May 14, 2012
Sweet Home Alabama!
NCCAA nationals were an absolute blast! The heat and humidity added a special challenge on the tennis court, but we had a great time. We lost both of our matches against Indiana Wesleyan and Dallas Baptist last Tuesday but won against Emmanuel College on Wednesday.
We dominated in doubles that morning versus Emmanuel! Both our #1's and #3's had won when Joy and I were at 5-5 in our set at #2 doubles. Our opponents won the next two, leaving us down at 5-7, but we won the next two games…and the next two after that. Winning 9-7 is always a great feeling and having won all of our doubles we were ready to finish it off in singles. Lily and Lyndsay (with Maryssa close behind) won our last two points that determined our win.
That night we celebrated at Lambert’s Café, an amazing home-cooking southern restaurant where they throw hot rolls across the dining hall at the guests! I would say that we finished off the tournament pretty well that day!
On Wednesday, we watched the semi-finals (since we unfortunately did not qualify) and then headed to the beach! Being from Oregon, I had never swam in a warm ocean, so splashing around in the Gulf of Mexico was definitely a fun experience. It was nice to have a day of relaxation after three strenuous tennis matches. That night Coach Morris treated us to Felix’s Fish House where we had more adventures trying oysters, eating crab and turtle soups and watching Lily and Chelsea attack platters of boiled shrimp.
Friday was the finals and we watched intense matches between Palm Beach Atlantic and Dallas Baptist. Some incredible tennis was displayed, which was exciting and inspiring to watch. Palm Beach Atlantic won, though we liked Dallas Baptist better after we had played them on Tuesday.
Then it was time to pack up and start making tracks for Ohio. Overall, Alabama was a great way to end the athletic year! We played hard, both on and off the court and really bonded even more as a team. It has been a huge blessing for me to be on the team and I love all my teammates so much! They are all godly, fun young ladies and we are feeling more like sisters all the time.
As a team, we give a special thanks to Coach Dee, Becky (chaplain) and Norris, our talented bus driver! We could not have had these experiences without them! Now it is time for lots of summer tennis in our different home states, so that we are ready to all come back next year for more competition and team-bonding times. God has blessed us so much and we give Him all of our love and all the glory!!!
Until next year,
Melissa Stoltzfus
May 8, 2012
NCCAA Nationals!
This week our team is competing in the NCCAA national tournament here in Mobile, Alabama. The team arrived on Sunday afternoon and did this year’s service project and awards banquet on Monday.
The service project was helping prepare crafts for a local church’s Vacation Bible School. Our team enjoyed working alongside and getting to know other teams from Bethel, Palm Beach Atlantic, and Dallas Baptist. At the banquet, Brooke Johnson and myself received the Scholar-Athlete Award.
Today (Tuesday) was our first day of matches. We were on the courts by 8 a.m. this morning and it was already hot and humid by then. Our opponent was Indiana Wesleyan and they beat us 5-0. The humidity takes some adjustment and we are constantly drinking and refueling for our tough matches! This afternoon we are to play Dallas Baptist, another very tough school.
We have a little down time right now and then will hit it hard this afternoon. As a team, we are having a great time overall and love hanging out and playing tennis without the stress of school.
This is a perfect way to finish off an incredible season and welcome in summer. We are hoping for good seafood and time at the beach before we leave Alabama in addition to playing and watching lots of tennis. We have worked very hard this season for the opportunity to be here and we are so thankful for the blessings of God and the support of our families!
April 30, 2012
Happy Birthday Coach!!
This past week Coach Dee celebrated the end of her 75th year with a tennis tournament! We hosted the Ohio Independent Championship Tournament on our home courts on Thursday and Friday of last week. Our team played Malone on Thursday and scored a decisive victory of 7-2. This was exciting not only because we then proceeded to the finals but also because we had one more win against them this time (compared to our 6-3 score earlier this season). Very good tennis was played by all and we then enjoyed pizza, salads and the best thing ever…cheesy bread sticks....at Colonial Pizza.
On Friday, we were ready to hit the courts and give Walsh a battle for the title. We were very close and lost 5-4. We won at #3 doubles and Joy, Maryssa and Lindsay all won their singles match. I think we scared Walsh more than ever before and they certainly had to work for their win!
Now that the main season is over for us, we are focusing on finals and getting pumped for ALABAMA!! We get to play in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Tournament next week as well as enjoy the southern humidity and hospitality. Just have to make it through finals….
