Kara Adkins
Staff Writer
The weather is not the only thing heating up this time of year as competition is also heating up with the annual Beach Volleyball tournament.
This will be the Coppell volleyball team’s 11th annual tournament and will be held at Bahama Beach Volleyball Club on Memorial Day, May 30. This tournament will last most of the day beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. and is a fundraiser for the Volleyball girls at Coppell High School.
Coppell students from seventh to 12th grade can participate in this tournament as well as faculty. This has proven to be a great time for students to get together and hangout before summer begins.
“I love having the volleyball get-together with the school because it allows us to all get together before summer and have some fun and put all of the school work aside,” junior Brooke Bolling said. “I’m excited to see everyone one last time before the summer when you don’t get to see people that much.”
For the current varsity volleyball players at CHS, they are eager to have the opportunity to just play for fun while raising money for their program.
“We want to restart our program and get all new stuff, so we are hoping to raise $8,000 dollars. Last year we raised $4,700 so we are trying to double it,” junior Mikayla Bass said.
During this tournament, teams will participate in pool play. The pool play matches determine what bracket you will play in for the remainder of the tournament. First place teams from the pool play rounds are in the Gold Bracket, second place teams qualify for the Silver Bracket, third place teams are in the Bronze Bracket and remaining teams are in the Black Bracket.
Students who participated last year in this tradition are eager to see if their skills have improved and what place they will make this year.
“I’m so excited because I’m on the Eskimo bros team. I was one of the few selected to play. We are going to dominate like we did last year; we won the black division, it’s with the middle school students,” junior Nick Lamb said.
For seniors, this is a chance to show the Coppell Cowboy spirit one last time before graduation and to take a chance to hangout with many of the senior class students before going their separate ways.
“It’s just a time to relax and hangout with friends and still be competitive. We always want to win, it’s the competitive spirit of Coppell, but in the end we will always be good friends. It’s just a time to have fun,” senior Roberto Varela said.
As students prepare for the tournament, many teams, including the Olemonators, have begun practicing and perfecting their volleyball skills.
“I’m excited about playing with my team. Last year we did pretty good; we got second in the silver division, so hopefully this year we will get first,” sophomore Kendra Latta said.
