November 22, 2010
Our season came to an end this past Saturday when we lost to Indiana Wesleyan. It was rather disappointing and sad…we had wanted nothing more than for our seniors to be able to go to nationals during the final season of their volleyball career. However, we didn’t quite make it. Coach left us with a positive note saying that we indeed left everything we had on the court in that final set against IWU.
We came a long way this season. We definitely had our moments throughout that I know I will never forget. There is no other team I would rather be on. Although we ended just short of a “.500 season,” I would not trade a second of it to be on a different team. Losing is something I have never been ok with, and quite frankly I don’t think I ever will be…however, through the tough losses we had this season I have learned a lot. I have learned to appreciate the relationships I have with my teammates, coaches, assistants, trainers, etc. - much more than I ever have in the past ten years that I have played volleyball.
The Lord allowed us to touch many lives this season…starting out on our mission’s trip back in August! And I know His work in us is not complete because the season is over, yet it will continue throughout the rest of our time here at Cedarville and throughout the rest of our lives! I am again so thankful for what Cedarville volleyball has taught me thus far into my career here and I look forward to what these next two years have in store.
We are excited about our new recruits for next year and what our season will bring! I know that I said I have learned a lot from the losses we have had, but I am more than ready to make those adjustments and take what we have learned and apply it!! I’m confident that the Lord will use us in many ways throughout our season next year and even while we prepare for it. I praise the Lord again for the things He has done and all the things He will do.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Thanks again to all of our fans who supported us this season, we appreciate every single one of you!
Glory be to God!!
November 15, 2010
Unfortunately, we lost in the AMC Tournament Semifinals this past weekend up at Mt. Vernon against the host Cougars. We lost in four sets. We put up a good fight, but just didn’t do enough to pull off the win.
We had a GREAT match Friday afternoon though against Point Park. We had lost to them earlier in the season in five sets, so we were pumped up to play them a second time! We came out strong from the beginning and won in three straight sets!! It was the best match that we have played all season and also the most fun we have had!!! (it’s amazing how those two go together) I was very proud of how everyone played.
The good news is that even though we no longer have a chance at going to the NAIA national tournament, we still have a chance at the NCCAA nationals - in Orlando, Florida! We will host the Midwest Regional at HOME this coming weekend. We are excited that we get to play at home one last weekend and the seniors get to play in their home gym one last time before they graduate.
If everyone comes with the desire to win and gives everything they have, we will win regionals. I know we can do it. Go Hard or Go Home…and in this case, go hard or our season is over. Let’s go hard! The Lord has done great things through our team this season, and I am confident that He will continue to do great things if we do our part out on the court. We are looking forward to a great weekend.
Glory be to God!!
November 8, 2010
“GO HARD OR GO HOME”…this is a saying from Coach Walters that our team has become very familiar with over the past couple of weeks. Since we are to the post season now, there really is no room to mess around. Our team has begun to mesh more than we have all season and it makes me more excited than ever! Going into this past week, we all knew what was at stake -qualifying for the AMC Tournament. As I’ve said before, one of our team goals this year is to make it to the NAIA National Tournament. Our match against Notre Dame on Saturday was the deciding factor to determine if we would make that first step into the conference tournament this coming weekend.
Earlier in the week we played Central State beating them in three straight sets. Coach gave us Wednesday off to rest and catch up on school work and such. Thursday we came in to practice one last time before our match on Friday at Shawnee State and then Notre Dame on Saturday. We put up a good fight against Shawnee State, but fell short three sets in a row. It was disappointing, but greatly improved from the first time we played them this season.
On the way to Shawnee State on Friday, we watched "Facing the Giants" - an all-time favorite of the volleyball team. The overall theme of the movie is really good and there are several lines that we enjoy quoting such as “Oh my word,” “WooooW,” and “My grandmother can kick far left and far right.” Haha, good times. The point of the movie though, is that God is good ALL the time and with Him NOTHING is impossible!
On our way to Notre Dame, since we were up so early, we were able to see a wonderful and gorgeous sunrise and as we got closer to the Cleveland area it was snowing and was absolutely beautiful! We were hoping to have beaten Shawnee State to give us the confidence we needed going into our match on Saturday, but despite our loss the night before, we came out strong on Saturday! We beat Notre Dame - clinching our spot in the AMC Tournament!! So we have begun to push toward that goal for the NAIA National Tournament! Through our determination, hard work, and never-die attitudes we were able to win in three straight sets!