Lastly, and most importantly, our wonderful coach turned 75 this week! She is an inspiration to us all for her energy, discipline, and faithfulness to the Lord and to friends throughout her life! We are blessed to have her coach and lead us in our tennis experience here at Cedarville. As many of us that could, attended her hymn sing at Grace Baptist on Sunday and really enjoyed the singing as well as the refreshments. Wishing the best to an amazing woman of God, “pseudo-grandmother” and tennis coach! We love you Coach Dee!
April 23, 2012
Huba-Huba Chop-Chop
On Saturday, we traveled up to Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana for our tennis match. We were joined by the men’s tennis team and started the trek at 7 a.m. that morning for a 1 p.m. match.
After almost everyone slept the first hour, the full bus came alive with singing, eating, and playing the “weather game” (thanks to the innovation of Jared and John). We arrived to a deceivingly sunny but very chilly Mishawaka and were joined by the Johnson, Herbert and Stoltzfus parents, as well as Georgiann Hess (2010 tennis team alum). We all love the support of family and friends so much and really had a good time before and after our court time.
After warm-ups, we introduced both the men’s and women’s line up together. It was a very long, enthusiastic line of high-fives and everyone was super pumped up! The guys have a cheer of everyone buzzing like bees and then on the count of three shouting “huba, huba, chop chop CU.” Not exactly sure what that means...but the dynamic with all of our guests and the men’s team gave us all a ton of energy and excitement for playing tennis.
This can be a tough time of year to fight burn out with finishing a long season and with finals coming up, but our team is doing amazingly and the Saturday match really helped any stress that might have been building. We played some tough doubles and singles and the final score was a 6-3 loss. Some of our matches looked much closer than that, and multiple tie-breakers were played. Guess we will just have to play Bethel again sometime next season!
After the match, both our coaches treated all 22 of us to the wonderful Amish cooking of Essenhaus! We had more good times of fellowship and wonderful food. Everyone was very full and in good spirits by the time we rolled out of Indiana and started making tracks towards Cedarville. Our team enjoyed the day, the support and fellowship with the guys’ team so much! We have one more week of tennis matches here at school, one week of finals and then a week of tennis in Alabama. Bring it on!
April 16, 2012
Let it Snow (or Monsoon?)!
We were very close to receiving the distinguished award for…. coldest match in the history of CU tennis!! Tuesday we cruised back up to Canton, for the second time in a week, to play our long time rivals, the Walsh Cavaliers. Our matches on their courts seem always fated for challenge, and this year was no different. It literally snowed on and off throughout the entire match, singles and doubles. We all stored hand-warmers in our pockets during the matches and huddled under blankets afterwards. But still, we put up a good fight against Walsh and came much closer than in years past to counting a win. Our final score was 5-4 in favor of Walsh.
Wednesday, we enjoyed Bible Study and discussing details for a possible trip to Alabama for the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Nationals. Thursday we played a doubleheader against Ursuline and then Central State and swept both matches. It was a beautiful day and was very nice to be on our home courts again.
Saturday was the monsoon! Thankfully, despite questionable weather, coach scheduled the match against Indiana Wesleyan indoors. We played at Five Seasons, listening to the rain pour outside and mopping up a few puddles during the matches. We did not score any points that match but again, we played very well and with a lot of heart and determination. Afterwards, we went to BD’s Mongolian Grill at The Greene and ate amazing stir-fry there before calling it a successful and satisfying tennis week. We are ready to bring on our best games against Wittenberg and Indiana-East this week.
April 9, 2012
Three D-II Victories!
Last week was an extremely eventful four days for our team. We played three matches against Division II schools and won all of them!! Monday was a challenge against Tiffin, but we squeaked in a win of 5-4. Joy and Maryssa both did three sets, which is a battle of endurance for sure! We were excited for that win and the optimism continued on Tuesday when we traveled three hours up to Malone.
That was not as close of a match but still a hard-earned victory. Six hours on the road makes for a very long day. Thankfully, we enjoyed each other’s company on the courts, the van and at dinner that evening. I think a lot of us slept in positions that we did not think possible, thanks to fitting all of us in one van!
Wednesday was a much-needed break to focus on school. We had one of our best Bible studies that night with a very good discussion on what it means to “seek” and “set your minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1, 2). Coach and Becky also do a WONDERFUL job with Easter baskets/plates and it was fun to see the freshmen so surprised (since we older ones already know the great tennis traditions). Chocolate, jelly beans and fruit snacks are always happy gifts!
