FCA earns third-place trophy at St. John Lutheran VB Invitational

A fun and exciting weekend for Faith Christian Academy's volleyball program concluded when the Falcons knocked off Harvest Christian and Zion Lutheran of Marengo to claim the third-place team trophy at the St. John Lutheran Invitational in Elgin. Congratulations, Falcons!
 
FCA improved its season record to 16-3 while earning accolades from opposing coaches for its scrappiness, skill and determination after handing Harvest its first loss of the season and beating Zion Lutheran in dominating fashion. The Falcons played their best match of the season in defeating Harvest 25-21, 25-16 in the tournament quarterfinals Friday night. After dropping a tense and action-packed 24-26, 18-25 decision to Immanuel Lutheran of Belvidere in the semifinals on Saturday, Faith rebounded with a resounding 25-6, 25-13 victory over Zion Lutheran that may have even surpassed its performance against Harvest. The Falcons showed great resiliency, heart and commitment and a renewed assertiveness on the court in bouncing back from a tough loss with a terrific effort in the third-place match.

After facing a spate of less skilled opponents, the tournament was a wonderful experience for an independent FCA squad that has to beg, borrow and steal for matches with schools that are members of conferences. It provided excellent competition that helped stretch and grow the Falcons' skills, teamwork, resolve and execution. The Falcons leave the tournament as a better, more unified team for the future and take home a lot of good memories.

Besides the third-place trophy at the eight-team tournament, the Falcons also celebrated the selection of Anneliese Lockner to the all-tournament team as voted on by tournament coaches. Anneliese played terrific all-around volleyball throughout the tournament as a passer, server, spiker, blocker and setter. Congratulations on a tremendous honor, Lock!

Special thanks to the FCA volleyball players, parents and supporters who cheered on the team at the tournament. At the risk of failing to mention someone, we as coaches were thrilled to see Mr. and Mrs. Clapper and Paige Petty at all three matches as well as Mackenzie VanDerSnick, Corrin Schulze, Rose McCormick, Mrs. Petty, Mrs. VanDerSnick and Mrs. Schulze among others. A huge thanks of course to the players' families who attended the matches and faithfully make the girls' participation possible. FCA may have been the smallest school in the tournament, but you wouldn't have known it by our turnout of fans. The girls thoroughly enjoyed and needed everyone's support!

Additional thanks go to Mrs. Clemens and Mrs. Smith for supplying a bevy of excellent photos for this blog post. Enjoy all the pictures!