We stopped by Lauren William’s (Lo) house on the way back from the match to celebrate our victory! Her family was gracious enough to make us a delicious meal. I cannot thank our families enough for all they do, thank you families for being so good to us!
We have a big weekend ahead of us going into the AMC Tournament at Mount Vernon Nazarene. We play Point Park in our first match, the team we played two weekends ago losing in five sets. We are determined to gain revenge and take the match this time around. They are a great team, as are all of the teams that will be at this tournament, so we know that it will not be an easy match by any means. We are looking forward to battling our way through each point and proving to ourselves just how much we can accomplish. If we continue to play with the same attitudes and intensity that we have the past few matches we’ve played, then I know we will come out victorious.
God has been so good to us and this weekend is our chance to glorify Him and give EVERYTHING we have and leaving it all on the court. I’m pumped! Let’s take the victory Jackets. Glory be to God!!
November 1, 2010
Well, just as we expected, this past week was a difficult one. We played four conference matches - only coming away with one win. Excluding our match against Walsh at their place, we played fairly well.
Concerned about our embarrassing loss at Walsh, we had a good long talk before practice on Wednesday. Coach led the discussion and then left us girls to talk amongst ourselves to figure out a plan of action for the remainder of the season. “What do you want to leave behind?” “What do you want to remember from the 2010 Cedarville volleyball team?” These are a couple questions Coach has asked us several times over the past few weeks. After our talk on Tuesday we made it clear that we wanted to make something out of this season.
We left for Pittsburgh, PA Friday afternoon. We played Point Park that night, losing in five sets! Ughhh….the score was 15-11 in the final set. Four points…four points! We were so close! We played Carlow Saturday morning, beating them in three straight sets; and then ended the weekend playing Malone (losing in four sets). Coach wasn’t too upset with how we played - we put forth a good effort. However, we were still pretty upset with the loss.
Many times throughout this weekend I was reminded of some reasons why I love my team, coaches, and assistants so much. Those times before matches when the warm up music is going and we all get into it and start singing and “dancing,” I look around at everyone laughing and smiling and can’t help but do the same; also, our team has many talks when we travel and everyone truly cares about each other. The time the coaches put into this program outside of the time they are with us at practices and games means so much. And we couldn’t ask for better assistants either! The love our team shows to each other couldn’t come from anywhere but from the love of Jesus Christ!
As our regular season is coming to an end, it is my prayer that together, as a team, we stay focused and driven with a passion inside of us to WIN. We still have a chance to get into that AMC tournament (we have to beat Notre Dame on Saturday), and go to the NAIA nationals!! We can still do this!! I am pumped to play these next few matches in our regular season with my teammates and then to finish out our season with a bang at nationals! If everyone, and I mean everyone on the team comes ready to play and determined to do whatever it is going to take to win, we will win.
I am pumped for this week, let’s do this Lady Jackets! Glory be to God!!!
October 25, 2010
Overall, it was a pretty good week! We had a tough loss on Tuesday night against Mt. Vernon. However, we had a HUGE turnout for our “Dig Pink” night…we raised a lot of money from the ticket sales, t-shirts, and silent auction! We were very pleased with how well that went, considering this was our first year to do this fund raiser for the Breast Cancer Awareness organization.
Our games on Friday and Saturday went fairly well. We won both of our conference matches bringing us up to 4-1 in the AMC. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite pull out the win against Rio Grande…but hey, each loss teaches us something new.
Friday night was also senior night. We recognized our two seniors, Sarah Hartman and Kylee Husak. We have been so blessed to have these two girls be a part of the Cedarville volleyball program all four of their years here at CU. All of the girls on the team wrote a special note for both of them, and then we all pitched in some money to get them a gift card for a massage as well as a fun picture we had put in a frame for them. At this point in the season I think a massage sounds wonderful to us all, so we figured that was a perfect gift…they deserve it for sure! We love both of them so much and they will be missed greatly once they graduate.
We have an extremely important week ahead of us…four BIG conference matches!!! It is very exciting. In order to win our matches this week, we are going to have to go into each one with the mind set that we will fight until that last ball hits the ground and the whistle is blown. A statement that we have been making over these past couple weeks is “TOGETHER WE ARE SO STRONG.” I believe that if we keep this in our minds at all times, we will do great things. We must also never forget why we are playing and who we are playing for (Jesus Christ). It is through HIS strength that we can compete the way we do.
We are going to have to work hard and fight for every point with passion and the desire to win!!! Like I said, it’s not going to be an easy week, but what fun would it be if it were? I’m looking forward to seeing what we accomplish this week. Glory be to God!!
