Teen volleyball club in deadly crash on way to tournament

Coach says hearing the news was like ‘a nightmare. I thought I was asleep, and I needed to wake up’

A teenage girl was killed in a car crash when she was on her way to a tournament alongside her volleyball club teammates.

Venom Volleyball Club was on their way from Goodyear, Arizona to Austin, Texas when a car carrying members of the team crashed amid the icy weather in London, Texas, about 110 miles west of Austin on 3 February.

“With overwhelming pain in our hearts one of our athletes has sadly passed away,” the club wrote on a GoFundMe page organised for the victims. The club has nine teams, with players between seven and 17 years old.

“Two other athletes are in critical condition but stable and one former alumni traveling with them was severely injured but in stable condition. One of the three parents is hospitalized and in stable condition. The other two parents have sustained minor injuries and have been discharged from the hospital,” the volleyball club added.

Head Coach and Venom Volleyball Director Jimmy Gonzalez told Fox 10 Phoenix that the players and their families chose to drive to Texas for the Lone Star National Qualifier tournament after winter weather led to their flights being cancelled.

After hitting black ice, they lost control of the car and struck an 18-wheeler.

“It’s not a call that any director wants to receive,” he said. “Our team had made their reservations, all their flights were scheduled since December, all accommodations were set.”

He added that some of the players and their families who had scheduled flights for Thursday night had their travel cancelled or delayed due to the weather.

“So those three parents or three families had reached out to us to tell us they were going to drive,” Mr Gonzalez said. “Their vehicle swerved into the oncoming traffic, and they were met by a semi-truck. Six of the people inside that vehicle, two athletes, three parents and one sibling, were injured and rushed to the hospital.”

He said that hearing that one teenage athlete had died was like “a nightmare. I thought I was asleep, and I needed to wake up”.

As of Monday morning, the GoFundMe to help with “funeral cost, lodging, food, and medical expenses” had raised almost $130,000 out of a $250,000 goal sum.

“Your outpouring of support during a very difficult time for our club families has been tremendous,” Mr Gonzalez wrote on the page on Monday.

“We feel wrapped in your arms of love and hope. The need is great and your generosity is making an impact but more is needed. We have been urged by expert advisors to raise the funding goal since the related expenses and medical bills are mounting fast for all three families. Thank you for your consideration. We remain hopeful.”

Large swaths of the US, including the South, Midwest, and Northeast, has been hit by snowstorms and icy weather that has impacted millions of people.

Winter Storm Warnings, Ice Storm Warnings, as well as Winter Weather Advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service to include parts of Texas, stretching northeast all the way to New England and New Jersey.