On Thursday we played our third D-II school of the week: Central State. Ten minutes down the road was refreshing after our trek up to Malone. We also had a lot of family support that day, which is always absolutely fantastic…not only for the treats! (And if you are wondering by now…yes, we eat always really, really well on this team!) After losing minimal games and securing our final victory for the week, it was time to welcome in Easter break.
We all parted ways and went to enjoy Easter with family and friends. Hopefully, we will all safely arrive back on campus, refreshed and ready for another great week of matches and team time!
April 2, 2012
Bring it on!!
Today is our first match of the season (not including our Florida matches). We have not played a match since Florida, so I think we are very ready to see what we can do on our home courts. We play Tiffin today, Malone tomorrow and Central State on Thursday.
With Bible study on Wednesday, this is going to be a full week before Easter break. Today is a little breezy but we should all be used to windy tennis by now. Last week we got some good practice in the wind and were thankful to have finished practice before the thunderstorm hit on Friday.
Today’s and Thursday’s matches are at home at 4 p.m.! We welcome any support we can get from friends, family, professors, etc. We are also continuing relationships with the women at Safe Harbor House and hope to see them on our courts some as well. Tuesday’s match is at Malone, which is about three hours from here. So we are praying for travel mercies and a good time on the road as a team.
March 26, 2012
Hearty Tennis and Veggie Stew !
After playing a total of two matches on our home outdoor courts last year, we are very hopeful for more sunshine this year! I’m not sure if the 80 degree weather we had last week was a taunt or a promise of what is to come this spring. Either way, it is wonderful to be able to play outside and in warmer conditions. Spring has found us about a month earlier here in Ohio and we are making the most of it!
This week we have four practices and then a match on Saturday, Lord willing. Last week in Bible study Chaplain Becky Kuhn made us vegetable soup, which was a fun surprise! Maybe she thought hearty veggie stew was a good example of our lesson on Colossians 3:17.
“What ever you do, work (and eat!!) heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” We talked about what we do “heartily” in life and how we can bring that same excitement, excellence and diligence into every area of our lives in order to glorify God. As college students, over commitment is probably the greatest challenge to do everything heartily as for the Lord. It is convicting that everything we fill our lives with, be it tennis, school, or involvement with student organizations, can ultimately be done for the Lord!
March 20, 2012
The Calm Before the Storm
This title is appropriate, not only because of the spring weather, but also in the state of our competitive tennis. After our wonderful spring break, we were able to relax from playing matches for a while. Thanks to the sunshine, we have been doing some challenge matches to finalize our lineup.
Tennis is very dependent on the weather, so we have enjoyed the beautiful sunny days on the courts and also had some practice cancellations due to rain, thunder and that other side of spring weather! Our next match is on March 31st and will be a home match. We are already praying for good weather and for God to be working in the lives of our opponents.
This last week in Bible Study was a very meaningful time. We all enjoy Becky Kuhn’s hospitality as well as Coach’s cookies and fruit. This last week we discussed further some of the verses that we have been memorizing together as a team. We looked at the contrasting descriptive words of Colossians 3: 8, 12 which states: “But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander and dirty language. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Athletic competition can be prime time for anger, especially against ourselves, but we want to surrender our games to Christ, put aside anger and be defined by the words of verse 12 - mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. This is a really good challenge for our team and I think each of us will be blessed in our walk with Christ through tennis competition this season.
Thanks,
Melissa
March 13, 2012
Tennis, eat, sleep, repeat!
Hi everyone! Our team is presently recovering from a completely awesome time in Florida and gearing up for the coming season. Florida was warm, green and sunny and the tennis was intense and overall successful. We played five matches in five days in addition to two practices and team bonding time. We won two matches and lost two. Unfortunately our last match, in which we were decidedly winning, was called off due to rain.
Favorite team moments included sharing personal testimonies at Bible study, swimming, soup and salad at Olive Garden and an evening in Downtown Disney.
We stayed in the same hotel as the last two years, with penthouses and a pool. I personally really loved doing early morning devotions outside, making late night pizza runs and resting sore muscles after matches when no one could move anymore. We enjoyed having Emily Paul’s family and Chelsea Diamond’s mother with us for parts of the week!! Thanks again, Paul family, for the ice cream!
Very good tennis was played by all this week and the two matches we lost were very close and could have gone either way. Our match on Thursday was played on courts that must have been over 90 degrees, but we all performed to our best ability, despite that challenge.
