Volleyball Trophies for Daughter's College Senior Night

[meflick]

Now that my daughter's senior night for her College Volleyball has concluded I wanted to share the "trophies" I made for her and the one other Senior we had on the team this year.  I got the original "hitter" pattern from Steve Good late last year.  He didn't share the pattern on his blog, but he showed a picture of a volleyball team with their trophies from his pattern.  When I emailed him and requested it, he kindly sent it to me. I just had to add the player's name, and then the college - It's Maryville College Scots - so I went with MC Scots. I also added their numbers to the jerseys.  He had noted that the ones that the girls in his photo had received were cut from 1/4" red oak on the top and walnut for the base.  I decided I wanted them a little more "hefty" - given the fragility of the arms so I cut mine out of 3/4" walnut for both the top and the base.  My husband helped me with the router along the edges of the base to give it a little more "polished" look to the bases.  

My original intent was to cut the same trophy for both girls.  However, my daughter is not a hitter.  She is the Libero on the team which means she is the one on the back row (in the different colored shirt) throwing herself around all over the floor trying to get that "dig" and keep the ball alive.  She presently has 1300 digs for her college career (which is a great number.)  She still has at least 3 or 4 more matches left so she could get close to 1400 - depending on how they do in their Conference Tournament.  So I decided that I wanted her's to more accurately depict her career "digging" the ball.  She has been doing that since she was 12 years old or about 10 years now. As a result, I took the "base" idea of the trophy that Steve created and took a different volleyball file I had already created previously and took a photo and created the silhouette of the back row player digging the ball and created the second trophy. While they many not be perfect, I found them acceptable enough to give away - especially when you consider this is truly the first time I have cut lettering and kept the project.  (I have run away from lettering previously. )  - But I had been cutting a lot of the animal puzzles and practicing on my cutting on the lines and I think that helped me a lot (Thanks Scott and Harvey )- that and a lot of prayers while I cut them out!  I put lacquer spray on to finish them off. Thanks for looking.  (Cross posted on here and the SSWC Forum.) Maybe I will try some more words at some point sooner then later now!

[DWSUDEKUM]

Nicely done.  They should really like those.   Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

DW

[dgman]

Great work Melanie! They came out great and should be cherished for a long time!

[amazingkevin]

1 hour ago, meflick said:

Now that my daughter's senior night for her College Volleyball has concluded I wanted to share the "trophies" I made for her and the one other Senior we had on the team this year.  I got the original "hitter" pattern from Steve Good late last year.  He didn't share the pattern on his blog, but he showed a picture of a volleyball team with their trophies from his pattern.  When I emailed him and requested it, he kindly sent it to me. I just had to add the player's name, and then the college - It's Maryville College Scots - so I went with MC Scots. I also added their numbers to the jerseys.  He had noted that the ones that the girls in his photo had received were cut from 1/4" red oak on the top and walnut for the base.  I decided I wanted them a little more "hefty" - given the fragility of the arms so I cut mine out of 3/4" walnut for both the top and the base.  My husband helped me with the router along the edges of the base to give it a little more "polished" look to the bases.  

My original intent was to cut the same trophy for both girls.  However, my daughter is not a hitter.  She is the Libero on the team which means she is the one on the back row (in the different colored shirt) throwing herself around all over the floor trying to get that "dig" and keep the ball alive.  She presently has 1300 digs for her college career (which is a great number.)  She still has at least 3 or 4 more matches left so she could get close to 1400 - depending on how they do in their Conference Tournament.  So I decided that I wanted her's to more accurately depict her career "digging" the ball.  She has been doing that since she was 12 years old or about 10 years now. As a result, I took the "base" idea of the trophy that Steve created and took a different volleyball file I had already created previously and took a photo and created the silhouette of the back row player digging the ball and created the second trophy. While they many not be perfect, I found them acceptable enough to give away - especially when you consider this is truly the first time I have cut lettering and kept the project.  (I have run away from lettering previously. )  - But I had been cutting a lot of the animal puzzles and practicing on my cutting on the lines and I think that helped me a lot (Thanks Scott and Harvey )- that and a lot of prayers while I cut them out!  I put lacquer spray on to finish them off. Thanks for looking.  (Cross posted on here and the SSWC Forum.) Maybe I will try some more words at some point sooner then later now!

Very action oriented trophy's!Well done Melanie!

[blights69]

Great job Melanie Thanks for showing us they must of loved them 

[lawson56]

Awesome job Melanie.My Granddaughter plays the same position on the local high school team The Loretto Mustangs,They came in 4th in the state this yr.I can tell your Very Proud of your Daughter.1300 digs that is Super.

[Scrolling Steve]

Very nice work !....She will love it !

[stevan]

This is something to be proud of.  Great job.

[Aggie]

Great job 

[daveww1]

beautiful job, I'm sure they'll love them

[Blaughn]

Beautiful job.  Nice clean cutting and beautiful finish!

Bruce

[Sam777]

Great looking pieces.

Nice pattern and choice of wood.

Thank you for sharing

Sam

[Scrappile]

Those are super trophies.  The girls will be very proud of them and congratulations to you daughter.  Thanks for the lesson on volley ball.  I did not know about "Diggers", I just thought whoever dove for the ball. 

[meflick]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Lawson, if you ever want my pattern, let me know I would be happy to share with you. Congratulations to your granddaughter and her team on their 4th place finish at State. That is quite an accomplishment.  My daughter's high school made it several times but never won the state title until her Senior Year in high school.  It was a great motivator for  her and her teammates just getting there.  I hope they continue to work hard and do well.  Yes, I am very proud of her both for her on the court and off the court academic success.  She is a stellar student and is presently applying to Physical Therapy schools which will be another 3 years of training beyond her college.

[Rockytime]

Great looking pieces. I'm sure they will be appreciated for a long time.

[Dave Monk]

Those sure came out great. 

[Rob]

Those are awesome.  Love the wood too and the finish is superb.

Rob

[newfie]

Nice work thanks for sharing 

[wombatie]

You did your homework and it shows, what awesome trophies and each one personalized,  very impressive.  10/10 for the project.

Marg

[meflick]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your kind words and encouragement.