Paisley McIver was all smiles and maybe had a few tears Monday night, but the tears were from the overwhelming feeling of an entire gymnasium standing behind her.

McIver was diagnosed with epilepsy and Monday night, the seventh and eighth grade volleyball teams played in honor of her and to raise awareness of her condition.

The night was devoted to raising awareness for the condition. During the past couple of years, McIver has had incidences when she had a seizure on the floor while playing volleyball.

Head Coach Ginger Davis spoke to the crowd on hand Monday night and told stories of McIver’s character and how she is dealing with the condition.

“Epilepsy has personally affected our volleyball team this year and that’s what brought this night on, to raise awareness for epilepsy,” Davis said. “This was partly Paisley’s idea and we wanted to make people aware of what epilepsy is. We never know what someone is dealing with on the inside. If we educated people about these things, then they will know.”

Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that affects many people across the world.

“One in 26 people in the United States develop some form of epilepsy at some point in their life,” Davis said. “We don’t define Paisley as a type of epileptic. That’s not what she is to us. We knew her before epilepsy and we have known her since and she is the same fighter she has always been. She will do whatever she has to do to keep that ball from hitting the floor.”

Davis told a couple stories to give the crowd an idea of what kind of person McIver was. One story talked about a seizure McIver had while playing volleyball during a game.

McIver had a three minute seizure and when she came to, she wanted to get back on the floor and finish the game.

“It would have been real easy for her to quit, but she wanted to get out there and work hard,” Davis said. “Her seizures have gotten worse, but she keeps fighting.”

The epilepsy awareness ceremony was featured during the middle of the seventh and eighth grade games. After the presentation was concluded, Paisley hit the floor to warm up for her game against Glasgow.

“It’s kind of scary,” McIver said. “I play volleyball in front of everybody and it’s nerve racking.”

Even though this condition is now apart of McIver’s life, she said she isn’t going to let it control her life.

“I just try and not think about it,” McIver said.

She is the daughter of Charles and Angela McIver.