The stadium was filled at Stevenson High School for the 2015 girls water polo state series game. It was packed with the most people all season and the booming sound of the fans cheering filled the ears of Kaysie Stuba ’18. Last year she played as a freshman at the state game and she was selected to be the person that swims out to face off against the opposing team to battle for possession of the ball at the start of the quarter.  As she swam out to get the ball, Stuba guarded someone incorrectly and was kicked out of the game for 20 seconds.

“I was focusing on getting back out there and essentially putting that behind me,” she said.

Stuba returned to the game and quickly scored a goal.  She felt energy rush through her as the crowd cheered and the announcer yelled, “That’s Kaysie Stuuuuuuuuba!” To finish off the game, she scored two more goals earning the team a fourth place finish at state.

Due to the talent of the freshmen and sophomore class at LT, the girls varsity water polo team has four underclassmen on its team this season including Stuba, Greta Markey ’18, Rhyan Komsthoeft ’18 and Hanna Good ’19. After the fourth place finish at state last year, the team has high expectations and the underclassmen are fulfilling the expectations, head coach Lauren Burel said.

“I think it’s important to have underclassmen on a varsity team to learn things from seniors,” Burel said.  “Then they are ready to go to lead the team when it’s their time.”

The underclassmen each found themselves making it to the elite level in different ways.  Stuba has been doing club water polo since seventh grade on a highly competitive team with many of the juniors and seniors she competes against now. If Markey was told she would be on the girls varsity water polo team two years ago, she would have thought that notion was crazy because she just starting playing water polo her freshman year.

“All my years of swimming definitely helped,” Markey said. “I got in the mindset that if I work really hard I can achieve my goals. One of my goals was always to be on varsity and I worked really hard.”

Although the girls had different paths to the varsity team, they are all contributing to the hardworking atmosphere of the team, Burel said. The four girls are an example to every other underclassmen not on the varsity team, along with the older girls as well.

“I love competing with younger girls,” captain Madie Janik ’16 said. “It is so much fun to watch them grow and they are such strong players that the fact that they haven’t played as long has never been of any concern to me.”