Osceola campus students ball

Originally published in the Valencia Voice

Championship titles, trophies and reputations were on the line for Osceola cam- pus’ biannual volleyball tournament, sponsored by the intramural sports pro- gram, Friday, November 12.

Students gathered on the grass field in front of Building 2 at noon. As part of the event, students were provided with matching color T-shirts to help distinguish each team, and to stir up morale for the three teams; green, blue and white.

The game was played with two separate tournament brackets, each being a single elimination. The winners of each bracket would then compete in a best, two out of three, round to determine a champion.

The first of the teams to be knocked out was the Green Team starting with a loss against White, 25 to four. Things looked better for the team during the second bracket, but they ended with another loss to the White Team; 25 to 11.

“I don’t think there was any teamwork, honestly,” said Green Team player Harrison N. “The Blue and White teams always play together so they always know who they are going to play with.”

Sentiments about team cohesion were evident.

“Our whole team was very unorganized,” said Jaymie Diaz, a player from the Green Team, “The tournament was very frustrating at points.”

With the Green Team eliminated from the tournament, the Blue Team, reigning champs, and the White Team competed in a determining best, two out of three match.

Spikes were served, saves were made, and tensions were high as the two teams climbed toward 25 points. Each team won one game and the third and final one would decide the winner.

25 to 22, White won.

“I feel that we all contributed to a team victory,” said White Team player Christian Seitz. “We could have done better but I was happy with our performance.”

Blue’s three game winning streak had come to an end.

“Losing this semester is very hard because we, as a team, don’t like losing,” said Blue Team captain, and intramural assistant coordinator, Victor Miranda. “In my opinion we were the best out there, but somehow we didn’t execute.”

Although the game had ended, the tradition of team rivalry did not.

“Not taking anything away from the White Team, they are great, but I know for a fact we could have beat them,” said Miranda. “However, we didn’t and I congratulate the team. They play hard and deserved to win.”