Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

November 20, 2012

This was one of the longer weeks for us this season as we only had two matches at the end of the week. For us this meant lots of time to practice, so on Monday we taped our ankles, tied our shoes, and set out on the court to prepare for a big weekend. We were given Tuesday off, practiced again on Wednseday and had Bible study, and entered into our last practice on Thursday before the big G-MAC conference weekend. We did not have a very good practice on Thursday; in fact, we couldn’t manage to finish drills well and everything felt out of sync. Well, you know what they all say…“Bad practice, good game”…at least we hoped that would be the case! Friday rolled around and we had a little award ceremony with the teams in our conference - several of the Lady Jackets were recognized for their play this season! I wish everyone on our team could be recognized because there is not one girl on this team who we could do without - each and every person plays a crucial part of every practice and every win.

We went on to play that night against Ursuline College, and beat them in three sets - not playing our best, however. The next morning we had brunch in the team room with a side of sentimental moments: it was the seniors' turn to pass on their legacy and advice to the rest of us. We laughed and cried and ended our pre-game activities with some time to spare, so we played movie charades! I am proud to say that team ONE-der beat team TWO-ter.

We were pumped to play Trevecca Nazarene again, and we knew they were just as ready to play us. We came out of the gate that first set playing so well and won fairly quickly. They came back the second set and won, but we were not going to give them any more wiggle room and we won in four sets. That feeling of winning a big game is unlike any other, and that win is one I will never forget.

This last week had been anticipated for a very long time. I was just thinking back to our spring season which was some ten months ago, and can remember coach saying to us as we ran, did push-ups, lifted, and conditioned, “This hard work will pay off! We are going to be the G-MAC daddies!” Back then it seemed like such a far off goal, something a team in its first year of division two and in a new conference could only hope to achieve. Well, after months of hard work and hours put in, we are the G-MAC daddies. We have a cool trophy, a great memory, and most importantly a testimony of Jesus Christ at work in and through the whole process. For me, one of the greatest moments of that championship match was seeing Trevecca Nazarene make an honor call.

I don’t remember them doing that the past two times we have played them, and that call they made shows how our honor calls have made an impact on the sport of volleyball. Saturday was a great night of celebration, and as I write this on Sunday night we are experiencing anticipation as we await the news of the teams selected for the NCAA II regional tournament. What a week, what a year!

(Ed. note: The Lady Jackets did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional. The 2012 season is completed.)


November 12, 2012

It is hard to believe we have already played 36 matches this season and are now officially headed into the post season! What a ride this year has been. We have the second best record in Cedarville volleyball history, and currently have the number one record in the Midwest Region of NCAA Division II!!! It is almost unreal how fast this season has flown by and the big amount of growth that has taken place in such a short period of time. With the winding down of a season comes a bit of sentimentality, something our team doesn’t handle too well (especially Heather).

We usually begin our pre-game with team devotions, but since Tuesday’s match against Cincinnati Christian was also senior night for us, we decided to do a “what we love about the seniors” talk during that time. We laughed, cried, and celebrated what great leaders and women of God our seniors have grown to become these past four years. Mayra, out team’s student assistant, always has the most profound things to say, and she says them in simply a few words. We all decided after that night that she should really be a Hallmark card writer. We finished sharing about the seniors, ate dinner, celebrated our seniors, and began the match. While we won in three sets, we did not play well, and the sets were much closer than they should have been. We left with a win but were not satisfied with our efforts.

The next day at practice we did a little more running than usual and worked hard for a solid two hours. We had been commenting the night before how we hadn’t done a volleyball suicide all season, and lo and behold we did one the next day. For those of you who don’t know, a volleyball suicide is when you run and roll at each line down and back a few times. While many on the team can do this exercise with great skill and finesse, some of us just look like beached whales. I am proud to say that we survived and completed the task at hand!

Coach graciously gave us Thursday off and we all took advantage of that and caught up on homework and sleep. Friday we headed out to the country music capital of the world - Nashville, Tennessee! We took the six-hour bus ride down there and had practice that night. Unfortunately, Tori sprained her ankle again and was not able to play over the weekend. We hope that after resting and rehab this week she will be back for our conference tournament this weekend!

