While the majority of Elon students were enjoying some time away from campus on their Fall Break earlier this week, the Elon University volleyball team remained in town competing and practicing. On Tuesday, while classes were still dismissed, the team spent the day getting into the Halloween spirit with a meaningful pumpkin-carving contest. The team split into groups by position (outside hitters, middle blockers, setters, defensive specialists and staff) and made a game plan for the type of creation they wanted to make out of their pumpkin.

After a great practice and some lifting, the team headed to Elon’s Farmers Market to pick out some pumpkins for the competition. Josh Readling, husband of volunteer assistant coach Tina Readling, generously donated the pumpkins from his Farmer’s Market for the occasion. The groups spread out going after the best pumpkin for their planned design.

“We weren’t quite sure what we were going to design when we got to the market,” said sophomore outside hitter Allison Johnson. “We just kind of let the pumpkin we found guide what we were going to carve.”

Once every pumpkin-carving team had found what they were looking for, the team headed to Eastern Guilford Middle School in nearby Gibsonville for an afternoon volleyball clinic with the school’s volleyball team.

At the clinic, each Elon player paired off with an Eastern Guilford player and taught them different parts of the game. Each middle school player was taught about passing, setting and hitting. Then at the end of the clinic everyone participated in a serving game.

“It was a lot of fun to work with the girls at the clinic,” said freshman setter Cali Estes. “They were really excited to have us there and they worked really hard. I remember being in their shoes and wanting to become a better volleyball player.”

After the clinic, it was time to carve some pumpkins! The team went to head coach Mary Tendler’s house for the Halloween affair and a wonderful pasta dinner cooked by her husband, Blaine. As soon as the team arrived at the Tendler house, the groups took to their carving stations and got to work.

“We ended up using a collaboration of the ideas of everyone in the group,” said senior middle blocker Sarah Schermerhorn. “Caroline did the sketching and we all switched off creating and carving, while taking some breaks in between to eat the yummy dinner that Blaine cooked us.”

About an hour later the pumpkins began to have identities rather than just regular ole’ pumpkins. On one side, the defensive specialists were hard at work on their plan of a snowman, while the middle blockers had come up with ‘Monster’s Ball.’ Not to far from one another, the setters were working on a very detailed carving of an owl, while the outside hitters went with the simple yet classic approach of a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness. But the staff still hadn’t quite gotten to work on their pumpkin.

There was a bigger picture to all the pumpkin carving than just the fun. This Saturday’s match against College of Charleston is the team’s annual Dig Pink match for breast cancer awareness and research. The match offers a chance to honor those who have fought the disease and remember those who were not able to come out on the winning side.

“I think it’s important to have an event like Dig Pink to raise awareness for those who have conquered the disease, like my mom, but also for those who are currently battling it,” said junior right side hitter Traci Stewart. “It’s such a great way to show our support through the talents we’ve been blessed with.”

At the match, all five pumpkins will be displayed for all to see. Everyone is encouraged to take a look at all the pumpkins and donate money to their favorite. The pumpkin with the most in donations will be deemed the winner. All donations will go towards the team’s $2,000 Dig Pink goal for the Side-Out Foundation.

“The team took a lot of time and energy into carving and did a really good job,” said head coach Mary Tendler. “Voting on your favorite is going to go to a great cause. I think it’s one in eight women that are affected by breast cancer and we like doing anything we can to bring awareness and help raise money for a cure.”

The Dig Pink match against College of Charleston will begin at 7 p.m. in the new Alumni Gym. All fans are encouraged to wear pink. Make sure to check out the pumpkins and vote for your favorite, but here is a little preview!

“We found three white pumpkins in different sizes and made a snowman. We carved EUVB on the bottom and three holes for buttons in the middle one. Then we put sticks in for arms and carved a pumpkin face on the top and put a scarf around it. We decided to use a baby pumpkin for a hat to top it off.” – sophomore defensive specialist Melissa Zidar

“Ours is more of a scene than just one carved pumpkin. It has a big pumpkin eating a baby pumpkin and then we have a white pumpkin with sparkles and lots of glitz and glam that’s supposed to be Lady Gaga. We found our theme to be a lot like our personalities because middle blockers are controlling, loud and aggressive, so that was definitely incorporated into our group dynamic.” – junior middle blocker Caroline Lemke

“We wanted to incorporate a fall theme with breast cancer awareness. Therefore we carved an intricate owl perched on an oak tree (Elon symbolism) with breast cancer ribbons as leaves.” – junior right side hitter Traci Stewart

“We decided in the spirit of Dig Pink weekend that we wanted to do something that would incorporate breast cancer awareness. So we decided to carve a ribbon and paint it pink and write ‘FIGHT’ on the side of the pumpkin. We figured everyone would be familiar with it and recognize what it means.” – sophomore outside hitter Carly Ledbetter

No Photo available. Come to Dig Pink to see the finished project!

“We wanted to show our support of Dig Pink by making our pumpkin as pink and feminine as possible. It’s just a very girly pumpkin.” – volunteer assistant coach Tina Readling