Sports Weekend

The Conception Seminary College “Thunder Cup” (Soccer/Volleyball tournament) began Saturday morning with the first round of soccer games.  It was a beautiful and sunny fall day for soccer and everyone seemed to be in good spirits for some inter-seminary competition.  Conception Seminary has two soccer fields, so four of the six teams in the tournament were able to play simultaneously on the different fields.  Games continued in the afternoon.  At the end of the afternoon, it was Josephinum (Columbus, Ohio) and Conception Team I (Conception, Missouri) winning both of their games and headed to the championship game on Sunday morning.

As fun as the soccer games were, as the volleyball coach, I am partial to the volleyball tournament. The tournament began at 7:00PM Saturday evening, after the soccer games had been played.  Seminarians, monks, friends and family filled the gym bleachers in St. Michael’s Hall for what turned out to be a volleyball tournament for the ages.

Conception Seminary “Sons of Thunder” had two teams in the six team tournament.  One team wore blue and gold jerseys while the other wore gray and white.  The tournament consisted of 15 games, each team playing 5 games (one game against every other team). The games were rally scoring to 15 points, win by one point. The CSC Blue Team played very well and dominated the round robin play, being the only team to win all five of its games. This secured their advancement to the championship game.  The CSC Gray Team, lost their first game by one point, and they finished with two wins and three losses, thereby dashing their hopes of an “all Conception” championship game.

Conception Seminary’s Blue Team faced off against their nemesis, St. Meinrad.  While CSC defeated St. Meinrad 15-11 in round robin play, the championship match was the only thing that mattered.  It was a best of three series.  Conception won the first game 15-7, but lost 10-15 in the second game.  The third game was by far the most intense and exciting of the games, showing great volleyball skill and resilience.  It was a back and forth battle.  The game was tied 14-14, and St. Meinrad edged out Conception by winning the final point.  I won’t lie, it was a devastating loss.  But, I am very proud of the team. They practiced hard for several weeks and showed great teamwork.

Above:  Both Conception teams gather together after the tournament.

Josephinum and Conception played in Sunday morning’s championship game. It was not a good day for Conception soccer, as they were defeated in a landslide victory for Josephinum.

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