Vicksburg team honored for wins at state tourneys|[6/6/06]
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, June 6, 2006
After winning the second of two prestigious state soccer tournaments two weeks ago, a local soccer team was honored Monday with a ceremony at City Hall.
The WAV United under-10 girls team completed its season by winning the President’s Cup in Clinton two weeks ago and the Kohl’s Cup in Tupelo in early May. This makes the second year in a row that the WAV United have won the Mississippi Soccer Association’s Division II (President’s Cup) and Division III (Kohl’s Cup) 19-and-under state tournaments. The team is made up of players from Warren Central, Vicksburg and St. Aloysius high schools.
“Our name symbolizes the three schools in Vicksburg: Warren Central, St. Al and Vicksburg,” coach Brian Gray said. “This team has been together for the last five or six years. It’s one of the big reasons they’ve been successful.”
Gray just took over coaching the club this season. David Case, a local pastor, had been the team’s coach for the past five years. The manager is Debbie Sigh and the team sponsor is Jody Murphy Trucking.
Over the past year, the WAV won a level 3 title at Northwest Rankin and then took the President’s Cup in Clinton.
They won three games at the Kohl’s Cup to take that title.
“It’s always good to show off the champions from our community,” Vicksburg Mayor Laurence Leyens said in giving the team a proclaimation from the city.
One of the team’s top players, Kari Lieberman, said the team’s closeness has contributed heavily toward its success.
“We’ve been together for a long time even though we all come from different schools. We how each other plays from having to play against each other in a high school. Its kind of different, but nice, to play together as a whole,” said Lieberman, an All-Warren County player at Warren Central.
The team has benefitted from having a strong goalkeeper in Kristy McCain, who also plays keeper for Pearl River Community College in Poplarville.
“This is my last year on this team,” said McCain who recently turned in 20. She is preparing for her sophomore season with PRCC in the fall.
Besides Lieberman and McCain, the WAV roster includes Jennifer Bowen, Rebecca Sigh, Erin Sigh, Amber Hollingsworth, Jill Rush, Chelsa Jones, Molly Beth Jourdan, Krista McCollum, Lucy Matthews, Viktoria Case, Kelsey Conner, Crystal Davidson, Daria Lawrence and Shasta Brown.