NEW HAVEN – It was a day to remember for 15-year-old Kassiani Nicolakis of Woodbridge, CT. She became the newest addition to the Yale Bulldog’s Women’s Volleyball Team roster.
A special ceremony took place at the campus as Nicolakis signed her letter of intent. In attendance, the team, coaches, family of the 15-year-old and members from Team IMPACT.
The D-1 school and the new member were brought together by Team IMPACT, a national non-profit, who’s goal is to bring college athletes and children facing serious or chronic illness together.
"When my daughter found out about it she couldn’t stop jumping up and down she loves volleyball she loves Yale we’ve been coming to some of the sporting events especially hockey ironically and just to be a part of this community in such a more intimate way was nothing more than a dream come true” shared Theo Nicolakis, Kassiani’s father.
Kassiani expressing during the ceremony how this was the best day ever. Leaving an impact on members of the Ivy League Championship team. Rising Senior and Captain Chiara Spain said
“She’s just a ball of energy and positive on any team something could be going wrong in the middle of practice," said Spain. "You just hear her laugh and it just changes the whole mood and its like nothing can go wrong if she’s there and we all just want to impress her because she knows volleyball well too. So there’s so many fun aspects of her being around us that just makes us better in a variety of ways”