The next day we were welcomed by a stack of notes that the Trevecca Nazarene girls had written us! It was so fun to be on the flip side of receiving notes and enjoying the encouragement of that. We have really enjoyed getting to know their team and look forward to competing with them in the years to come. We played them at 11 a.m. and won in four sets! It was a fun match to play, and we hope to win in three sets against them this weekend. We played Central State immediately after that, and also won in three sets. We left Trevecca with 30 wins!!!!!

The bus ride back seemed like it went on forever. We watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Miss Congeniality 2, stopped at Dairy Queen, slept, did homework, and still hadn’t arrived home yet. Some of us were slowly going crazy. We finally made it back safely and enjoyed not getting home too late considering the distance. We look forward to both of our post season matches this weekend, and the NCAA DII selection show Sunday night at 10 p.m. where we will find out if we made the tournament. We have no idea how this season will end up going, but God does. So we continue to trust Him and leave everything we have on the floor, because we won’t know which game will be our last. Hope to see everyone at the G-MAC tournament that we’re hosting this weekend!!!


November 5, 2012

One Chick-fil-A sandwich: $5. A brand new volleyball: $45. One thousand, seventy-four fans at a volleyball game: priceless. This week was our home game extravaganza, with all three of our matches being played at home! We began by having practice on Monday, which was very good - we had some good 6-on-6 rallies and played at a high level. Tuesday we were playing versus Urbana to establish ourselves as the G-MAC tournament hosts. We won the first set having played really well - we were turning every dig and free ball into points for us, with very few errors. The second set was not quite as good, and we finished fairly strong in the last one to win the match.

The game all of us were really looking forward to this week, however, was the white-out match!!! Our goal was to get 1,000 fans in the stands, and if that was accomplished everyone who came would get a voucher for free Chick-fil-A! We had been promoting it for awhile all over the social media, and Dr. Brown even announced it in chapel. When the big night came we really weren’t sure if we were going to get all that many fans.

We started the match against Mount Vernon Nazarene surrounded by a sea of white! Oh, and a couple bananas. We won the first set handily, and after that I was pretty sure we were going to win in three. We played the next set and were leading significantly at the very end, but just couldn’t finish when it came down to crunch time. We won the third set, again by a good margin, and went into the fourth set ready to win and finish this match once and for all. Unfortunately, Mount Vernon actually decided to start blocking us and we couldn’t quite adjust, starting us out with a rather large deficit. We dug our way out and once again couldn’t quite end the set when we needed to. We went into a fifth set (we hadn’t lost a fifth set all season) and were up 8-5 when we switched sides of the court. We made a few errors and Mount Vernon just managed to keep the ball in play and finish with a win. I can’t even describe how it felt to lose that match. It’s one thing to lose to a team: a) because they are good, or b) because you play really badly, but with them, they weren’t better than us and we actually played really well. It was a confusing loss, not made better by the fact that it was out first loss at home and their coach’s 1,000th career win. I’m getting worked up re-living the match just writing about it, so I’m going to switch topics soon… But seriously, even though it was a disappointing loss we all came away so pumped up by the support we received and some of the great things that happened during that match!

We played Central State on Friday and won in three quick sets. When we play a team like them our focus is to simply handle the easy free balls they give us and not make errors. We did well with that and advanced to 27-6 on the season. The dream of the NCAA tournament is still in sight. Our loss against Mount Vernon certainly didn’t help, but I feel like the Lord is showing us that if we make it in, it certainly won’t be all by our own efforts, but rather by His divine plan for this team.

Whatever way the season ends, we have been used by the Lord and it has been a great ride. Hoping to have a 30-win season after this week!!! Hope to see ya’ll in Nashville this weekend!

     
October 29, 2012

This season is just flying by - and what a season it has been! We are now 25-5, and hoping to push forward with a 30+ win season, something that the volleyball team has not accomplished in the past few years. The long hours during the summer and in season are all coming into play as we come closer and closer to the ultimate goal: the NCAA II National Tournament. Each point, set, and ultimately match are crucial to our bid in the post season playoffs. While we suffered quite a few injuries this week, we all pulled together and played the roles we were called to play and came out on top.

