Bobcats Volleyball Celebrates Senior Night
Photos by Maria Wilson – Above: Bobcat Seniors and their parents (L-R) Jill, Sophie and Seth Babington; Dave, Natalie and Tracy Durish; Shari, Hadlee and Jim Campbell; Brian, Alicyn and Kelly Burford.
The Clarion Area Bobcat Volleyball Team celebrated their four seniors, Sophie Babington, Ali Burford, Hadlee Campbell and Natalie Durish and their parents on Senior Night, which took place on Thursday, October 3rd.
The festivities took place between the Junior Varsity and Varsity matches with the Karns City Gremlins.
The seniors entered from the North side of the gym, escorted by teammates, and their parents from the South side, meeting in front of the scorer’s table. Each senior and her parents then walked to the middle of the gymnasium, facing the home stands, as Emcee Tedra Craig introduced them to the audience and read each senior’s bio. This presented a good individual photo opportunity for them, as well as for the fans to cheer. They seniors and parents all posed for a group photo.
The seniors received the gift of a gold volleyball necklace with their name and player number inscribed provided by the Volleyball Boosters. They also received gifts of personalized volleyball key chains and Christmas tree ornaments from their Bobcat teammates.
Senior gifts were also presented to the four Karns City seniors, including personalized team themed key chains provided by the Volleyball Boosters.
Clarion Area head coach Shari Campbell shared these fine words about her seniors, with Clarion Sports Zone and you.
“Senior night for these 2024 seniors was such a special night. Sophie, Alicyn, Hadlee and Natalie have been friends since a very early age and they started playing volleyball together when they were 10. To see them celebrate 8 years playing together is a point of pride for me.
“These seniors have taken on leadership roles this year and they have done an incredible job being transformative leaders. They each bring their own personal strengths to this leadership. Sophie is all about the positive energy. Hadlee drives the team to excel and believe. Natalie pushes everyone to hustle. And, Alicyn has a great understanding of the game she shares. As a group they are an example of hard work and dedication. They have a lot of younger players who are looking up to them.
“Sophie, Hadlee, Natalie and Alicyn are ready to lead this team into the postseason. And, beyond that they are becoming confident young women who I look forward to seeing their future accomplishments.”
The event was facilitated by Maria Wilson. Pizza from Pizza Pub, cupcakes from Walmart bakery and beverages from Matric were provided by the Volleyball Boosters.
The impressive Balloon Towers, located in the lobby, were created by party entertainment service, Balloons by Lindsay Kay, of Emlenton.
Flowers and corsages were provided by Wildflowers Floral & Gift Shoppe, in Shippenville.
DMS printing of Corsica, produced the high quality, full color Keepsake Commemorative Programs. the front cover featured a recent picture of the Seniors.
On the back cover are two photos, one of the girls from the past and another recent photo. Each of the girl’s had a page dedicated to them complete with photos and biographies. (The biographies are shared below).
(Congratulations to Sophie, Alicyn, Hadlee and Natalie and your parents!!!! Thanks to Maria Wilson for her photos and information she provided!!)
SENIOR BIOS
Alicyn Burford
Alicyn is the daughter of Brian and Kelly Burford.
She has participated in volleyball, softball, National Honor Society, and Science Olympiad.
Her favorite volleyball memory is falling off of a zipline, then hanging there for 15 minutes waiting for an old guy to come rescue her.
She plans to attend a 4 year college, get a good job, get married, and have a family.
Hadlee Campbell
Hadlee is the daughter of Jim and Shari Campbell.
Over her high school career, she has participated in Art History, National Honors Society, softball, and volleyball. As a member of the volleyball team, she has been honored to serve as team captain for the past 2 years, along with being a part of the 2021 state championship team. She has been recognized for the past 2 years as KSAC 2nd team and District-9 2nd team. Her junior year she was recognized All-State.
Her favorite volleyball memory is freshman year team camp when she and Natalie thought they lost their shopping bags and had the whole team, coaches and mall cops searching for them until closing time. The mall cop took the team out the back way, where he found their bags in a dumpster.
She plans on going to college to major in Biology and to play volleyball at the collegiate level. After she hopes to make lots of money so she can travel the world. She would also like to have a big house on the beach with her husband, 4 kids, and 2 dogs.
Natalie Durish
Natalie is the daughter of Tracy and Dave Durish.
She has participated in basketball, track, student council, National Honor Society, and Science Olympiad. She is also the captain of the volleyball team.
Her favorite volleyball memory is when they got lost in a cornfield on the way to the Wilson Tournament.
She plans to attend Pennwest Clarion University for nursing, get married, buy a nice house, have three kids, and one tabby cat named Garfunkel.
Sophie Babington
Sophie is the daughter of Jill and Seth Babington.
She has participated in volleyball, basketball, NHS, student council, and track. She is also captain of the volleyball team.
Her favorite volleyball memory is when they threw a bunch of pop-it’s at their GMS coaches to scare them. It was a success.
She plans to attend a college to major in speech therapy, get married, have kids, and a lot of dogs, specifically westies.