Day 2 January 9, 2005 – Part 1, in Brandys
By Liz Goubeaux, Towson University

We woke up early today for a long, but fun day of volleyball. Last night the girls were split into three teams. Two of them, Doug's team (my team) and Cory's team ate breakfast and left thirty minutes earlier than JR's team. We headed to Brandys to play the German Jr. National team and German first division team called USC Braunschweig. Both BIP teams got the chance to play both German teams.

My team started the day by playing the German Jr. National team. They were very good, although I noticed that they did not set the middles hardly at all through the whole match. This is so different from home where middles sometimes have to commit on other middles. I would have expected them to set the outsides a lot more since they were not setting middles, but I think they set the right sides just as often as the outsides. This surprised me. My team started off very well because we were all pumped and ready to play.

Jessica Hayden ( Penn St.) and Benavia Jenkins ( Florida)

Unfortunately, once we started making some mistakes we got a little tentative and communication broke down. This is expected since we have not played together before except the little that we played yesterday during practice.

Michelle Cole ( Texas A&M)

We sadly lost all three games, but on the positive side you could already see the increase in our comfort with each other. We were slowly but surely learning each other’s tendencies. At the end of the match the German teams switched gyms.

Brittany Hurst (Tulane)

We had a few minutes to rest in between the matches so we took the time to practice connecting with our setters. This helped a lot because we were able to communicate exactly what types of sets we like in a less intense setting. After we hit, we got the chance to meet an American, Tesha Harry, on the German team of USC Braunschweig. We had a few minutes to ask her about her experiences and what it is like to play over here. She says she likes it a lot, but gets homesick now and then. She also told us that it is hard sometimes with a coach that speaks little English, but she is lucky enough to have a German teammate who speaks English, so she translates often. She likes the city that she is in and seems to be having a pretty good time. She has even signed up for another season. We had to stop our conversation because it was time for the game to begin.

This German team was also very good. They set their middles a little bit more than the first team, but still not nearly as much as American teams. We clicked much better, but still a little tentative, and unfortunately again we lost three straight games. It is very frustrating to have lost all day long, but it was a great experience and I can only see it getting better from here.

Stephanie Kenster, Germany Junior National Team

After the match all three teams met up at a cafeteria to eat lunch. After lunch and a small break we headed back to the gym for some practice time. We split up with outside hitters and liberos in one gym, and middles and setters in the other gym. Middles hit all practice. We went through different drills that included some blocking and transition. It was great to get so many touches on the ball, but we were very tired by the end of it.

When we were finished Tim gathered us all up and talked a little bit more about the tour and what playing over here is all about. There is a lot of information to retain, but the best thing we can do is talk to as many coaches and players as possible.

After practice, we headed back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation before dinner. I am having a great time so far, and can't wait for the rest of the tour. Also, another American player, Heather Diers (from Cal, currently playing in Chemnitz, Germany), will be spending the rest of the night with us. I am excited to meet her and find out things about playing here from someone who is experiencing it now. The agenda for tonight is going to dinner and doing whatever else we feel like. I am ready for a night on the town!

Day 2, January 9, 2005 – Part 2, Olymp Juniors
By Katie Andersen, Boston College

First a quick refresher on Night 1 in Prague: For dinner the whole team and all the coaches went to this nice little restaurant near the Zizkov Hall and had a three course dinner. We started off by having this awesome meatball soup followed by an entree of goulash and a terrific salad. Everything was so tasty, it was very nice to get away from the traditional American food we see, like Taco Bell. Then after we dinner the girls and the coaches went out to grab a few drinks at this pub in Old Town, which was awesome! We had to take the metro, which is like a subway to downtown. I think the ride was only like 10 minutes, and during that time you try to count how many stops it is to correct stop where you need to get off! Once we walked around a little and got deeper into downtown, there were old castles and apartments that were breath taking! This was definitely a picture spot!

So after a night on the town with the coaches and the girls and some well-earned sleep, day 2 started. First grabbing breakfast with the team, and then heading out around 9am to go play The Olymp Prague Juniors Team. There is no bad competition here, and one thing I did notice about the team I played against today was that they were hard hitting players. They serve receive with ease, no matter how hard you serve it, and another thing I found was that defense was not very high on their to do list. The Olymp players hit the ball in every time and hit it hard, all offense, which is different from the American style of volleyball. For my team, it was hard the first couple of games to get used to everybody and their tendencies, but towards the end of the day, everybody was started to mesh much better. Our defense was what pulled us through many tough situations, and running a lot of middle attacks. We ran the middle and had a lot of success with that because most of the offense for Olymp was towards the outsides, which made the middles on our team work even harder. All I have to say is, block and hit the ball in and HARD!

J.R. vs. Olymp Juniors: 2-3 (game scores not available)

After eating, all the girls got together and we had lunch at a nice hotel restaurant 5 minutes from the gym where we played. We got to eat with the other teams that we played earlier that day which was fun and interesting to do. After eating lunch, the whole team went back to the gym in Brandys to practice for another hour and a half, which was nice because the more you move the less sore you feel! During the practice all the girls worked on things that the coaches thought we needed more work on, which was mostly hitting. The coaches watched and gave us feedback on what they thought each individual player should work on. One thing I might add though was that the coaching in Europe was much different than what you would get in the Americas. The coaching is up to the player herself which is nice because you hold yourself accountable. After the team practiced together, the outsides and middles and setters were all split up into different groups and given different things to work on. Every girl probably jumped over 22 times! But it is just good to be out on the court playing!

Then after we practiced we had a quick team meeting where Tim and Cory talked in a little more detail about the tour and the different pro leagues. Then we as a group rode the bus back from the gym in Brandys which was about a 30 minute bus ride back, but you got to see some different parts of Prague and the surrounding area. The freeways look similar to the American freeways, except for all the signs that are not written in English. Then we went back to the hotel to get ready to go out to dinner and another night on the town. One thing I think they should call Prague is the "city that never sleeps"! It is fun and everybody here loves to go out and have a good time downtown in the city. So sign me up for night #2!

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