Tuesday of this week we headed out on the big Buckeye bus for Ursuline College. This was a team with much fewer wins than losses, and we should have beaten them in four sets. Unfortunately, we sometimes have this problem where we don’t start very well. Tuesday happened to be one of those days and we lost the first set: Ursuline came ready to play and work hard, and we didn’t seem ready for that. However, sets two, three, and four were different stories. We sided out well, were turning digs into points, and on some points were unstoppable. In the middle of that match Tori went down with a sprained ankle, and it looked like a bad one. Sarah Simpson stepped in no problem and played a great game. I really admire her for coming in cold off the bench under a somewhat stressful situation and jumping right into the mix with no problem. We left with another win under out belt and stomachs satisfied with Chipotle for dinner!

Wednesday was an odd day for the team to say the least. It’s already weird when a teammate is sitting out, but little did we know that two more would be injured by the end of that day. Kelsey got a concussion and Alyssa hurt her shin pretty badly. Thankfully, Alyssa could still play or we would have had some crazy lineup changes for the weekend! Kelsey, unfortunately, was having a lot of symptoms and went home for the weekend to get rest and avoid the noise and harsh lighting of the gym. We hope to have her back on the court as soon as possible because until then a vital piece of our team dynamic is missing - she brings humor, encouragement, and great athleticism to the team! Until then, Alyssa is doing a great job filling her shoes and working hard on the right side.

The win on Friday against Notre Dame College was quick and fun, and we were all looking forward to the next day’s game against Charleston, a solid opponent. The last time we played them we won in four sets, and this time we were looking for a three-set win. We won the first set and fought back from a deficit in the second set to go into our ten-minute break before the next set. Well, as coach always tells us not to do after the infamous break, we laid the “proverbial egg” and narrowly lost that set. We ended up once again with a win in four, and were happy overall with our performance.

We are really looking forward to our next four home games, especially our White Out Night on November 1!!! If we get 1,000 fans there wearing white, everyone in attendance gets a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich!!!

Come out and back the Jackets!!!!! In the words of Coach, “Can I get a Holllaaaa?!”


October 22, 2012

“What time is it?! Game time, whoooo!!” This might be one of Coach’s most used quotes on game day, and the game against Indianapolis was no exception.

All of us were pumped to play a very solid team once again, but this game in particular had a little more incentive behind it - the NCAA II national tournament. A win against Indy was like a ticket into the prestigious first round match, and we wanted to ride first class all the way there. We had a GREAT crowd at that match: Steph, Kels, and Maddie are all Indiana natives, so their families were all supporting the Jackets, in addition to a few of the usual fans We came out in the first set playing very well - we stayed neck and neck with Indianapolis and lost the first set feeling pretty confident going into the second one.

Unfortunately, we kind of fell apart and couldn’t quite get our bearings for the remainder of the match and lost in three straight sets. Despite the confusing loss we enjoyed a nice meal at Olive Garden as a team. If we were going to bounce back the very next day we needed to leave that game behind and look forward to the good ones yet to come.

The next morning was probably my favorite all season! We drove on the big charter bus to the Rogers' house, where brunch was prepared for all of us. Can I just say that the roundabouts in Indy threw our bus driver for a loop - literally. We must have gone around the same one four times. We got a good laugh out of it and finally made it to Steph’s house. After stuffing our faces full of great food we had a really good Bible study for almost an hour. It was so good to debrief on the previous night’s game and gain spiritual encouragement from fellow teammates. We were a bit distracted during Bible study as Kurt, our trainer, had made a new friend: the Rogers' yellow lab. They were inseparable. Well, we left Indy full of fellowship, family, and food, and looking forward to taking out our frustration of the previous night’s loss on Kentucky Wesleyan.

We had a rather long bus ride to Kentucky and were not going to drive five hours home with another loss. Not an option. We played better - not our best - and won in four sets. We ate Chick-fil-A on the way back and watched She’s the Man…more like quoted the entire movie. Next thing we knew we were back at Cedarville…at 3 a.m.!!!! We slept for a few hours and had practice in the morning. Most of us expected practice to be pretty bad considering we were running on no sleep and the fact that it was the only thing standing between us and fall break. To everyone’s surprise it was probably the best practice we have had all year. Guess we will be on a strict regimen of no sleep and morning practices from now on. But in all seriousness it was a fun and competitive practice, and I think we can all say we went to our respective fall break destinations ready for a little time off, but feeling confident in returning to the court afterward.

