We ate all of our meals at the campground. It was a really really cool place. You could see the ocean from our house and there was a pool with waterslides, a basketball court, ping pong tables, a playground and much more fun stuff! I wish it was summer and warm cause this place would have been awesome! I mean it was pretty cool, but I wish the weather would have been a little warmer! Here is Valeria (she is an OH from Hungary but played at Kansas State) and Ati (she is a MB from Spain) in front of the playground!
The pool had this sign... only in Europe would you see a sign that said no swim trunks allowed, only speedos. Hmmm...
I had to take this picture for Doza... a pirate and his rhum. It just makes me laugh!
Once we arrived we ate lunch and took a nap before heading to the gym to play our first match against a team from Spain, Majorque (pronounced May-York-uh). Michel explained that our other tournaments we played in were for them to see everyone play in different positions and with different lineups, but this tournament was more to prepare for when the Championship starts in 2 weeks. So going into our match I was wondering if Nicole or I would start. I was hoping that I would but you never know. The coaches informed Nicole and me and they wanted to run a system with 2 setters. So they hired 2 setters of equal ability and at any time could switch us in and out to change the style of the game, or also switch us with the right side to potentially do a front row back row switch to change the flow of the game. They told us to trust them. I do. It is just hard being so competitive and wanting to play all the time. It is a new role for me but one that I am embracing. I work the hardest I can at practice everyday and that is all that I can do. The coaches will decide who they want to play. Anyway, Nicole started in the match against Majorque and I was a little bummed, but ok with it. We we winning in the first set and then lost it at the very end. In the second set, he ended up putting me in for Nicole halfway through, but we weren't able to pull it off. I started the 3rd set and we won. I started the 4th set and here is a funny story. Toward the end of the 4th set, which we were ahead in most of the set, Majorque was going on a run and it was getting a little close in the very end, so he put Nicole in for whoever was in right back. I was in left front. I thought that she was going to pass and play defense, but NO she was setting and I was in left front... YES HITTING! So of course we pass the ball and the only person she can set is me and I swing and hit a floater with my wrist (great haha) but I kept it in play and then in transition Nicole could only set me again and so hit the one shot I have in my repertoire, face cross and roll shot down the line to the corner. AND YES I GOT A KILL!! I was pretty pumped. We ended up winning the 4th set! In the 5th set we controlled the whole set and were up 13-10. Then of course we had a mental breakdown and couldn't pass the ball. We were in rotation 5 so of course I keep setting every ball outside or backrow but ughh they ended up winning the set 15-13. Very very frustrating. But I played well and we just didn't get it done.
On Friday, we played a match at 2:30 against a French team in the 3rd division. Nicole set the first 2 sets and we won. I set the 3rd set and we won! Yippee we actually beat a team 3-0 or 3 nil as they like to say here. It was really fun because a ton of elementary aged kids came to the match as a field trip or something and they were sooo excited. They were cheering for our team and they were being sooooo loud! Personally if they weren't there, I'm not sure we would have won the 1st set because we were trailing and staged a serious comeback! After the match, all the kids came down and we played with them for about 20 minutes. It was really fun! I really enjoy stuff like that! So after the match we were all starving because we ate lunch at 11 and then played a match which ended around 4:30 and our coached wanted us to stay and watch the match that started at 6:30. So we went into the center of town to a bar (that is what you do in the middle of the day in Europe) and all got something to drink... not alcohol but coffee, hot chocolate or juice. But no food. ugghh. Luckily when we returned to the gym, they were selling sandwiches outside that we bought. We watched 2 sets of the next match and then headed back to the campgrounds for dinner. Dinner is eaten sooo late in Europe and it is really hard to adjust to.
On Saturday we woke up, had breakfast and headed to the gym for musculation (lifting). The coaches thought it was more important to prepare for the actual season and they didn't really care if we were tired for our match that night. After musculation we headed back to the campground for lunch and then took naps. We played our match against Quimper at 6:30. I was really excited for the match and was having one of those warm-ups where you just are "feeling that you're gonna play well." So I hoped that I would get to start cause I didn't want to lose it. I got to start! We were controlling the first set, and Quimper had a late comeback but we were able to shut them down to win the first. I started the second and we killed them 25-15. Nicole started the third and we couldn't pull it together and lost 25-22. Nicole started the 4th and our passing was really terrible and we lost 25-15. And then in the 5th, I was hoping that I would get to play Nicole played and we lost 15-12. It was really frustrating especially since I won the 2 sets I played in, but I did my job and did what I was supposed to do. The coaches get to decide who gets to play. But like I said earlier, I don't think they really cared if we won the match or not. O well. After the match we went back to the campground to eat dinner and then got on the road. We didn't even leave until 11:10 and arrived back in Nantes at 1:45. It was a late night.
Me and Val at the campgrounds with the ocean in the background!
So I thought I should fill you in on my teammates:
#1 Alice Persinova
- She is an OH from Czech
- 30 years old
- We call her Ala
- She speaks English fluently and washes mine and Nicole's laundry at her house so we don't have to pay the 8 euros per load
- She is the libero and is from France
- She is 24
- We call her Lay-tee
- Her English is very good and she also speaks Spanish
- She eventually wants to be a translator since she is tri-lingual
#8 Jennifer Chalumeau
- She is an OH from France
- She is 21
- We call her Jen
- She is a smaller outside but somehow manages to tool the block almost everytime and her defense is really good
- Her English isn't the best but she want's to learn
- OH from France
- She is 19 and the youngest on the team
- We call her Alex
- She speaks English and Spanish really well
- She will be studying in school this semester and playing vball
- She is a very very good hitter but just young
- Setter from USA!!
- She played at Long Beach State University
- She just turned 24
- She lives across the hall from me and I don't know what I would do without her here... you need another American for sure!
- Middle from France
- She is 24
- He English is really really good!
- She is really fun to be around
- OH from Hungary
- She played at K State
- She is 30
- She is our captain and she always takes care of me and Nicole!!! Thank Goodness!
- She is a MB from Spain
- She is 31
- She doesn't speak French, but a little English. She thinks that we understand her Spanish and speaks to us really really quickly and I just look at her and tell her I don't know
- She is CRAZY! The things she says make me laugh sooo much!
- I recently learned that she has 7 siblings and they all have 2 names except from the youngest two who got left out I guess. The names crack me up:
- Juan Carlos
- Jose Luis
- Victor Manuel
- Antonio Jesus
- Maria Elena
- Maria Estel
- IncarnATIon (Ati)
- Nicholas
- She is a MB from Czech
- She is 20
- Her English is really really good and she is a lot of fun!
- We get along really well
- She is from USA and an OH
- She played at Oregon
- She is 22
- She just got married yesterday and will arrive in France on Friday!
- We are soo excited for her to get here!
My team: (Front row from left to right) Laeti, Jen, Nicole, Me, Alex (Back row from left to right) Michel, Valeria, Ati, Noelle, Ala, Laura, SylvainSo that's my team and my weekend! I made it to mass this morning at 9:45 in case anyone was worried! Nothing interesting to report! Haha! I will try to update this more often! I miss everyone at home so much!
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