbs, Madison Kennedy, Victoria Koczan, Samantha Marshall, McKenzie Moore, Alena Puaauli-Pelham, Savannah Quinn, Evynne Stafford, Lindsey Ward, Kailee Wentz, Sarah White, McKenzie Wills, and Mya Wright.

The next game for both teams will be on Sept. 1 against Turner Ashby at home.

Football

After a couple of tough seasons, the Fluco football team started their latest season with a new theme: “Fluco Up.” “Fluco Up stands for family, working together and standing together as a team and hard work,” said JV football player Nathan Smith ‘19. The varsity team started off the season with a scrimmage on Aug. 19 against Waynesboro. The final score was 30-3, with the Flucos falling short. “We need to find the weaknesses and work on them, but also see what the team is good at and also work on that,” said Coach Steven Szarmach.

Meanwhile, the JV team had a positive start to their season with a solid win against Freedom High School on Aug. 24. In their first win in two years, the JV team beat Freedom 54-35. Szarmach feels that this season the team and football program will show improvement amidst work hard to achieve their goals. The next football game is Sept. 2 against Spotsylvania at home.

Golf

While other sports are just starting to compete, the Fluco golf team is well into their fall season, having started it on Aug. 1. The team has welcomed two new girls on the team: Maggie Wentz ‘20 and Cameron Marshall ‘20. “It’s a lot of fun to be one of the girls on the team. We have really bonded and are always having fun. We also have fun competing and trying to beat the boys,” said Wentz. This is the first time that Coach Bryan Searcy has had two girls on the team.

The team has played six matches thus far with a record of 9-20. The first match was at the Spotswood Invitational on Aug. 3 against 12 other teams. The standouts of the match were Jack Stanke with an 18 hole score of 74, followed by Joe Pace with a score of 89. The next match was a match against all the other teams in the district. Stanke again led the way with a score of 87, followed by Pace with a 92.

Next, the Flucos fell short in a duel meet against Charlottesville on Aug. 16. The golf team then played a conference tournament at Ironwood Golf Course in Staunton where Stanke shot a 79, Pace shot an 89, and Kershner shot a 90. In a dual match against Louisa on Aug. 18, the team fought hard but lost. On Aug. 24, the team took on Monticello and Madison high schools, beating Madison but losing to Monticello. The next golf match is on Aug. 31 at Albemarle.