We play Ursuline College on Tuesday and are planning on praying with the family of one of the girls after the match - please keep that moment in your prayers. Two more home games will follow, on Friday and Saturday, and we hope to come out of this weekend 25-5! Soli Deo Gloria!


October 15, 2012

“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.” I Corinthians 9:24.

This is part of our team verse, and is how we as athletes want to not only play the game of volleyball, but also life. We want to live our lives not for earthly pleasures that don’t last, but to produce fruit and save lives for eternity. In a similar way, we want to work hard on the volleyball court and play the sport we love in such a way as to glorify God and “run” full speed after our goals. Well, this week I think we were given a reality check in this area. Were we really running full speed ahead? Were we really working in such a way that if others saw us playing, that was evident? Monday’s practice was not very good, and while we never want to have a bad practice, we like to avoid those at all costs - especially before big matches. Despite that, we walked into Indiana East’s gym ready for a rowdy crowd and a formidable opponent.

Our first set against IU East was not our best. We played tentatively and weren’t following instructions off the scouting report very well. We lost that set and the second one, and came back to win the third set! The frustrating thing about that match was that in two of the three sets we lost, we had significant leads. We couldn’t finish the match with a win, and left Indiana East a little discouraged. After that loss, a few bad practices, and some other things, we were pretty sure practice would go one of two ways: running or team talk with Coach Walters. Wednesday came, and we all went about our day thinking up the worst possible punishments we could endure at practice. After stressing about that all day, 4 o'clock came and we circled up to pray and cheer and begin practice.

It was the moment of truth. Twenty-six sweaty hands released grips after prayer and then coach said, “Team talk with Coach Walters!” We talked for a good amount of time and coach used an analogy of four mazes all leading to the same piece of cheese (aka, a bunch of teams all going after the NCAA tournament bid). While many other mice (teams) were running full speed ahead toward the cheese and breaking through the wall at the end, we were the mouse who, while she has been running full speed ahead, is now at the wall and not sure how to best get around it. So instead, she hesitates, becomes intimidated by the wall, and it slows her down. We left our team talk with a new perspective: If we want to be the mouse that gets the cheese, we need to realize that it takes consistent effort, aggression, excellence, hard work, etc, to make it. We are capable of beating the high level teams that we play; we just need those previous qualities from each and every player to do it. We practiced hard, and had a very good week in the gym.

Saturday we played West Virginia Wesleyan and it was a fun match! We played very well and won in three straight sets. We play another one of those tougher matches on Wednesday that we have been dying to win, but has eluded our grasp so far. Let’s hope we run right through the wall on Wednesday and get the cheese!


October 8, 2012

What a week!!! Some amazing things happened on the court this week, but I think the whole team would agree that even better, more exciting action took place off the court. The Lord is working through the volleyball team this year and prayers are being answered in very unique ways.

In our scouting report on Thursday coach told us that he received an email from a parent of a player on Ursuline College’s volleyball team. We were basically informed that the brother/son of that family died last October 21, and that this particular Ursuline girl has been struggling as the anniversary approaches. Well, Kelsey had written this player a note, and it really touched this girl’s heart when she needed it most, prompting her dad to write coach and say we made a difference in his daughter's life. We find it to be no coincidence that we play at Ursuline College on October 23 - just two days after the anniversary of this family’s beloved son’s death - no, this is a divine appointment straight from the Lord. Coach asked the family if we could pray over them after the match and they agreed, so afterward we are planning on doing just that! What an opportunity!!!!! It is such a privilege to be part of a team that loves the Lord and would much rather see Him at work than go a whole season undefeated.

Switching gears…on the court it has also been a GREAT week. We kicked off our Homecoming Extravaganza Week on Tuesday by playing a big match against Ohio Dominican University. We played a great match and beat them in three straight sets! This was a huge victory for us as a team since we had never beaten them before during the last four years, and it was the mark of another momentous occasion on the team - Coach Walter’s 100th win at CU!!!!!!