Overall, we have gained a lot of experience this week and so can anticipate a fantastic season! Everyone has played in the heat, wind and sun against skilled opponents and achieved great success. We have all gotten much browner (or redder) and are excited to bring excellent, God-honoring tennis to our home courts this season!!
March 5, 2012
Florida is AMAZING!
(Altamonte Springs, FL)
Our first days in Florida have been wonderful! We arrived safely at our hotel at 3 p.m. on Saturday, unloaded our stuff and went to one of our team’s favorite restaurants, Cracker Barrel. The rest of Saturday we got settled in with frequent exclamations of excitement at the green trees, blue sky and SUNSHINE!! We have been soaking it all up!
Sunday, we went to church, where we were, almost literally, the only ones under 50. We were warmly welcomed there and wished the best for our week. After lunch, we headed to the park for our first practice and then enjoyed an evening of Becky’s Famous Chicken Curry and devotions. As a team we are memorizing Colossians 3:1-4:6.
Monday! First match! First win! Despite the fact that this match started at 8 a.m. this morning, we did very well…after a slow warm up. All of our doubles were down at first but a wind of energy (or collective frustration) hit us at the same time and we started singles with the score of 3-0. After victorious doubles and another three points in singles, we called it a match and headed to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch.
All this to say, Florida has treated us very well. We are all rosy cheeked and ready for an evening practice tonight and another match tomorrow. What a blessing to have such a wonderful team and a chance to worship our Lord through tennis!
March 3, 2012
Florida Here We Come!
Currently, our tennis team is sitting in Columbus airport, decked out in our new Irish green tennis tees and ready to board our flight to Orlando, Florida. The last couple of weeks we have been busy with challenge matches, Bible study and indoor practices. We have also enjoyed hanging out with the ladies at Safe Harbor House, a safe house for women in Springfield.
Last night we went to Young’s Dairy for ice cream with three of the ladies and a couple weeks ago five of us took them pizza and had a movie night. Interacting with the women has been a fun way of connecting with each other and these precious women who have had vastly different life experiences than most of us. They bless us by their words of wisdom and testimony to the grace of God and hopefull your friendships bless them as well. We hope to continue building relationships with them when we get back from break and they have expressed an interest in coming to our tennis matches.
For now, our team is excited to have survived mid-terms and to be heading toward sunshine!! We have had a couple of days on our own outdoor courts, but there is nothing like 70-80 degree weather in early March. We are anticipating five matches in five days this next week and lots of time to hang out as a team. Freshman initiation will be hilarious as well, though we have promised not to demand anything too embarrassing. Becky Kuhn has a stellar menu planned for us as well and the men’s tennis team is planning on joining us for an evening while they are in Orlando. So it should be a very eventful week! We are praying for God to be working in the lives of our opponents and in our lives as well!
October 17, 2011
We got swept by Ashland’s team last week. They are a solid NCAA Division II school and we were just happy to win a couple of games against them. Lyndsay almost won her match and Chelsea proudly won an exhibition at #7 singles. Overall the score was 9-0 but we know a lot more now about playing in NCAA Division II than ever before. Our match with Ashland was finished with some yummy brownies and cookies made my Maryssa’s grandma. We all really appreciated the treat!
As discouraging as losing five matches in a row can be, our team showed amazing sportsmanship and every one has had a good attitude. We have really bonded as a team and I think everyone is looking forward to spring season. In the meantime we are going to make the most of the good weather by hitting as much as possible, as a team and individually. We will still have Bible studies once a week at Becky’s house with Ms. Miller and hopefully we will be together for events here and there and for team dinners. I am going to miss having the crazy busy schedule that keeps us all together constantly!
Playing a college sport and keeping up with school work is not easy though and I think a lot of us will benefit from more time to focus on academics. Unfortunately, we cannot just play tennis!
The off season provides time for us to refine some skills and become rejuvenated so that we can have an even better spring season. Our final fall record is 4-5 but we are eager to improve it!
October 10, 2011
Utter Defeat?....I think NOT!
We officially welcomed Emily Paul, a freshman nursing student, onto our team for our trip to Georgetown, Kentucky. She has a very cheery spirit, good skills, and she rounds out our team to a solid number of 10 athletes total. Georgetown was our first tournament and overnight trip this year.
The majestic fall colors were on full display under a clear blue Kentucky sky. We enjoyed perfect weather for playing tennis and for redefining our signature tennis shoe tan lines. We played Southern Indiana on Friday and got some good experience with Division II competition. We did not do well as far as winning goes, but overall we had very positive attitudes on the courts since we know that our tennis program is starting to prepare us for this level of athletic prowess.
