Hailey Mertz is looking forward to building on her team’s recent reverse sweep against Miller City, a state-ranked team. Her expectations for the season are to finish with a winning record, while also working toward the goals of becoming PCL and NWC champions. Hailey plays right side hitter, and the strongest part of her game is blocking. Her favorite memory from her sports career so far was reverse sweeping Ottoville last season. Nobody expected them to win, but they turned the game around when they needed to most. One of the best pieces of advice Hailey has received is to control what you can control. She knows that she cannot change what someone else does or what happens, but she can control how she reacts to it. One of the biggest obstacles she has overcome was earning her spot back on the varsity court going into her sophomore year. She had a varsity jersey and playing time at the end of her freshman year, but she did not return with a varsity jersey at the start of her sophomore season. That experience pushed her to work harder and earn her spot back. A fun fact about Hailey is that she doesn’t like pasta!

Brady Basinger is coming off a successful season in which he earned All-Ohio honors for football. This season, his goals are to earn All-Ohio honors again and help his team win a state championship. Brady plays tight end and middle linebacker, and he believes the strongest parts of his game are his communication with teammates and his physicality on the field. His favorite memory from his sports career was beating Bluffton twice in the same year. One piece of advice that has stuck with Brady is to go 100% all the time. Even when he makes a mistake, he believes it is important to make that mistake while giving 100% effort. One of the biggest obstacles he has faced is being doubted as a team, but that has motivated him and his teammates to prove their doubters wrong. A fun fact about Brady is that he is always up for a challenge and never backs down from an opportunity to compete.