Homecoming weekend had arrived and we began the day with another great conference win against Trevecca Nazarene, most likely sealing the deal for us to be the host of the tournament at the end of the year. We then went upstairs and ate yummy food prepared by most everybody’s parents as the seniors told us a little about what they might be doing in the future.

I just want to take a moment to talk about how great our seniors are. Kara is one of the most disciplined, hard-working girls I know: she spurs everyone on to be better and to try just a little harder. Her encouraging and energetic spirit is one of the driving forces behind this team. Heather is so humble and diligent, she takes no moment for granted and it shows every time she steps on the court. She will be one of the kindest, caring nurses out there, and everybody better be fighting to have her work in their hospital! Erica, our last senior, is an amazing leader - she is very encouraging, always has a word of wisdom when we need it most, and genuinely loves everyone on our team. Her humor and sarcastic moments will be missed by all of us.

After we had eaten and enjoyed the homecoming festivities we reported back to the gym for our toughest match of the day - Shawnee State. We played so well against them and had so much fun doing it! Coach even said in a timeout that he didn’t have anything to say because we were doing everything too well (as a player this is just about the best thing a coach can say)! We finished that day with our 20th victory of the season, leaving us 20-3 so far. We have a really important game on Tuesday, and would appreciate prayers as we continue on in the season. For Him!


October 1, 2012

Hello everybody!!! While it has been quite an exciting week for the Lady Jackets, there is something I want to share that happened last Saturday. As you all know we give out letters and Bibles to our opponents after each match we play. Sometimes it is frustrating because we don’t always see the fruit of our labor, however, when we do get emails or texts back from a player we wrote it always reminds us why we do what we do - to reach that one person who needs Jesus.

Well on Saturday Lo received a text back from a player at Glenville State asking our whole team to pray for a fellow teammate of hers who had gotten in a bad car accident. Lo immediately forwarded the message to our entire team and we had the opportunity to pray for this girl. I can’t even describe how awesome it was to have a complete stranger seek out our team for prayer. If there is anything from that whole weekend that I will take with me in the future, it will be that moment when we were able to be used by the Lord to lift up a fellow opponent. The last we heard the player was ok! Praise the Lord!

After our 2-2 run last weekend, coach gave us a little reminder about not being lazy - on or off the court. Usually we receive a “reminder” in the form of a text that goes something like, “don’t wear volleyball gear to practice, just running shorts and tennis shoes…” In those moments each of our hearts tends to sink just a little. This time, however, he gave us a warning about cleaning up our messes and giving 100% all the time. We practiced all week with that focus, and had some very competitive practices.

Last Tuesday’s home match against Ursuline went very well! We played a very solid first set, let up a little in the second set, and finished strong to take the match in three. It was another good win for the Lady Jackets!

Saturday we were headed for Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio. We knew we were going to play well that day because we got to eat Panera on the way - life is just a little better with Panera. We arrived at the college and played our first set very strong against Ohio Valley University. We struggled in the second set yet again, and came back to win the third for our 16th win of the season. There was some other monumental occasion that happened…what was it…OH YEAH! Steph got her 1000th kill!!!!!!!!!! She is an awesome player, leader, and friend to everyone on the team, and we just love her!

We finished the day by playing Notre Dame and winning in four. The first set was a bit of a struggle, but once we got into a rhythm, it was three straights and we were headed home on the bus eating cookies from Lo’s dad and blondies from Lori’s parents. Oh and Chick-fil-A! We were supposed to watch Enchanted on the way home but coach pulled one over on us and put Batman in instead…

Good times were had by all this week, and we look forward to a home game on Tuesday at 7 p.m., and two more home games this Saturday for homecoming!


September 24, 2012

Hello everybody! As I write this I am sitting on the Yellow Jacket bus with the team. There are some homework-doers, scrap bookers, and mouth-wide-open sleepers cuddling with pillow pets currently around me. Anyway, it has been a long eventful weekend full of some good times, bumps in the road, and strides to still be made.

