Wilderness at the Smokies Tournament

Nearly 2 weeks ago, Ethos 16 North headed to Knoxville for our first travel tournament of the season. The tournament was held at the Wilderness at the Smokies resort, which was a great location. I'll be posting about the fun we had during our down time soon.

The girls played hard all weekend long against some tough competition. Some of the teams were Elite level, which is basically 2 steps up from our Club level ranking. It's just a more competitive level of team typically vs Club or Power teams. 16 North held their own and either won or went three sets in their first day of competition.

 Starting the day off right with a Team Breakfast in one of their rooms.

 Our setter warming up

 Yep, I'm that Mom who asks the girls to smile just as they are heading on the court.

 Lets go Ethos!!!

 Get em Lauren!!!

 Ona getting her serve on.

 Despite me cutting the top of the play off, I love the action and seeing the players eyes/faces as they prepare to defend.

 Sydney hitting it hard at the net.

 Go Lia!

 Emma passing it over the net.

 Our lefty right side.

 Zoe racking up some points.

 Sophia ready to attack

 BLOCK!

 Giving it their all

 Might not look pretty, but it got the job done.

 I love watching the sister interaction between Sydney and Lauren

 Day two- white jerseys

 Courtney always seems to be ready for a good laugh.

The girls ended up I believe 3rd in the Bronze Division. Not the best(as there are also Gold and Silver brackets), but what we compare is how they are growing as a team and individually. Both of which saw some great strides in gain this weekend. The season continues through April, so it's about getting better all along, not peaking early in the season. We will be enjoying an off weekend and then getting ready for some more local action next weekend.