Campion Academy’s volleyball team, the Cougars, brought home the tournament trophy for the first time last October after some intense playing at the Union College Volleyball Invitational Tournament. Participating teams came from across the Mid-America Union, as well as Florida, Texas and Tennessee.
Photos of trophies and elated athletes are more expected at a time like this than images of girls on their knees with bowed heads in the middle of the gym floor. Yet that’s exactly what this volleyball team did after winning the championship game, following an undefeated streak of eight games throughout the tourney.
On Saturday night of the tournament, the Lady Cougars decided to carry on the tradition of writing a Bible verse on their hands as a reminder of Whom they truly play for. This year the text was taken from Rom. 8:31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
“Writing the verse on our hands simply reminded us Whom we were playing for—not ourselves, but God,” said Rachel Hammond, co-captain of the team. “The minute we received the trophy, we knew we needed to thank God for giving us victory,” she added.
Head coach Erin Hieb and assistant Kelsey Downey, both Campion alumni, have enjoyed the 2015 season with the volleyball team. Their theme for this season focused on playing with 100 percent effort in practice and through every point, set and match. As coaches, they did their best to encourage good sportsmanship and determination, and really focused on helping the girls have as much fun as possible.
Downey said the attitudes and effort of these athletes revealed a commitment to the sport, but foremost to their Savior.
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Kelsey Downey and Jennifer Sigler assisted Campion Academy with this year’s volleyball season.
