Volleyball - Fall 2016

Ellie played her fifth season of volleyball with CYAA this fall. Dennis was her coach and I was team mom again. We had a great group of girls. There were two other homeschoolers on our team whom we have maintained a relationship with through a book club they invited us to join. The parents were very encouraging and overall it was a very Christ-centered group.

Ellie really surprised us this season with her playing. She follows the ball and has a sense for where it's going. She makes good calls and her returns are good. Her serves were super consistent and in the last game she even served overhand. More importantly, she was the top encourager on her team, motivating the team through good and bad.

Mid-season pizza party at Shakey's. The girls made gifts for Honor Your Opponents Day.

 These two ended up being secret sisters! 

Sweet girls!

Honor Your Opponents Day

Grandparents' Day. Grandma and Grandpa were treated to a super exciting game which we won!

Last practice of the season. Family volleyball game.

Last game of the season

First time serving overhand this season. She did amazing!

We ended the season in 1st place in the number of games won and with the most points. Unfortunately our one bad day happened to be during the first play-off game. We lost to the 4th place team. It was a bummer for us, but we were happy for the Red team as they hadn't won a set all season. We won the second play-off game and ended play-offs in third place. The team everyone expected to win the season, did. It was frustrating not to have been able to play that team in the finals. We were the only team to win a set against them and we wanted the opportunity to try again. We did not walk away with our head down, however, knowing that we played a great season, ending it in first place, regardless of the results of play-offs.

End of season party

Ellie was actually voted Most Christ-like by her team, but Dennis and I chose another girl who had also been a strong example of Christ on our team. We are so proud of Ellie for her consistent playing, her encouraging spirit, and her leadership on her team. She's our MVP!