What a year! To think we all began this journey together over 7 months ago at Waynz World while the high school season was still fresh in many of our minds. The kids have battled aches and pains, injuries and all things that come with being an athlete. Our travels together this year were filled with the usual ups and downs but in the end there was an awful lot of 'up.'

What began as two cold and dismal November weekends in Wisconsin ended with four beautiful days in Kentucky as our teams gathered together under one roof for one last event. This was the first year of the JVDA Championships and what a great event it turned out to be for our teams. The weather was hot outside and despite the arctic blast in the KEC the action on the floors inside was hot as well.

Thanks to some due diligence by 15 Gold Team Parent, Mike "Bernie Brewer" Blanchard, here are the full results of Sting teams at the JVDA Championships:

Sting 18 Black 14th Place 18 Club Division (30 Teams-Initial Seed 9th)

Milwaukee Sting sent 15 teams down to Louisville for the innaugural event and of those 15 teams, we had 11 top ten finishes. Of those top ten teams, 8 of them finished in the top five. 5 of them came home with hardware with the most notable piece coming from Milwaukee Sting 16 Black who were crowned CHAMPIONS! That's right, 16 Black won the 16 Club division after a hard fought 3 set championship match. We'll let them tell you more about that.... Championship day was full of emotions on every Sting court. The kids of this club have carried the name on their backs with pride. They have represented themselves, their families and their club extremely well and we are proud of all of you! Congratulations everyone on a great run and one of the most memorable Championship events in a long time.

But WAIT, there's more...A number of Sting family members were also selected to the All-Tournament team for their respective division(s) at 15 and older:

17 Open All Tournament Ashley Applequist - 17 Gold 17 Club All Tournament Alyssa Alvarez - 17 Black Aleisha Bagin - 17 Black Carmen Terriquez - 17 Black 16 Club All Tournament Alaina DiGiorgio-Verdin - 16 Black Kate LaTour - 16 Black Rachel Spaeth - 16 Black 16 Club MVP Sabrina Marunowski - 16 Black 15 Open All Tournament Patty Abshire - 15 Gold Frankie "Fi-Fi" Carroll - 15 Gold Jenny Ciriacks - 15 Gold 15 Club All Tournament Rachel Ambroch - 15 Black Taylor Golabowski - 15 Black

Congratulations, everyone! We are so proud of you all

The 16 Black team strutted into the Kentucky Exposition Center with an added accent to their already spunky style, a pink streak down the back of their hair. With hair up out of their faces, the bright pink streak made a statement. Were they trying to blind their opponents? Were they looking to be set apart from the crowd? No, they were creating a united front to demonstrate the sacrifice each has made throughout the season for the sake of team. The pink streak added nothing to their talent, nor did it blind their opponents. It was simply there, waiting to be on the Championship court for the final match. What did blind the opponents were the digs, passes, sets and digs that constantly pushed this team up the ladder of success toward that final bout. When the victory against Oahu (down 13-8 in game 3) came to pass, the pink streak ran with joy down the sweaty necks of the girls because it knew the championship match was next. Appropriately, the final was played against FarOut. When the final point was earned and victory in the team's grasp, the pink streak glittered under the lights excited to earn the title "Champion".

The pink streak also added flavor when 4 of our team members were voted to the All Tournament Team. Kate LaTour, Rachel Spaeth, Alaina DiGiorgio-Verdin and Sabrina Marunowski ran to join others as part of a very special group of players. The excitement continued when Sabrina Marunowski was elected MVP for the 16 Club Division! This demonstrates how one idea, can blossom into many beautiful flowers which are of course, pink!