Church League volleyball off and running
The Old Testament Athletes share a moment together before picking up the league’s first win Tuesday night.
As a high schooler, Holly Palombo - then Holly Morgan - remembers playing Church League Volleyball. It was a time to compete against adults and see where her game measured up, while also bringing together kindred spirits who valued faith and community … while enjoying a little competition.
Now Palombo is one of the adults and she has worked diligently to bring Church League Volleyball back to the community. The league, which will feature 10 teams this season, kicked off Tuesday night at McMinnville Church of God on Locust Street. The vibe was immediately off the charts as men and women, young and old, battled it out on the court and stuck around to pray together after, the perfect culmination of what Palombo has spent the last month working toward.
“I’m really excited. It didn’t get into the works until about a month ago and, initially going into it, if we could get four teams, we would’ve been happy. We have 10 and everybody I’ve talked to has been really excited. I’m glad we have volleyball for adults in Warren County again,” said Palombo. “There’s a lot of teams that I was playing against in high school that are playing again now. It’s been great to see everybody come out.”
While the interest was immediate, the league wouldn’t have been able to roll through the spring and summer if not for somebody stepping up with a court. Enter McMinnville Church of God, a willing partner to provide accommodations for a league that had seven different teams debut Tuesday.
“We’re very thankful for them,” said Palombo about the church. “When I was racking my brain for places we could ask, I remembered we had a preseason middle school volleyball thing here before. We’re grateful they’re letting us do this.”
Palombo isn’t just the organizer though; she’s one of the league’s top players.
She led the Cross Denominators - featuring players from all different local churches - to one of the most exciting wins of the night. Palombo’s serving run in the third set against McMinnville Church of God proved to be the difference, pulling her team out of a hole and flipping the script in a tense battle.
The Cross Denominators won 25-19, 19-25 and 15-8, starting their season off on the right foot. It was a squad full of coaches as Palombo, the former WCMS volleyball coach, called in her longtime assistant Nick Cantrell, while WCHS volleyball coaching legend Franklin Fisher was out there making plays for the squad too.
And, just to make sure she had some ties back to her high school days, Palombo also recruited her Lady Pioneer teammate Chelsea Cope, who flashed the same speed and hands that made her an effective back-row specialist on 30-plus win teams last decade.
McMinnville Church of God didn’t stay on the mat long though. Playing back-to-back games, the host church made sure to even up its record, beating Covenant Fellowship Church 26-24 and 25-19. Cameron Moore was the team’s ace all night, doing a bit of everything to lead his squad to victory.
The nightcap featured one of the preseason favorites, Westwood Church of Christ, showing why everybody thinks it could be the squad to beat. Westwood got by Safe Harbor Church of God in straight sets, 25-4 and 25-19.
The night also started with a straight-set win for the Old Testament Athletes, who beat Called to Serve 25-11 and 25-9. Through it all, the seasoned veterans of the volleyball court had a lot of fun joking about how they were putting the “old” in Old Testament.
Plenty of laughs and competitive volleyball will be waiting for spectators Thursday, June 11. A three-match night features Covenant Fellowship taking on Safe Harbor Church of God at 6:30 p.m., the Old Testament Athletes battling Rolling Acres BIC at 7:30 p.m. and First Baptist Church and Rock Island Church of Christ making their debuts in a clash at 8:30 p.m.
Editor’s Note: Wishing a speedy recovery to Bethany Mesaros, who had to leave the gym due to injury Tuesday night.
