The varsity volleyball team competed in the state semifinals today at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan. In the first round of semifinals, they lost to Olathe Northwest. They came back with a win over Washburn Rural to place third overall.

“I am very pleased with how much of an impact the young girls have made with the veterans,” head coach Molly Haggerty said. “It’s pretty exciting to see that it all came together in the end.”

After beating Washburn Rural 25-23 in the first match, BVNW lost the second match 25-19. Haggerty said this loss did not detrimentally affect their performance in the final match.

“That’s just part of the game; we’ve done it hundreds of times over their volleyball careers,” Haggerty said. “That just makes you turn up the urgency and make bigger plays and it’s just a little more important to value every point that you rack up.”

BVNW came back for a win in the final match, defeating Washburn Rural with a score of 25-23 and securing the third place title in the state championship.

Senior Morgan Welch said it was emotional knowing that this game was the last time the team would get to play together. However, she said having a close team helped overall.

“It was great ending the season on a win and we accomplished a lot of our goals that we set for this season,” Welch said. “It’s just really bittersweet.”