| There are no upcoming events. |
Sept. 18, 2006 Entry Dated: Sept. 17, 2006 Hi Boiler Fans! It has been two eventful weeks since my last diary. It seems like we have been all over the country since this season began! Upon returning from Alabama, we picked up just two days later and traveled to Dayton, Ohio to defeat the Flyers in a tough five-game match. At times I felt like we were fighting to beat the loudest band in the world rather than their volleyball team, but that made for a fun match. After improving our record to 8-0... we began preparing for Western Michigan. We had a long and fun day on that Saturday because we spent some time talking with Purdue fans at "Street Fest" before the Purdue vs. Miami of Ohio football game. We signed about a million posters, played volleyball with adorable future Boilermakers, and socialized with fans encouraging them to come to our matches. If you were at the football game, you were lucky enough to see our (very magnified) smiling faces up on the JumboTron between the first and second quarters! There is really nothing like making a fool of yourself in front of 60,000 people. We would like to apologize for what our coaches referred to as a "boring" display of volleyball in the first two games of our Western Michigan match that night. We looked a bit lackadaisical to start off but picked it up in the third to earn another `W' for the preseason. Before we knew it we were getting on a plane heading to Los Angeles! We were on celebrity watch from the minute we landed in sunny California. We pulled up to the hotel and noticed that we were staying about 100 yards away from a beautiful shopping mall. Just as we were discussing the LA fashionable clothes we were going to purchase that evening, Coach Shondell walked to the back of the bus and shattered our dreams by saying the mall was off limits, as was the beach, (smiling, sunshine, breathing.) Just kidding about the last three but seriously, no mall or beach. After pouting a little bit we got some grub and got back to the hotel to rest up for our match the following night at Southern Cal. We swore some big stars were going to show up at our matches so we had sweet dreams and tried to adjust to the three- hour time change. We woke up with a perfect breakfast and headed to campus for a quick practice... then we ate again before returning to USC to face the Women of Troy. We didn't play our best game Friday night, but we were able to solidify our feeling that we can beat any team in the nation on a night where everybody plays at a high level. USC better watch out if we meet them again at tournament time. Saturday was spent doing lots of homework and resting up before heading to beautiful Malibu for our Pepperdine match. We were practically pressing our faces up against the bus windows as we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway by the beaches and longed to dip our toes in the Pacific... (But, of course, we were totally focused on the game.) We arrived at the five-star resort that somehow has the audacity to call itself a college campus, and beat the Pepperdine Waves fairly convincingly. A few of us may have played just that much harder after seeing what those girls get to wake up to every morning: a view of the ocean from the top of a cliff on the most beautiful campus ever. (Sigh.) Anyway, the best surprise was yet to come as on the way back to the hotel from our match, the bus pulled over next to the beach and we were allowed "5 minutes" to run around screaming and laughing like little girls in the sand. It was a perfect topper to a great trip to California. Thanks to the parents and fans that made the long trip out to support us, you made it even more special for us. We are headed into the Big 10 season with a 10-1 record and a lot of excitement. We will do our best to make you proud as we head to East Lansing and Ann Arbor this weekend! Boiler Up!
|
 Volleyball Virtual Guide |
|
 |
 |
 |
