NCAA Volleyball serves the community

NCAA Volleyball Community Service, a set on Flickr.

The NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship takes place this weekend at Washington University in St. Louis. Wittenberg (Springfield, Ohio), SUNY - Cortland (N.Y.), St. Thomas (Saint Paul, Minn.), Springfield (Mass.), Eastern (St. Davids, Pa.), Christopher Newport (Newport News, Va.), Carthage (Kenosha, Wis.), and Cal. Lutheran (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) will all battle for a national championship. Now, I'm not a volleyball expert by any stretch, but I do know you have to serve before you can score. This is certainly true of the athletes and coaches participating in the Division III Championship. Each school completed a service project at a designated St. Louis area non-profit organization.

The pictures you see in this post are from Wittenberg's visit to Good Shepherd Children & Family Services. Athletes and coaches painted two maternity rooms for expectant mothers who reside at the facility. St. Thomas and SUNY - Cortland visited with kids and sorted donations at St. Louis Crisis Nursery. Cal. Lutheran and Springfield sorted and labeled holiday donations to help the homeless at St. Patrick Center. Carthage spent time with young patients at St. Louis Children's Hospitals - many of whom will be in the hospital over the holiday season. Eastern and Christopher Newport visited who President Bush called "America's finest citizens" when they stopped by John Cochran VA Medical Center. Athletes and coaches served coffee and snacks in the Ambassador Suite as well as delivered gifts to patient rooms.

All eight schools have young people of tremendous character and athletic skill. Bring your families out to see them compete this weekend. Matches begin on Friday and run through Sunday afternoon. Please visit www.stlsports.org for a full schedule. Until next time...

Be a Good Sport!

-Sol