Blustery weather has become more common with each passing day, so the sisters of Theta Phi Alpha offered students a break from the cold by joining in a philanthropic volleyball tournament that hosted some pretty heated competition.
Theta Phis have a long-standing tradition of hosting volleyball tournaments in the fall semester, but this was the first year for an
indoor tournament.
The money raised from the Nov. 12 tournament went to help a refugee family from Bhutan. Theta Phi’s president and Arts & Sciences senior Emily Gunz and Panhellenic delegate, Arts & Sciences senior Michaela Bird are in a multicultural class that is sponsoring a family from Bhutan that is coming to Omaha. After Gunz and Bird presented a slideshow to Theta Phi’s chapter, the girls decided they would like the proceeds from their volleyball tournament to go to the Bhutanese family.
The tournament was single-elimination, which created an atmosphere of intense competition. The final round of the tournament was the best two out of three and the level of play was rapid and aggressive. It was a championship game for the history books, as one of the teams in the final match had only five members on it, and the other team played four straight games with no breaks in between.
“My favorite part of the tournament was the great success that my team had until we got to the championship,” Business junior Nate Alsop said.
Members of the opposing team in the championship had great things to say about the tournament as well.
“Not only did our entire team have a love of volleyball but we also have a love of philanthropic activities, so together we had a great time,” Arts & Sciences sophomore AnneMarie Little said. “Overall we had a great day just playing the game and having a good time.”
Those in attendance of the event attributed the success of the day to the hard work from the members of the sorority.
“They really put together a wonderful volleyball tournament, and their enthusiasm and charm really made it a fun time,” Alsop said.
The women in charge of planning and running the event were thankful to have sisters to lend a hand on the day of the tournament.
“The day as a whole was an extremely fun and stressful day for me,” said Business sophomore and Theta Phi’s philanthropy chair Stephanie Snyder. “The volleyball tournament was successful because many of Theta Phi Alpha members stepped up and helped out with the tournament. People sat on the mall earlier in the week at the sign-up table when it was freezing out. Without people helping out the event would not have been a success.”
Everyone in the sorority was given tasks throughout the day to make sure the tournament ran efficiently.
“Having all the girls work together and put in the effort to make the volleyball tournament happen is what made it such a success,” Arts & Sciences senior Chelsea Hoie said. “It was great that everyone was there to help each other out with setting things up and making sure the games ran smoothly.”
Another exciting part of the day for Theta Phi was that so many members of other Greek organizations participated in the event.
“It was also great seeing people who are in other sororities and fraternities come out and support our organization,” Snyder said. “All of the time that goes into an event like this is worth it when it all comes together and see people having fun at the event and know that the money is going towards a good cause.”
Overall, participants said the day was a great way for Creighton students to unwind and hang out with their friends.
“I enjoyed getting to hang out with all the girls in my sorority in a different kind of setting than chapter and I loved watching everyone attempt to play volleyball,” Hoie said.