October 18, 2010
Our week started out at Tiffin, we lost in 3…not a great start to the week! However, we came in the gym the following two days and worked hard - not dwelling on the past.
We went up to Aurora, Illinois this past weekend for the GLVC/GLIAVC D2 tournament! The competition was outstanding! We came out Friday night with the mentality that no one could stop us, we fought for every point, everyone was doing their part, and we had SO much fun…we ended up winning 3 straight sets! We went out to a pizza place after our game…we couldn’t go to the Chicago area and not eat some deep dish Chicago style pizza, or at least that is the excuse Coach used (he loves his pizza!).
Mr. Husak (Kylee’s dad), informed me of the impact we had on one of the player’s mom and other fans during our match on Friday. He let me know that she was really taken back by the fact that we make honor calls, and just the way we play in general and how much fun we have as a team. This was very encouraging to hear! It’s nice to know that the Lord continues to work through us all the time. Even when we don’t realize it, people are watching and being impacted by our love for Jesus Christ.
Saturday we had a match at 10 a.m. and then at 4 p.m. We played pretty terrible the first match but a little better the second match. We have been changing a few things on the court and experimenting a little, so I think that once we practice some more and get to the point where everyone on the court feels comfortable with what we are doing, things will improve!
The next two weeks are crucial for us. We are scheduled to play 7 conference matches! We are PUMPED. We begin with Mt. Vernon, one of our top rivals (conference match) at home this Tuesday!! It is the first time in several years that we play them on our home court! This match is also our “Dig Pink” night. We are selling t-shirts ($10), there will be a silent auction before the match, and then selling tickets to get into the match. All of the money we earn from all of these things will go to the Breast Cancer Awareness organization. It’ll be a great night…we are expecting a big crowd and lots of pink!!
We have 3 big matches this coming weekend, also at home. We play Roberts Wesleyan (conference match) on Friday. Friday is also our senior night where we will recognize our two seniors, Sarah Hartman and Kylee Husak. Saturday we play Houghton (conference match) and then Rio Grande. We’re looking forward to another week! Glory be to God!
October 11, 2010
Wow…what a week it has been!! We started out on Tuesday at Ohio Dominican. We did not play as we should have and ended up losing in four sets. I won’t go into details, but it was just not a pretty match.
Coach was not happy with us or with the way we played…nor were we for that matter. Our practice Wednesday was a little different but much needed. Coach taught us a lesson on selflessness. We ran suicides the entire practice, talking about different aspects of selflessness in between each suicide.
For Thursday’s practice, we got out the net and actually played volleyball! We worked really hard and the intensity level throughout practice, I could tell, was already improved from previous practices. We left the gym that night excited for our trip to New York and fired up to play Daemen on Saturday.
Coach treated us to TGI Fridays on the way there and then we stopped by Niagara Falls before getting to our hotel Friday night. It was my first time to visit the Falls, so I was extremely excited! Even though it was night time/dark outside, it was still amazing and we enjoyed it. We took lots of fun pictures of us near the Falls which actually didn’t even show the Falls in the background, but that’s alright…we had a blast and it’s the memory of being together there that will last!
Saturday morning came and we all loaded the bus after a wonderful continental breakfast that the hotel had prepared just for us. It was greatly appreciated! We made the short drive to Daemen, and then made our way into the gym. Walking in, we knew the challenge that lay ahead…considering everything we had talked about in the days prior, we wanted to prove to ourselves that we were capable of winning big matches (and having fun while doing it!).
The match began and right away we dug ourselves into a hole and lost the first two sets. In the huddle between set 2 and 3 we made it clear to our team and to ourselves that we were NOT losing this match…we did not travel this far to lose! We were going to go out there, give everything that we had, everything. God gave us the ability (both physically and mentally) to play this sport, and to leave anything behind would be so selfish!
Our passion to win was displayed in the next set, and continued to increase in the fourth set when an incredible work of God happened! The score was tied at 19 when one of the girls from Daemen hit a ball out of bounds. It went past both our block and Erica and continued to go out. Neither Erica nor the blockers on our team called a touch. Sure enough, however, the line judge called a touch. Considering that we always call our touches due to our “honor call” routine, we knew there was no touch. Erica went to discuss the matter with the official and then both of the officials talked amongst themselves. Knowing about our honor call, they opted to give us the point! What a gift from God! It was basically a reversed honor call, in our favor!
