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The 2012 U.S. Forces in Europe men’s and women’s Volleyball Championship was held May 20 at the Ramstein Southside Fitness Center.
The Ramstein men’s volleyball team defeated Lakenheath 25-20 in the first game and 25-19 in the second for the championship title, while the Aviano women’s team beat Ramstein 25-22 and 25-19 in a close match.
With nine men’s teams and five women’s teams the competition on the court was fierce.
“There was a lot of tough competition this year,” said Nick Kaplan, Ramstein’s men’s team captain. “Every team brought their A-game to this tournament.”
In the women’s division, Aviano won with a narrow victory over Ramstein in the first game. Ramstein played hard but they just couldn’t overcome Aviano’s tenacity.
“We didn’t have a single easy game this whole tournament,” said Jamie Faughn, Aviano’s women’s team captain. “The Ramstein team was ahead so we had to get it together and come from behind a couple times.”
One of the team captains said a key to winning was being able to change their style of play throughout the tournament.
“Every team plays different and we had to adjust accordingly,” Kaplan said. “If a team has strong players on the left side, we needed to play strong on the left side as well.”
Playing a total of seven games each, the two championship teams showed what can be accomplished with teamwork and believing in their teammates.
“The reason we do so well is we believe in each other,” said Christi Williams, Aviano player. “It’s all about our teamwork and communicating with your team on the court.”
This isn’t a game played by an individual, it’s a team sport, said the Ramstein men’s team captain.
“Teamwork is the key to volleyball,” Kaplan said. “It doesn’t work well if you have an individual playing their own game. We all needed to come together and work hard as a team to come out on top.”
As the last major event for the volleyball season comes to a close, both teams are sad the season is over.
“Even though it’s the end of the season we are still going to be playing a few games here and there,” said Kaplan. “We had a great season and a great team.”
