LHS students play dirty in annual mud volleyball tournament / LJWorld.com

Archive for Monday, April 25, 2005

April 25, 2005

There are a few things that are good to know when playing volleyball in the mud.

First of all, know the different types of mud. Lawrence High School students playing mud volleyball Sunday at Broken Arrow Park for the first time learned the hard way. Others, who have played before, like senior Martha Penturf, already knew.

Lawrence High School student April Miller rubs mud on top of Erica Demby during the 2005 Mud Volleyball Tournament. The Sunday afternoon competition took place at Broken Arrow Park.

"There is good mud, and then there is bad mud," Penturf said. "Thick mud is bad. Runny mud is good. You want runny mud so you can move."

Penturf was one of more than 400 LHS students who played in this year's annual volleyball mudfest. There were 40 student teams and four teams consisting of parents and teachers, said Jo Huntsinger, a retired LHS volleyball coach and one of the organizers of the event.

"It's all for fun," Huntsinger said. "It's a party put on by the student council, parents and staff."

When it was all over, a team of juniors calling themselves the Ballwhackers won the 2005 Mud Volleyball Tournament championship. The Ballwhackers also won last year's mud volleyball championship.

Players this year had to contend not only with the mud but also cool weather. The afternoon started with temperatures in the 50 and had warmed into the low 60s by late afternoon.

"The mud is pretty warm," said Kayleia Workman, a junior, as she sat in the sun after her team, Sparkle and Spinach, was eliminated. "If you sit down in the mud, you stay warm."

6Sports video: LHS students play dirty in volleyball tourney

Sophomore Austin Meyers, a member of the Mudslingers, also was trying to warm up while unsuccessfully trying to clean the mud from his face, T-shirt and shorts.

"It's cold, and you get the mud in your eyes and your mouth and your teeth," Meyers, 16, said.

Lawrence High School student Travis Gage of the Mud Pups misses a ball during the 2005 Mud Volleyball Tournament.

"There's also a crawdad in there," Meyers insisted, of the mud pit he'd just played in.

Players tried to wash themselves off by climbing into barrels of water. But after a while the water became so muddy it did little good. Nevertheless, it was a good time, Max Phillips said.

"I think it is a lot of fun," said Phillips, 18, a senior who has played every year since entering high school. "It's just a matter of a lot of luck in getting the ball over (the net)."