The Columbus Volleyball Academy has come a long way since its development two years ago.
Last week, the CVA 14-1 team finished runner-up in the 14-and-under division of the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championship in Orlando, Florida.
The 14U tournament featured 64 teams represented by nearly all 50 states and Puerto Rico. CVA head coach Stacie Pagnard said it was a great competitive experience for the girls to prepare for future high school competition.
“It gives them a better understanding of what is expected and the style of play to where they can transition seamlessly,” said Pagnard, also the coach at Columbus East. “It can help bridge that gap better once they get to high school.”
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Megan Tracy, Saige Stahl and Chloe Gilley and were named All-American following the tournament.
“The wins weren’t easy, and every game, you had to put everything into it that you had,” said Tracy, an incoming freshman at East. “I don’t think there was a lot of game where we could sit back, so we had to keep on our toes the entire game.”
CVA finished 12-1, with its only loss coming in the championship match. A few of the teams that CVA had to face in the tournament represented states like Florida, Texas, Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina.
“It was probably some of the best teams we’ve seen this season,” said Stahl, who will be a freshman at East. “We were definitely prepared to come out and play those teams.”
The tournament also provided a lot of fun.
“It was crazy. There was a lot of people there,” said Gilley, who will be an eighth-grader at Central Middle School. “There were people from everywhere. We even played a team from Puerto Rico. It was very exciting.”
Besides Tracy and Stahl, five other team members — Quarin Bailey, Libby Dippold, Allison Gribbins, Laney Smith and Erin Williams — will be freshmen at East. Caroline Frost and Jenna Guse will join Gilley as eighth-graders at Central. Cali Cummings will be a freshman at Seymour.
“It’s not about North; it’s not about East; it’s all about developing kids in this community — that’s what I care about,” CVA director Terry Sweasy said. “That is what I want to grow on and that’s what I want to continue to do.”
The CVA has become more diverse since its beginning, with players outside of Columbus starting to become involved with the club.
“Locally, what we are trying to do with this club is make it a big-time club and not just a small, local club,” Sweasy said. “We’re trying to develop a club into a big-time club where we are the Munciana of Columbus, Indiana, so that parents can get an earlier idea of what playing competitive and playing in big tournaments and doing the things that we do during the season that they haven’t had the opportunity to do before without going to Indianapolis or Louisville. So, we want to provide them with an opportunity here locally to help save them time and money.”
