WE'RE HOME!
Hi Seminole fans! So it's week three on my blog and this is going to be a very exciting one! Us Lady 'Noles were finally back in the comfy confines of Tully Gym and I couldn't wait to play on Lucy McDaniel Court again! We practiced all week preparing ourselves for the two matches we would play: Miami and Notre Dame. Friday came around and it was Match Day - we wore our new t-shirts that our marketing department gave us that say, "Volleyball Match Tonight! See You in Tully!" and we got a lot of people asking about our match! It all started with the Hurricanes - and everyone I talked to on campus was like, "please beat Miami!" We had to get revenge for our football team! We had our pregame meal delivered to Tully and we were getting treatments and getting ready for serve and pass. As we came back into the locker room to wait for the coaches it hit me that we were starting ACC play tonight! The matches we play in the ACC season are very important to us as a team because each match we play and hopefully win will continue to bring recognition to our program as a whole and make us known amongst some of the big contenders across the nation.
After the coaches gave us the "speal" - or as my mom would say the "blab blab" - about Miami and what we needed to do in order to win, we walked up the stairs from our locker room to the main floor of Tully. There were two things I was excited about: 1) Hoping that the stands would be packed with Garnet and Gold Fans and 2) THE BAND!!! When the Seminole Sound comes to Tully, it makes everything SO much better! The energy and excitement they bring to the game is incredible and it is by far one of my favorite parts of playing at home! As warm ups started and the seats were becoming more and more full I was so excited to start playing! One of the traditions that I love about being a Seminole is when we leave the locker room in our jerseys and make our way back up stairs Nikki and Mira lead the way out our door and we each touch the sign that says "Play like a Champion Today" then bang on the wall in the hallway. As we run down the hallway we all begin The Chop and sing the War Chant at the top of our lungs. It always gives me goose bumps and I know its game time!
As the match started we struggled at times but were able to make plays when needed and won the first set. As we switched sides we came together in a huddle and decided that we
CP said, "I am very pleased with the way we continued to improve as the match went on. I thought in game one a lot of parts of our game were good but our offense wasn't very good. In games two and three our offense picked up better and our blocks stayed very good through those two games. That allowed us to be much stronger as the match continues on. That gave us a lot of confidence." We left Tully with one ACC win under our belt but we had our next match on our mind - one that we couldn't take lightly. We were to play Notre Dame - a team right on the verge of being in the top 25. But we had some fun to have first!
Saturday morning we had practice and then we had the rest of the day to relax. Since my parents come to every match I was able to go to lunch at Jim and Milts BBQ with them and my sister. Jim and Milts has been a staple in my family since we lived in Tallahassee when I was younger. I can remember sitting there eating grilled cheese watching the 'Noles on TV. One thing I was looking forward to that night was dinner at Jenna, Jordana, and Steph's apartment where Mrs. Romanelli was making dinner for us! And oh my goodness was it delicious! We had the infamous pizza dip and chips and some spinach dip, which was very yummy! And then for dinner we had lots of pasta and salad and garlic bread - and we ate about all of it!! And of course we had some very tasty deserts - a chocolate trifle and lemon bars! And we had our own form of entertainment: Steph just being herself! After we left, very full and happy, Nikki and I were scheming up a very fun plan! We went to Wal-Mart and found some glass markers and we drove back to Jenna's apartment. We came up with the idea of drawing
As we made our way back to Tully to get ready for our final preseason match - little did we know that this was going to be one of the most intense games we would play all season! As warm-ups began and Tully was once again filling up to the brim, I knew it was going to be a battle to the end. Tonight was my night for our Painted Guys and it made me laugh the entire match.
BOOM - the match was on. We started the first set kind of slow and we weren't playing like we knew how to at all. We lost the first set and as we switched sides we kept our heads up and stayed strong and won the second set, making it 1-1 going into the intermission. Our coaches kept it short and sweet and we knew exactly what we had to do. We ended up losing the third set and we knew we had to leave it all on the court to beat this team. We were down in the fourth set 15-20 and as I looked to my team I could read on each face - WE ARE NOT GOING TO LOSE THIS MATCH! And from that point we were fighting until the end!
As I left Tully on Sunday I couldn't stop shaking with excitement and the feeling of pride in what my team and I just accomplished! I summed up our match pretty well when I said, "If we were the team we were last year we would not have had the strength to come back like we did. We definitely depend on each other and I am really proud of my teammates." What a way to end our weekend!! Now all we had to do was wait for the rankings to come out the next day! My Monday was a very relaxing one in that I did my treatment for my shins and got to not think about practice - I went to class and after it was over Rachael and I went grocery shopping with my mom. As we were dropping off Rach the rankings came out and we moved up one spot to #18! It's great to see how the strong preseason matches that we've played are really helping us show the nation how good we really are!
That's about it for this week! Come see your Lady 'Noles take on Virginia Tech Friday night at 7pm in Tully!
-Bri #5-
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