USA Youth Team Journal
Day 10, January 5, 2007
Belgrade, Serbia (& the Tournament Finals against Pula, Croatia)
By, Anicia Santos

So it is getting close to midnight.  In about four hours, we will be leaving this Hotel Rex for the airport.  Only about twelve hours ago, we woke up to a four-course lunch, most of us having slept through breakfast.  

We made the familiar trip to the gym and clambered off the bus all the time being watched by our police escort.  The gym had more fans than it had seen in the previous days of pool play and the third place match was off to an exciting start.   Despite being confident about the championship match, you could feel our team’s anticipation building as we stretched in the back of the gym and saw Mladost come back from being down a game and about 10 points towards the end of game 2 of the third place match.  Once the final point had ended, we took the court.

Our warm-up was fantastic, as usual, and we must have seen the other team put a hand up fifteen times as an apology for repeatedly hitting the ball into our lines.  All was forgiven once Tarah tipped a ball into their hitting line.  Well, no it wasn’t.  But when she actually hit a ball into their lines, we were all square. 

Shelton was just as pumped as we were and reminded us to kick ass and take names, no mercy and no questions.  Once the formalities were completed, the starting lineup took the court and the cameras were rolling for both Serbian and USA Volleyball cameras.  Balls came up on our side and went down on theirs with suave simplicity until the first game ended, 25-17 USA YNT. 

The second game was going to be more of a struggle to keep and even raise our intensity as well as our game.  Someone threw out the possibility that the match might go three if we allowed ourselves to let up at all, but that someone was quickly refuted as a new lineup walked on.  We were neck and neck the entire game with Pula.  A kill block with the scores tied at 19-19 put us ahead and with possession.  The pressure was on Pula as well as us to compete and win the last mini-game to five points.  It seemed that the end did not match up to the dramatics building up throughout the game.  The ball went over to Pula’s side and came back, but not before going through the antenna, which did not go unseen by the referee.  Who can forget Dana running and jumping to get out on the court to celebrate?

The closing ceremony passed with a few extra honors for the team, namely Kendall being named Best Setter, Tarah Best “Spiker”, and Sydney as MVP. 

Once the ceremony ended, we were bombarded with requests for our practice shirts, jerseys, anything with USA on it.  We traded for a few shirts but eventually ended up just giving away USA merchandise to the players.  Some were so ecstatic at the gifts that they rushed upon us and kissed us on each cheek like the traditional Serbian greeting.  Some actually screamed as Kendall pulled out a used, sweaty jersey from her bag and handed it over.  And once the crowd had wandered off, we grabbed our bags and got on the bus.

On the way home, we stopped at a football shop at the Red Star Stadium.  We managed to win a few Serbian treasures off of Cory by yelling answers to trivia questions on the bus over.  Red Star shop was not quite as big as we had thought and close to thirty of us tore apart the space looking for souvenirs.  In twenty minutes, we managed to spend close to a thousand dollars as a whole and made our way back to the hotel. 

After a quick run up three flights of stairs and a bathroom break, we bundled up and set out for another shopping venture to the pedestrian mall.  Christmas lights were strung across every alley and walkway.  We bought as much chocolate as we could bear to look at and tried to find clothing that did not say Alabama or Georgia on it.  It was almost like being at a mall in America with merchandise marked way down, sign language being a necessary form of communication with some vendors, and our average height of 6’ drawing stares from everyone, including our personal policemen supervising our shopping ventures. Dinner passed by as another four-course meal and we threw a few things in our suitcases before setting out with three local girls from Volley Star club.  We walked onto a bus and were thrown into seats as the bus accelerated and brought us close to our destination, a movie theater.  Our movie, A Good Year, was in English with a few French lines and Serbian subtitles.  Despite the theater being “a million” degrees, we made it through and stopped for a quick drink at the Irish pub where we departed from our new Serbian friends. 

Back at the hotel, we have to constantly remind ourselves its late and we have to talk in whispers as we watch ourselves on television.  We are savoring our last few hours here with conversation and slow packing here and there.

This trip has been an experience.  Many of us never even thought we would visit these countries, let alone be winning championships and traveling by bus through them.  The food has been different and the company culturally unique yet exquisite.  Hospitality here is second to none and patience incredible.

Closing Editor’s Note: Many thanks to Emir and everyone involved in the Volleystar Tournament for making this such an awesome experience for the girls. We look forward to seeing you all again next year!

All in all, southern Europe was an unforgettable experience.  The food, people, cities, buildings, transportation, and money changed with each new encounter.  Cory told us not to try to compare anything to the United States because it would ruin the experience.  I guess that is true.  But I don’t even know where one would begin to make comparisons.  Every aspect of life was so unique that nothing was comparable.  While I’m glad to be on my way back home to see family and friends, I cannot help but regret places left unseen. 

<< Previous | Next >>