The energy from that moment on was greater than our team has ever had. The power we had and the fire I noticed in everyone’s eyes throughout the rest of the match made it obvious to me that we were going to win that match. It blew my mind how intense we became…God definitely gave us that energy - we could not have done it on our own. We went on to play the fifth set and won 15-12. This was our first match this year that went to five sets, and it was (in my opinion) also the most exciting/fun match we have played this year!
I am confident that this match was a turning point for us. We needed that. It was a huge confidence booster. This was our second conference match, making us now 2-0 in the AMC!!
We travel to Tiffin on Tuesday and then leave Thursday for a tournament in Aurora, IL. We are ready and looking forward to another great week! Glory be to God!!!
October 4, 2010
WIN…a three letter word that most people associate with taking victory over another team, or in volleyball - the first team to 25 in 3 out of 5 sets. Saturday my teammates and I were introduced to a new meaning of this word…W-what’s, I-important, N-now. This acronym reminds us to let go of and move on from our past mistakes and focus on the play ahead. We also can apply this to our lives outside of volleyball. If (or I should say when) something bad or discouraging comes up in our lives, we don’t need to dwell on it…instead, we need to persevere and push forward (in faith) that God will provide and lead us out of the “slump” we are in at the time. God will never lead you/take you somewhere that He can’t get you out of.
We are one week closer to our goal (one of our goals) — NAIA Nationals in Sioux City, Iowa. Coming out of this week I am positive we will accomplish this goal, if of course, it is the Lord’s will. We started the week out on the road at Indiana University-East. We loaded the bus - the short bus this week I must add - instead of the normal charter bus, prepared to play a tough match that night. We came out strong winning the first set and coming so close during the second set losing 24-26. We began to lose focus a little causing us to lose the next two sets. Indiana-East is a great team, I was proud with how we played, but definitely disappointed with the outcome. Good news though!! Sarah Hartman was given the opportunity to make an honor call toward the end of a set at a crucial point…what a witness that was to the fans! Two of the fans from Indiana-East came up to Coach after the match and talked to him about her reasoning behind making the honor call. The Lord works in awesome ways!
We finished the week off with two matches this past weekend, one on Friday and one on Saturday. Our match on Friday against Ursuline was our first conference match! We got off to a bit of a rocky start, but made a comeback and won in four sets. We beat Ohio Valley on Saturday, finishing the weekend off on a good note.
It was homecoming this weekend, so we had somewhat of a bigger crowd full of alumni supporting us. After the match on Saturday we had our annual volleyball alumni/team luncheon. It was nice to have previous players/coaches and their families as well as the team and our families there to enjoy lunch and fellowship together.
We are looking forward to another great week. We are traveling to Ohio Dominican on Tuesday and then are headed to New York to play Daemen on Saturday. It will be a long ride to New York, but I am looking forward to the team bonding time! We will make the most of it and have a blast, we always do! Let’s bring home our second conference win!! Glory be to God!!
September 27, 2010
Well, the end of this week definitely made up for the beginning. As I sat down to write this week’s blog it took me a few minutes to remember what exactly happened earlier this week. I was trying to block it from my memory…our match on Tuesday against Shawnee State left me pretty speechless…I think it’s safe to say that we were all pretty frustrated and disappointed. However, we had a good long talk after practice on Wednesday. We talked about how we were 6-6 and how we are just going to act like we are 0-0 and this is the beginning. This is the start of something new! So, we decided to take all of the things we learned thus far, and then leave everything else behind and move on.
We came ready to practice on Thursday. We all worked hard and put in a great amount of effort. To our surprise, Coach cancelled practice on Friday, giving us a day to catch up on homework and prepare (mentally) for our match the next day. We left Saturday at about noon to head to West Liberty in West Virginia. It was about a three and half hour long drive including the last nine miles (about 30 minutes) driving up a small two-lane road on a mountain leading to the school. It was quite the drive, but as we made our way up I couldn’t help but be in awe of the Lord’s beautiful creation of mountains and the trees/leaves and all of the other wonderful attributes of nature!
Walking into the gym at West Liberty I could just tell that it was going to be a good match. After everything we had talked about leading up to this day, we were so ready to come out and prove to ourselves that we could overcome the problems we had been facing. We ended up winning in four sets! It felt great, we played well and even better, we were having fun!
After we finished, we loaded up the bus and headed back to campus. It was a great ride back…from Sarah Hartman leading Lauren Gill and Lynch in an aerobics class while the rest of us laughed hysterically, to other girls watching funny YouTube videos, the bus ride was a little crazy. I love our team. We are always laughing and having a good time together, I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls.