After an amazing Italian dinner and good rest at our hotel, we hit the courts again on Saturday. Our competition was Georgetown College. Overall we lost, but pulled out three (and almost 4) wins in singles. By the time this match was done, we were all pretty exhausted and unspeakably sore. As a team, we are perfecting the back massage line up...which can be gruesomely painful with all the knots we get in our shoulders. But it is productive pain in the end. We headed back to Cedarville that night and probably all of us got buried in homework upon arrival, thanks to mid-terms.
We are planning on coming out alive for our match on Tuesday of this week.
And fall break is Wednesday! Yahoo!
October 3, 2011
Homecoming Weekend!
Thanks to all the alumni who came out to share the weekend with us! On Friday it is the tradition to have a women's tennis alumni banquet for all the alums who arrive back on campus. I hear that we used to have an "alumni match" like the men's team, but coach soon realized that tennis girls would rather eat and talk with the alumni, so that is what we did! Colleen Derry, Becky Tucker Copeland and her kids, and Cindy and Caleb Speicher were our guests this year. The Speichers are both tennis alums (which is super cute) and we third-year players remember well Caleb's antics on the tennis court! It was wonderful to see them again!
Throughout the evening we enjoyed wonderful food and conversantion. Everyone present received a free bright gold T-shirt with all the accomplishments of our alumni (on the court and after college) on the back. It was fun to meet Becky, who is a nurse and stay-at-home mom, and Colleen, who recruits linguists for the military. Both very interesting changes from Cedarville life!
We are looking forward to another good week of tennis! Hopefully our matchs will not get rained out like the match against Willminton last week. We play at Ohio Dominican on Tuesday and they better by scared!
Go Jackets!
September 26, 2011
I scream for ice cream!
Nothing like finishing a week of tennis matches with the best ice cream ever and with the best people ever! This past week started out with an away match at Otterbein. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and we all played very well. We won that match in style and had a lot of fun doing it! Lyndsay won us our fifth point in straight sets, giving us our 5-4 victory. Maryssa’s match was intense as well, and though we did not get that point, she put up a great fight! We are proud of how all our freshmen have stepped up to the rigors of college tennis. They are invaluable teammates on and off the courts!
Wednesday was our Bible study night at Becky Kuhn’s home. Becky is our wonderful chaplain and we all appreciate getting off campus and into a real home once in awhile. Her new house is cute, cozy and a perfect place to relax from school and just focus on Christ and His work in our team!
Thursday, we played a home match against Ohio Wesleyan. Our fans were very supportive (and quite crazy) and we won the match just for them! It was a lot of fun being on our home courts and then we all felt rejuvenated for traveling again on Saturday.
Our match at Taylor University in Indiana was our second road trip this year. We are bonding more and more as a team and have many inside jokes to prove it! The Taylor match was tough and we cannot win them all. But again, the day was beautiful, the tennis was demanding and in the end we got ice cream at Ivanhoe’s! If you love mountains of fudge on your ice cream, Ivanhoe’s is definitely the place to be. A win would have been the only possible improvement to the day. Also, Brooke’s parents and grandparents came to support our match, which is always a great encouragement to all of us on the team. And Brooke’s mom makes a killer banana bread, just so you all know!!
So thanks to everyone who came out to watch us play this week and to all who keep us in your prayers.
We really appreciate you all!
September 19, 2011
Last week was more “low key” for our team. For many of us, the pressures of academia are ramping up and tennis becomes a good break from studies. We did not have a match this last week which gave us more time to secure our singles and doubles line ups. We had a very wonderful Bible study, which Mrs. Miller led and we enjoyed coach’s famous cookies as well!
Working at the concessions booth kept us cooking hot dogs and selling pop this week. We rotated turns doing soccer concessions during the week and then working concessions this weekend at the big cross country event. The proceeds raised by concessions makes our annual Spring Break trip to Florida a possibility. We are thankful for this opportunity and are already looking forward to Spring Break!
This week we have three matches against Otterbein University, Ohio Wesleyan, and Taylor University. Though it will be very busy, we are excited to be playing some tougher competition! We would appreciate prayer support that we will play well and be witnesses to the love and joy of Christ on the court! Thanks for your support!
Yours truly,
Melissa Stoltzfus
September 12, 2011
From "hicktown" Ohio to the stadiums of New York....