We started off last week playing at Urbana University on Tuesday. While we won in three sets, it definitely wasn’t a game that any of us would agree was our best. Despite an up-and-down performance we left Urbana in good spirits after celebrating Lori and Lo’s birthdays by singing and eating cupcakes and cake!!!! We finished the night with food at Mom and Dad’s across the street from campus. The rest of the week at practice we would be focusing on what we needed to do to win a big match on the weekend in West Virginia. If we were ready for Wheeling Jesuit, we would be ready for the other three opponent we would play that weekend as well. Our big focus was on controlling our side and being aggressive. We had two very good practices and left on the bus Friday morning feeling good about what we needed to do.

Our first match was against Alderson-Broadus University. This was a team that on paper we were supposed to beat. We went into the match, I believe, underestimating this team, and they took us in three sets. I think we learned a valuable lesson from playing and losing that match: we can’t walk on any court and expect to win, we have to earn it by diligent, hard work. We had quite a long break until our next match, so we ate lunch provided by Lori and Kara’s parents. They are too good to us!!! During our off time we all looked at embarrassing pictures and videos of one another - it really helped to lighten the mood, especially a particular picture of Steph asleep on a plane… I’m just kidding, there were some equally embarrassing photos of pretty much everyone. Well, we played the next match and won handily. It was a good confidence booster going into our two matches the next day. We finished the night off with dinner at an Italian restaurant! Here on the volleyball team, in case you haven’t noticed, we really love our food, and this night was no exception! We left uncomfortably full and satisfied.

The next morning we played Ohio Valley University and also won in three sets. The first set was a little rough, but we came back in the second and third to win by a solid number of points. This brings us all to the match of the weekend against Wheeling Jesuit, the home team. They are currently ranked 16th in Division II and are a very good team. We came out that first set playing so well! Everything was running smoothly and we were turning balls into points. While we ended up narrowly losing 25-23, we were proud of how we did. The second set, while still good, wasn’t quite where it needed to be to beat this team. If there was a time to turn things around, the third set was it. We once again were ahead for awhile, tied, and then slowly began to let the lead slip. We just couldn’t quite finish that set either. We did some really good things that match, and we aren’t letting that loss set us back.

Our ultimate goal of making it to the NCAA tournament is still in sight, we just need an at-large bid. While that is no easy task, we know what we need to do to get there. We are by no means giving up or backing down. The Lord was glorified this weekend and more copies of His Word went out into the world. He is alive and at work on our team, and the prayers from everyone around us continue to give us encouragement and strength to continue on. To God be the glory as we move forward! We are almost back at the 'ville - hope to see everyone at our home match on Tuesday against Ursuline at 7:30 pm!


September 17, 2012

While this week began with an end to our undefeated streak, it ended with two more wins to make us 11-1 on the season. We set out on Tuesday for a five-hour adventure to the University of Southern Indiana, where we would play a team that frequently advances to the NCAA DII national tournament. Coach told us before the match that this was a really good chance for us to get our name out there in the NCAA world - one win on Tuesday would place us on the map, we wouldn't just be some no-name school from the cornfields of Ohio. All of our parents were ready to watch the game on live stream and we were ready to play some good volleyball. Unfortunately, we didn't exactly come out playing very well in the first set...or the second...Coach pulled us into a corner of the gym (usually not a good sign...) and basically told us we were a better team than what we were showing on the court. We knew it. He knew it.

Set three didn't even know what hit it! We stepped on the court a COMPLETELY different team and won the set as well as the respect of the crowd. We led the majority of set four, but after a bad referee call, some unforced errors, and no more substitutions, we lost the set 30-28 and the match. Erica at 5-foot-4 had to play the outside hitter in one of the last rotations, and the block she put up was so intimidating to their outside hitter that they preferred tipping right over her rather than hitting into her block! Each girl who was playing at the end of that set worked their hardest to pull out a win despite playing an unnatural position on the floor. We came out with a loss, but the respect we gained from how we fought and turned things around was amazing, and that is what we want - other people's respect so we can effectively be good witnesses for Jesus.

My favorite part of that match was in the fourth set. We were in the middle of what seemed like the longest rally EVER. All our conditioning during preseason was paying off in just trying to earn that point - the ball went back and forth, and after one final slap of the ball we managed to score the point. Next thing I know, Coach is on his back lying on the gym floor, probably from the exhaustion/stress of the rally! I really wish there was a picture to capture that moment. We all know USI's video stream didn't catch that - they only filmed from the torso down on their team's side of the court!

