Lake Nona Middle School students Alana Baerga, Kate Satterfield and Chanelle Rahbany recently won the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) National Championship for volleyball in Orlando. They also qualified for the Girls Volleyball Junior Olympics in Detroit and finished in the top eight out of the top 68 teams in the nation.

The girls play for OTVA Volleyball Academy (Orlando Tampa Bay Volleyball Academy) in Orlando. In the last three years, the girls have traveled to Atlanta, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Kansas City. When they travel to compete, there are about 200 teams in their age group. They all battle to see who will come out on top. Harold Baerga, Alana’s father, follows the girls and supports them along with the other parents. “The unique thing about this year was they were the underdogs, but as the season progressed, they were getting better and better,” says Alana’s dad. When they went to Atlanta, they came in seventh, and in Philadelphia, they came in third. He says that it was quite the accomplishment for them to win first place in Orlando.

Each of them found themselves pursuing volleyball in different ways. For Alana, both of her sisters played volleyball when she was little. She would join in and play with them. Growing up, she asked her parents if she could play competitively, and it went on from there. As for Kate, she attended NorthLake Park Elementary School and got involved in Nona Sports for almost three years. She then moved over to OTVA. Chanelle’s interest flourished because her sister used to play at OTVA. She became familiar with the coaches, fitting right in.

They consider themselves almost like sisters. Their bond keeps growing. When they are playing on the court, they can read each other’s moves, and they are familiar with each other’s game. According to the girls, another reason why they value one another is that it is rare to find a group that stays together for as long as they have.

These young Lake Nona residents are going into 8th grade next school year and are currently all honor students. They aspire to make varsity in their first year of attendance at Lake Nona High School.

In their opinion, the one challenge they face is their physicality in lacking height. However, they say they always come out on top over their competitors because they put their heads together and easily outsmart their opponents.