We have had a very busy week in women’s tennis. Our first away match was last Thursday at Shawnee State in southern Ohio. We left rainy Cedarville and landed in the perfect fall day at Shawnee! No rain, a very slight breeze and perfect temperatures. Our doubles matches went very well with the closest match being an 8-6 win for myself and Chelsea Diamond. We swept singles and then it was off to dinner!
We had a very late dinner at Applebee’s since they took so long with our food, but it was wonderful to relax with the team for a while. Already we have really bonded as a team and all thoroughly enjoy time spent together! To our surprise, we had stumbled onto karaoke night at Applebee’s. We were serenaded most of the evening by a very talented gentleman with a strong taste for old, classic country tunes. It was a good cultural experience of being in southern Ohio.
On Saturday, most of the team ran the mile and performed very well, especially for 8:30 a.m. on a weekend morning! Unfortunately some of us were forbidden to run because of respiratory congestion and will run later this week. Overall, we did very well overall for a team that would rather eat then run distance!
Sunday was the US Open Women’s Finals with Serena Williams and Samantha Stosur. We enjoyed watching this match with the men’s tennis team and Quinton Paul was most gracious to let us crash his house for the event. Despite Serena’s bad attitude, we had a very good time together and all ate too many chocolate chip cookies! Now off to another week of challenge matches and preparation for our next match on September 20th.
September 6, 2011
Victorious Beginnings!
Our first full week of tennis turned out to be wretchedly hot! But we all rose to the challenge and had a successful week of challenge matches. Proper hydration and good attitudes were key with temperatures on the courts in the high 90's and even peaking above 100 degrees. Those of us from the west coast, namely Lily and myself, are not accustomed to the wonderfully sticky Ohio humidity but we somehow survived!
Our entire team has performed with much enthusiasm and character this week and I believe that we will be great witnesses of the joy of the Lord to each other and opposing teams this season! That itself is a victory of which few teams can truly boast! Every one handled wins and losses very gracefully this week and we enjoyed extended fellowship at Chuck’s (the campus cafeteria) after every practice.
Challenge matches are now basically finished and we could enjoy our first match against Geneva College this past Saturday. Again, temperatures were very high but we won quite handily with a score of 7-1. Chelsea Diamond won her first set in a tie breaker but her match was ended after that due to the high temperatures.
Everyone played very well despite the heat. I would consider it a double victory against Geneva and the elements. After the match, we enjoyed a wonderful pizza dinner in the Varsity Room with the Geneva team. We got to know the Geneva girls a bit better and had a good time comparing majors, schools etc.
Last week we also got to celebrate a few birthdays! We shared cake with the men's tennis team on Wednesday evening to celebrate the lives of Brooke and Lily! It was a really good time and always fun to start off our first week with a lot of opportunities for good fellowship, good food and good competition. We are all looking forward to much more time together and a wonderful season!!
August 30, 2011
Back at the Ville!
Welcome to Lily Schuler, Chelsea Diamond, Colleen Browning and Maryssa Herbert - our newest team members!! We are so excited as a team to meet this year’s freshmen and we have enjoyed fellowship while eating ice cream twice already. Perfect start to a unified team and supportive friendships! Our traditional “Sundaes on Wednesday” was hosted by Coach Dee Morris, Coach Pam Johnson, Chaplain Becky Kuhn and Mrs. Miller, who graciously agreed to lead our bible study this fall. With great enthusiasm we gathered after the Bible Conference to celebrate the beginning of a new academic and athletic year.
Our returning players include myself (Melissa Stoltzfus) along with Brooke Johnson, Joy Dice, Lyndsay Stine and Emma Rahn. It was wonderful to connect again after a long, eventful summer. God really blessed our summers apart from each other and He has finally brought us all back safely to the Cedarville.
Brooke and I are team captains this year and we look forward to serving our coach and team mates! We chose I Timothy 4:7b-8 to be our team verse for the year. In the NIV it says “Rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” As a team we want to recognize the value of physically training for tennis, but more importantly we want to become more godly, more like Christ this year. This is a team goal, just as excellent athletic performance is. We are excited to see how God will work in and through our team this year!!
Please pray that our team will be remain gracious and respectful to one another, especially this week as we begin challenge matches! The line up will be decided this week before our home match with Geneva College this Saturday. I am anticipating another good week of building friendships and enjoying tennis together!
Melissa Stoltzfus is a Dean's List student as a junior majoring in psychology from Newberg, Ore.