I have a good feeling that this is truly the start of something new. We are now 1-0 in our heads! We have a big match this coming Tuesday against Indiana-East. This is going to be a test to see just how much we have overcome and how bad we do want to win. We can get those 31 wins to hit the 1000 wins mark in Cedarville NAIA history…we just need to get the mentality that we WILL get those 31 wins.
“Our God is greater, our God is stronger, Lord you are higher than any other!” This is a line from “Our God” by Chris Tomlin, a song that has had a big impact on our team this season. We are looking to Him for our strength and guidance throughout this season. With Him on our side, no one can stop us. Glory be to God!!!
September 20, 2010
We started out the week with our weekly Monday night practice/dinner and Bible study. Coach Clark, a previous volleyball coach at Cedarville, came to speak with us about the “Champions of Character” and what qualities it takes to be a college athlete. She is a wonderful lady and it’s such a blessing for her to still be involved with the program. We talked collectively about the five core values including; integrity, responsibility, respect, sportsmanship, and servant leadership. We explained what it meant to obtain these qualities and how to put them into action! It was a great Bible study within itself and I think it refocused our minds on the way we should act while both on and off the court.
We had four matches this past week! Our first one was Tuesday at home against Central State. We ended up winning in three straight sets, but more importantly, we were able to talk to the girls on the team a little while after the match. This year, each girl on our team has been assigned a player of our opponent and we pray for them during the upcoming week. We also write them a little note which we give to the players at the end of the match after praying with their team. What a great way to show the love of Jesus!
We hit the road for the first time Friday afternoon for the Indiana Wesleyan Tournament in Marion, Indiana. It’s always a little hectic to get all of us onto the bus in a timely manner, but we managed to get on the road not too long after our (Coach’s) desired time to leave! School is now starting to get steady and the work load is getting heavier each week. Some of us attempted to work on homework while most of us opted to sleep on the bus ride. It’s so hard to find a good way to sleep on those buses! However, we all usually find a way to stagger ourselves among each other which is pretty amusing to see. Our team is one big happy family and I love it!
We came out strong Friday night with two wins! We beat Trinity International in four sets and then turned around and beat Goshen in three straight sets! What a great feeling it was to be playing a great team and to beat them because we were playing OUR game. That night Coach treated us to Applebee’s…yummy! We headed off to the hotel and got some rest. Between dinner and staying in the hotel together, we were able to bond so much as a team!
Saturday morning came, and we headed to the gym to play two more matches. Unfortunately, neither of them went the way we had hoped…we lost both. We did not come to play. But again, another learning experience. I think we are all tired of this “learning experience,” haha…we are ready for a winning streak!! We’re remaining positive and are still one big happy family despite our losses.
We WILL come out of this slump and STAY out. We owe this not only to God - the one Who has given us the ability to play in the first place - but also to the coaches who have put so much time into planning and also to our fans who support us so much!! Keep believing in us. We need to believe in ourselves - I know we can do this. Glory be to God!!!
September 13, 2010
Well, we learned a lot about our team this past week. We started out with a tough loss to Ohio Dominican on Tuesday. We left the court that night frustrated and disappointed, not in each other, just in ourselves and the situation.
We had good practices both on Wednesday and Thursday to prepare for the Cedarville Invitational tournament that was on Friday and Saturday. We ended up going 2-2 for the weekend. I definitely wouldn’t say that we were satisfied with that, but we did take away a lot from the matches we lost.
Coach said, “If that’s what it will take to get us on the right track then I’m okay with losing those matches.” Yes, Coach I speak for the team when I say, “That is all it will take.” Every team has its weaknesses and room for improvement. Also, I’d be a little worried if we were at our peak right now.
We have another big week ahead of us…we have one last home match for awhile before we travel for the first time to Indiana this weekend! It has been so nice to have our first seven games at home, but we are ready to get on the road and get this season rolling.
After this past week, we have changed our motto from “We can win” to “We WILL win.” I am so pumped for this upcoming week. The Lord has blessed us with so much talent and ability to play this sport we all love so much. We realize what a blessing that is, and plan to execute these abilities the rest of the season…no more messing around!
To God be the glory!!!!
September 7, 2010
Well, we had a great season opener against Cincinnati Christian, winning 3 straight sets! I’d like to start out thanking all of the fans who came out to support us on Friday night! We appreciate all of your support more than you know. I think I speak for the team when I say that we were very pleased with how things went. We do have some things we need to work on, but considering it was our first match, I think we got off to a great start!
