SPORTS
Bellevue launches first volleyball season
For the first time in school history, Bellevue will be starting volleyball practices next week.
Picked to lead the Lady Eagles into a new sport is Mollee Kirk, a 22-year-old 2019 graduate from Windthorst who got both her bachelor’s and master’s in business administration at Texas Tech University in four years.
She also was helping coach during her time at college at Lubbock’s Southcrest Christian School and had most recently coached her sister’s club team.
Despite that time put in, Kirk was not initially planning to pursue coaching and was instead working as an area manager at Amazon this spring before she was contacted by Bellevue, on a tip from one of her old coaches at Windthorst, to talk about its new volleyball program.
“I didn’t realize it was going to be an interview, but it was,” Kirk said. “They said they would get back with me in a couple of weeks and two days later they offered the job.”
After thinking it over for a time, Kirk accepted knowing she could have more of an impact on young girl’s lives than if she stayed on at Amazon.
Kirk was a multi-sport athlete at Windthorst, but her main sport and passion she poured 10 years into was volleyball. She was a middle-blocker who was named to the Texas Sports Writers Association all-state third team and the Texas Girls Coaches Association all-state first team in both her junior and senior seasons.
That playing experience along with the coaching experience she got in college will be needed as Bellevue is starting from the beginning as only a couple of girls in the program have played the sport at all.
“They are super eager and excited to learn,” Kirk said. “They listen whenever I give them critiques. They are excited for this new sport. The good thing about it is most of the girls are younger, like freshman or sophomores, so we will be able to build it so that in a couple of years when they are upperclassmen we can compete.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bellevue basketball teams both played in the playoffs for the first time in several years. The Lady Eagles finished fourth in the district to qualify after missing the previous season. In the bi-district round, Bellevue had to play the eventual state champs Newcastle.
The Eagles also finished fourth, though they played Saint Jo in a play-in game for third place. Bellevue then had to play state-ranked Graford in the bi-district round before ending its season.
The spring season saw Bellevue bring back its baseball program after many years.
While the team struggled during its initial season, it is a step in the first step for a program that hopes to compete well in the near future. In golf, the Lady Eagles ended up winning the district title to qualify for the regional tournament.
In the fall, both of Bellevue’s cross country teams finished second at district and qualified for regionals.
There, Mattie Broussard was able to qualify for the state meet individually after winning the regional title.
At state, Broussard came in ninth place to earn a medal.
To see pictures and highlights from all of the area schools, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Prairie Valley program had a good spring to start 2024. In tennis Case Carpenter qualified for regionals after finishing second at the district meet in boy’s singles. In golf, the Lady Bulldogs team finished second at the district tournament to qualify for regionals.
To cap off the spring season, Linzie Priddy qualified for the state track meet in the 800 meter race, where she placed ninth overall.
The fall season saw the Lady Bulldogs finish second in district to qualify for the playoffs. In the bi-district round, Prairie Valley held on to beat Vernon Northside in five sets to continue its season one more game. In the area round, the Lady Bulldogs lost to Garner.
In cross country, the program had one boy and one girl qualify for the state meet for the second straight year.
Josh Stout was running at state for the second time and he improved on his first appearance as she placed 29th. Priddy, running at the state cross country meet for her third time, finished 84th.
To see pictures and highlights from all of the area schools, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Gold-Burg athletic program had a good spring with two girls qualifying for regionals in tennis. Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles at the district meet to move on.
In track and field, the Bears had Isaac Renteria qualify for the state meet for the second straight year. He finished in fourth place in the 3200 meter race.
In the fall season, the football team had one of its best seasons in school history. The team rebounded from losing its first three games of the season to winning the district title and its bi-district playoff game against Woodson. The Bears then lost to Oakwood in the area round.
To see pictures and highlights from all of the area schools, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
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