After a loss on Tuesday we were ready to start a new winning streak, starting with our home tri-match this past weekend. We played Kentucky State University first and beat them in a quick three straight sets. Afterward, we ate lunch and fruit slush (from Lori's mom - so good!) and spent a good hour in the team room swapping funny and/or embarrassing stories. We have some great storytellers on our team. Lo has the best storytelling reputation :) After our break, we played West Liberty University and also beat them in three sets. We had a good crowd for a Saturday game!

We are striving for excellence as we move into the rest of the season, and that begins with our next game on Tuesday!

To God alone be the Glory!


September 10, 2012

Loud warm-up music. Coach dancing to that music. Five more matches. Dairy Queen. Bus rides. Hot gym. West Virginia. UNDEFEATED. That’s right - nine matches into the season, five of them this past week, and the Lady Jackets are still contenders with the CU mens' soccer team to see who can remain undefeated the longest.

We started off this week with our home opener against Malone University on Tuesday! It is always a good day when we beat Malone - especially on our home court. Last year we beat them at their place, and then they came to ours and beat us. We were not going to let that happen again. We started the first set against them very strong and led 75% of the time, but just couldn’t quite finish it. In the second set we flipped the switch and beat them handily. We lost set three, won set four, and were ready to once again play a fifth set. One of our team goals this season is to win every fifth set, and we have definitely been putting that one to the test. We proved ourselves to be the better team and came out with the victory.

Wednesday’s practice was rough. We weren’t 100% all there as sickness, school, and life seemed to be on most everyone’s minds. Not satisfied with that practice we brought our ‘A’ game on Thursday in preparation for our matches over the weekend. We left on the green dragon monster bus Friday morning for the University of Charleston in West Virginia, where a gym as hot as the Lake of Fire awaited us. There was no need for warm ups - I’m pretty sure it was at least 95 degrees in there.

We played Mars Hill first in what was just a weird set…we came out slow, out of sync, and not in control. We lost that set, then came back to win the next three in what was finally a fourth (not a fifth!) set win. We also beat Chowan later in the day and celebrated with a trip to Applebee’s! We ate until our hearts were content, which basically means we ate dinner and followed it up with dessert. Back at the hotel later that night we all hit the books and did homework.

The next day we started by playing Virginia Union. This was a fairly easy game for us, so we just wanted to focus on playing volleyball at a high level. Unfortunately, their setter sprained her ankle on one of the very first plays and was out the rest of the day. We prayed for her both on the sidelines and after the game.

Our second match was going to be the toughest of the weekend and we were all looking forward to it. We played the host, Charleston, and won the first set by playing some very solid volleyball. Unfortunately, we fell apart very early in the second set. Coach called a timeout and gave us a little talking to and we bounced back after that! Even though we ended up narrowly losing that set we had the momentum going into the next one. We ended up winning in four and finished with another very successful weekend. We handed out multiple copies of the New Testament and handwritten notes, and Maddie even got to pray with an opposing player.

As we were leaving for home we passed a Dairy Queen sign and in that moment we all knew what we wanted. We explained to coach in a very civilized manner why we deserved ice cream (more like 13 girls yelling at once ICE CREAM!!!!) and he had the bus pull over and stop. It was the perfect ending to such a great weekend!

We are really looking forward to Tuesday’s match at the University of Southern Indiana: it’s going to be a tough one and we will really need to play CU volleyball the way we know how.

Thanks again to the fans who sat in the heat this weekend and cheered us on and fed us!

Hope to see you all at our home games this Saturday!!!!!


September 3, 2012

After a weekend of intense cheering and games that made our hearts skip a beat the Lady Jackets are 4-0!!! There is so much I want to say about the past week, so let’s just start at the beginning. Thursday night Kara and Heather, two of our seniors, had us over to their house for a team dinner. While eating the yummy pasta and dessert they made, we all worked on writing notes for the girls on the teams we were going to play this weekend. This is something we do every year, for every match we play - we each pray over certain opponents and then write notes to them. After the various matches are over, if the other team allows we pray with them and then talk with the girls we prayed for all week. Some great conversations and fellowship with believers and non-believers on the other teams were enjoyed by all of us this weekend!

