The women’s and men’s club volleyball teams co-hosted a Halloween scrimmage match on Oct. 28. Students gathered in the Recreation and Athletic Center (RAC) in costumes to watch their friends participate in the playful match. Students could also earn Topper Cup points for their team by attending and participating in games during breaks.
This was the fourth year in a row both volleyball teams have participated in this scrimmage, with the men’s team winning the past three years until now. Both teams put up a good fight, often rallying back and forth for points. Ultimately, the women’s team was finally able to take the gauntlet, winning the first and third sets of the evening.
“I think we played pretty alright,” Connor Helmke, president of the men’s club volleyball team, said. “Playing in costumes can get difficult sometimes but this is one of those games where we’re focusing more on the fun than the competition. It was a lot of fun! It was an unexpected loss nevertheless, but the girls played great, and we’re excited for more scrimmages in the future.”
As a punishment for losing, the men’s team earned a pie to the face. The winning team got to choose an officer or player from the opposing team to pie. Audience members also got a chance to pie a player or officer from a team of their choosing.
Students who participated in club volleyball’s pumpkin painting fundraiser event, held on Ragsdale Lawn on Oct. 15, had their pumpkins voted on by match attendees. The winner of the pumpkin painting contests would get to pie a team member of their choosing.
As a way to drum up more attendees, the volleyball teams worked with Student Involvement to make the scrimmage a part of Topper Cup. During intermissions between sets, Topper Cup teams played a serving challenge in which a representative from each team would serve a volleyball three times over the net into different sections of the court. The winner of this serving challenge was awarded points for their Topper Cup teams.
“The women’s club team reached out to Student Involvement to get (the scrimmage) as a homecoming event so we could get more attention to both the club teams and homecoming week,” Helmke said. “We’ve been more oriented towards community involvement this year compared to past years, so we were grateful for the chance to have this scrimmage as a Topper Cup event.”
Officers Alejandra Barreto, Connor Helmke, Grayson Mead and player Jack Morris were pied by the women’s team. Although there was a punishment, it was all in good fun. Be sure to look out for new events from both volleyball teams and follow them on Instagram.
