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Day 4, January 11, 2006
By Jennifer Amobi (Auburn University)
 Our trip to Vienna, Austria is a day that I may never forget. We (the “Blue Team”) left Prague at about 5:00am and began our departure to compete against a top team in Vienna: SVS Post Telekom. I must say that we weren’t at all prepared for what we were about to face. Many of the girls stayed up late having a great time at the Czech Pub, while some of the other girls wanted to prepare for the match of the morning.
I went to bed at about 12am after packing so I was able to get a bit of rest before we left. The ride to Austria was very cold and bumpy. It was difficult to get rest before we played because the ride was not very comfortable. We stopped at a gas station/market to eat and used the restroom, and while there we ate food that I have never eaten in my life. I ate about three small breakfast “hotdogs” or whatever you want to call them. About 20 minutes later we continued our ride to Vienna.
Some of the girls were disappointed because we didn’t think that we would be able to explore Vienna, so the ride wasn’t very positive. We arrived at the gym with only about five minutes until warm up time, so we had to be ready fast. The team in Vienna was already warmed up and ready when we arrived there.
The first girl I saw when I walked in the door was Benavia Jenkins, who I recognized immediately because I played against her for two years while at Auburn University. We spoke for a little while, before I had to go downstairs to get ready. I had no Idea that she played for this team.
We had a small locker room with two parts, half of our team was in one room and the other half was in the other. After getting dressed we ran upstairs and had to get ready to play. I had only carbonated water so I had to bring it upstairs to use for when we played our match. It was tough warming up because it felt like we had been cramped in a van for hours without a real meal, and then we had to rush to play. The warm-up was very short, and we had to be ready immediately.
The second girl that I recognized was Trisha Bradford - she also played for this Austrian team. I also played against her while at Penn State University as she played at Minnesota.
The match started very poorly as we were unable to pass or play defense and it wasn’t hard for the Austrian team to beat us.
Personally, it was very hard for me to connect with our team setter in the beginning of the match. It is very difficult to find a rhythm with someone I have never played with. The sets were a lot lower and further off the net than what I am used to. I thought my blocking went well, I tried my best not to let the first set discourage me and to remember to get more aggressive at the match went.
I played again the third set and it went a lot smoother. The passing got better and I felt a better connection with Julie, our setter, from the right side of the court. I also blocked on the right side, which is very easy for me because I am an outside hitter, and it is very easy to read the body of another outside hitter. We won this set against this Austrian team.
By the end of this set we were all exhausted, but we still had another match to play. We played a visiting team from Budapest, Hungary that also seemed to be very skilled. I hit a lot out of the backrow and got more comfortable with our setter as we played. We didn’t beat this team, but I felt as if we were playing slightly better as the day went on. I could also tell by everyone’s body language that they were extremely exhausted. The teams here did not have mercy on us, they didn’t care how tired we were, and they still played well against us.
After we were done playing we took about 30 minutes to shower and be ready to leave as a team. The other girls (Red and Black Teams) had arrived in a big bus so we watched a bit of the last match being played (Vienna vs. Budapest) and then we were off to a Chinese restaurant which was about a block away. As soon as we sat down the food started coming, we had unlimited beverages, and of course we were very thirsty so we took advantage of this. We ate chicken fried rice, which also kept coming, and I believe it may have been the best rice I have ever had in my entire life.
When we were done eating we headed to Vienna to check out the buildings and shops to see what it actually looked like in the city. We were given a couple hours to explore and be back on the bus for our three hour ride to Slovenia.
Vienna was the most beautiful placed I had ever seen. The sky was clear and the structures of all of the buildings were immaculate. I was not expecting Vienna to be this way. I bought gifts for friends and families and walked around with Amy and Julie for the rest of the time. We discussed all of our likes and dislikes of Austria but overall, all three of us seemed to be amazed. I knew that the experience to Europe would be different from any other experience that I ever had, but I had no idea that I would enjoy it this much. One of the main problems that I had in the beginning of the trip was traveling to many of the places by bus, but I have had such great company that I can not complain at all. I have met great people on this tour so far, and fabulous volleyball players. We also have not been winning very much while on this tour, but I am also learning more from other players than I thought I would and finding a way to mold a team in such a short period of time.
Editor’s Note: Many thanks to BIP’s own Brook Coulter (also playing in Vienna for SVS) and Vienna’s coach Wolfgang Kipf for setting up these matches and getting us so much food right away.
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