Friday morning we all were up bright and early for our bus ride to Pennsylvania. Our first match was against Le Moyne. The “first-game-of-the-year” jitters were evident as we struggled a little to find our groove and settle down on the court, however we pulled out a close five-set win and began the long wait until our next match. Lori and Sarah’s parents laid out a spread of all kinds of wonderful food for us, which we needed after a tiring five-set match. Our next match proved no different as that one also went to five sets. Michigan Tech was a solid opponent, but we proved to be the better team and came out with the win. After a long day of playing we went back to our hotel and ate a nice late-night snack of pizza and chocolate milk. Chocolate milk is basically a food group on our team.

Saturday we were ready to improve on the previous day’s play and win some more games! We played Roberts Wesleyan in the morning, and if that wasn’t an intense game then I don’t know what is! That match also went five sets, but in the latter half of the fifth set I had the opportunity to make an honor call. For those of you who haven’t heard, when we touch the ball and the referee doesn’t see it we let him or her know. To make an honor call in a critical point of a match like that stunned the referee, and you could see it on his face. The Lord is faithful to those who honor Him, and I truly believe that the win we pulled out after that was because of Him. Many people came up to us afterwards and commented on the honor call, and that is exactly what we want. We desire fans and refs to see something different: the honor call isn’t meant to make us look holy, it is meant to bring glory to God.

Our last match of the day was against the home team, and frankly the best team of the tournament - besides us! ): Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Playing like a well-oiled machine - every player was doing their part and doing it well - we beat them in three sets, then said goodbye to Pennsylvania with four wins and excitement for the rest of the season! We left that night around 10 p.m. and didn’t get back until 5 a.m.! Coach (unlike most of us) is VERY chipper at 5 a.m. and thoroughly enjoyed waking us up from our sleep. Despite that, we still sang a very off-tune, tired, deep-voiced version of Happy Birthday to him. He doesn’t look a day over 50. I’m just kidding - he’s a lot younger than that.

Anyway, looking forward to our home opener on Tuesday against Malone! Hope to see you all there!


August 27, 2012

Coming back to campus a week early to condition and practice roughly five hours each day is not something that instills great peace in our hearts. The preseason jitters were evident our first day of practice, but the results this last week showed something different from what I remember of last year: hard work during the summer actually pays off during preseason. While some of us struggled a little my freshman year to pass certain tests during conditioning, all of us by the second day this year had passed every test - even the dreaded whistle drill! It was obvious that everyone had been hard at work all summer.

While we love to work hard and enjoy the benefits of that (sore limbs, cramped muscles, shortness of breath…), we also like to have a little fun here and there. As a team we went to the Clifton Mill and had lunch to support a local ministry. We all made sure to stay clear of the pot hole-sized pancakes so that we could actually walk during our three-hour practice to follow. We all enjoyed the good food, fellowship, and beautiful scenery!

We are really focusing on prayer this year as a team, so in light of that Coach Walters took us all on the long trek down to his church where we talked with the Sunday School kids and then attended his church service. At the end of the service we all went up on the platform and Erica shared her testimony. She talked about what the Lord was doing in her life and represented Jesus well as the beautiful woman of God that she is. The pastor prayed for us and many in the congregation wished us well and dedicated themselves to join as prayer partners with us. From there we all went to coach’s house and ate loads of delicious food prepared by coach’s wife! Lo mooed at cows across the street, some of the girls tanned by the pool, and the rest of us went swimming and held our own Olympics in the pool which consisted of synchronized swimming and the 200 meter dog paddle.

Going into our first scrimmage coach had no clue where he wanted any of us on the court, so he just experimented by using lots of different lineups. We are a new team this year and welcome four new freshies who we just love! The team is blending well as we get ready to start our season this week in Pennsylvania.

Our goal is to continually push the limit and become the best we can be. Our first priority is spreading the Gospel and being good witnesses of Christ; by playing our best the hope is that we win the respect of our opponents to effectively share the Good News with them. To God alone be the glory!

Hannah Wagner is a sophomore undeclared major from Claremont, Calif. She is in her second season with the Lady Jackets as an outside hitter.