We started off the week on Monday with two practices. We started at five o’clock (at night) and didn’t leave the gym until nine o’clock. We took a break for Bible study/dinner in between practices. Coach talked to us about discipline and the importance of it not only in volleyball, but in all that we do. It is so easy to get off track or to fall into temptation. We are to stay disciplined to building our relationship in Christ and He will guide us in the right direction. A few verses that he used were Isaiah 40:29-31which says, "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
The rest of the week seemed like it went by incredibly slow. We were all extremely anxious to play on Friday, making it hard to stay focused at times. Despite our anxiousness we did manage to get in some good practices. Coach discovered a new way to get us pumped up before practice each day… He made up lyrics to the popular song "I put my hands up in the air sometimes" by Taio Cruz (see Coach’s facebook for his lyrics). Wednesday was Coach’s birthday! We all sang him a great rendition of the happy birthday song and gave him a card and a cake that Kylee made for him!
Come Thursday we knew we needed to all work hard one last time before we put into play the things we had been practicing the past couple weeks. Coach had told us how he wanted to make it a nice, short, "run through" kind of practice; which it was until about 20 minutes into practice when we began "the diamond drill." Oh, the diamond drill… this drill is completely mental. It is meant to help us work on out-of-system plays in which we are to get 40 good hits in a row. Needless to say, we spent the rest of practice fighting to beat the drill and didn’t stop until we did! Personally, I believe it was what we needed more than anything else we could have done that night to prepare. It taught us to not only believe in ourselves and have confidence to push through when things get tight, but also to believe in our teammates and for us to feel that vibe from each other. So, if/when you see us holding up a diamond symbol in the middle of a set, now you know why!
We have one practice before our next match on Tuesday against Ohio Dominican. We also have our big CU Invitational this coming weekend. This past Friday night proved that together, with God on our side, we can do anything. One of our goals this year is to win 31 matches to reach 1000 wins in the Cedarville volleyball program. We are now one win closer!! There is a chain of 31 paper rings in our locker room and at practice tomorrow we will rip off that first ring! We would love to have our fans come support us this week as we fight our way to 31 wins!! Let’s go Jackets…Glory be to God!!
September 1, 2010
The start of the 2010 Cedarville Volleyball season is only days away!! It’s hard to believe that I am already starting my sophomore year. My teammates and I have been going non-stop for the past three weeks preparing for the upcoming season. Not only have we been preparing on the court but off the court as well.
We started off our pre-season on a mission trip in Costa Rica! What a wonderful way to bond as a team and grow closer to God! While in Costa Rica we played four different Costa Rican teams which we were able to talk to after the games. A different player from our team would share the "Power Ball" presentation of the gospel to each team after we played them. Kara Yutzy even said it in Spanish one night!
We also ran volleyball clinics for children, fed the homeless including passing out sandwiches in the center of downtown San Jose (definitely a eye opening experience for me!), and we visited local Costa Rican families and shared the gospel with them.
Needless to say, this trip was one of (if not the best) experiences of my life. I’m sure my teammates would agree with me. It gave us the chance to glorify God, show others how great His love is, and grow both in our walk with God and together as a team.
When we returned from Costa Rica the real fun began. We started conditioning the first week and then jumped into 3-a-days the following week. Through lots of sweat, some blood, and a few tears we managed to survive, and without too many injuries!
Although we didn’t love and appreciate all of what Coach had us do for those two weeks (especially while yelling his two new Spanish words "Vamos!!" and "Rapido!!") I know we will come to appreciate it come game time.
Our team this year is fairly diverse, coming from seven different states! We are also a very young team with 10 of the 13 girls on our team being freshmen and sophomores. Despite our different backgrounds and personalities our common bond in Christ has brought us together more than any team I’ve ever been a part of! The bond and chemistry that our team has this year will definitely be a strong point this season.
Our team decided on 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 as our team verse this year. It says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever."
We decided that this verse explains our purpose as the Cedarville volleyball team. Yes, we are working hard every day and want to win all of our games, but that is not our ultimate purpose. Our ultimate purpose is to use the ability that God has given us and to allow others to see Him through us in all that we do.
Our first match is this Friday, September 3rd against Cincinnati Christian at our newly remodeled Callan Athletic Center. We are very anxious to get this season started!! It is our prayer this season that the teams we play, fans, officials, and anyone else we come in contact with will see Christ through us. It’s going to be a great season!! Glory be to God!
Heather Kirkpatrick is a sophomore defensive specialist from Huntsville, Ala. majoring in nursing.
