Penns Valley volleyball teams get dirty for charity

CENTRE HALL — The Penns Valley Kiwanis Club hosted its seventh annual Mud Volleyball Tournament, a fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club, on June 18 on the grounds of the Old Fort American Legion Post No. 779.

Each participating team paid a fee for the privilege of eating dirt and competing for medals and bragging rights. The Kiwanis Club uses all proceeds from the event to benefit local charities, including the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, Penns Valley food banks and several other organizations.

The volleyball court is located in a field at the eastern end of the American Legion’s parking lot. The Centre Hall Fire Company brought in a tanker truck and pumped the area full of water, resulting in a 5-inch-deep pit of thick, gooey mud.

Kiwanis member Jim Shunk noted that the court was relocated since the original court was lost last year during the construction of a Sheetz store nearby.

Four teams competed, with each match consisting of a best two out of three format, with teams switching sides of the net after each game.

Penns Valley High School physical education teacher Carol Fultz served as the tournament’s referee, perched well above the flying mud on a platform at mid-court.

The action was fast and furious, with plenty of slips, falls and dives into the mud. A Centre Hall Fire Company tanker truck was present with a hose and shower nozzle for the players to do some quick cleanups between matches.

At the tournament’s end, the Brush Mountain Mud Skippers, as they have done for several years running, emerged victorious, followed by the I’d Hit That in second place.