USA BIP-Select Team Update from Serbia, Day 8
Wednesday, January 3, 2006
By, Kelly Lynn Van Elderen

Today we started off the day as we do any other, breakfast in our hotel. But unlike other days, we got to ride the bus to our gym this morning instead of walking. We moved through traffic with ease thanks to our police escort. We got to the gym and watched some other teams in our pool for the beginning of their match then went down to the locker room to get ready for our game. We played the Mladost Volleyball Club and lost in three. The first game we lost after coming out pretty stiff and a little off but we played well in the second winning 25-14. We were very excited for our first tournament win, but unfortunately we couldn’t hold on to the third game and lost 15-11.


           
After our game we went back to our hotel and ate lunch and got ready to go sightseeing in Belgrade. We got on our bus and headed to the central part of the town, picking up two Croatian teams on the way. Our tour guide took us around old and new Belgrade on the bus and told us about the many main sights of the big city. When we got to the central park of the city we got off the bus and walked around, stopping at various historical landmarks including a fortress/castle, and to hear our tour guide sing a national song or two…or three…. But perhaps the most entertaining part of the afternoon was seeing Steve do the national dance of Serbia with our tour guide.

We wandered around the pedestrian shopping street for about a half hour - not nearly enough time to see everything but just to get our feet wet for the shopping trip planed for Friday. Then it was time to head back to the bus so we could get ready for our afternoon games.


           
For our afternoon game we played Volleystar Volleyball Club and lost in two. We played a pretty solid first game but our efforts just weren’t enough. Although we haven’t won many games, it is obvious that we are improving both individually and as a team. As Steve says, “You’re not going to drastically improve in the 10 days you’re here- it’s what you learn here and what you take back that is the real success.”  True that, Stevo.
           


We came back to the hotel after our game and ate dinner and took showers. Now its time for bed so that we can be well rested for our matches tomorrow morning.

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