Day 7, Sunday, January 14
Maribor, Slovenia.
By Kelsi Andrew-Wasylik

Sunday was our last day in Maribor, and the White Team had the option to play a final match or take the day off. Being the exceptional athletes that we are, we decided to play. The match was early in the afternoon in a town about 90 minutes away called Mislinja. This turned out to be a good thing for those of us who had gone out the night before. A few girls opted to stay home and utilize the day at the spa, sightseeing, or getting a shady massage. This worked out well for a couple of players who had been alternating games (me included), and we had a great opportunity to play the entire match.

After a long trip on what might have been the most winding road in Slovenia, we arrived at the gym not knowing what to expect. The one thing we've all found about Europe is that there is no consistency when it comes to the state of the facilities. We have gone from playing in a high school gym to a professional sport center within the same day. Today was no different. The gym was small, but it didn't smell (bonus!) and it had a gallery for spectators around the top of the court. We were excited that it was an odor-free building, but we weren't so excited about the tanning lights we were playing under. Though everyone had a nice orange glow to their skin, we were grateful not to be blinded by the lights.

We had a fun, random warm-up, and then got our game faces on with some help from Sam's meditation breathing skills and our toe-circle of power. Bring on the match.

We played a junior team with players anywhere between 18 and 21 years old. The match was fairly close at times, and we tended to pull away towards the second half of each game, but the final scores were tight. Don’t worry, we won. During the third and fourth games something clicked between us and we were completely on fire. We decided on an appropriate cheer of, "Total Domination."  

Melissa was passing nails and playing mad defense, and Tarin and Kris were bouncing balls on the outside. Erin was a blocking machine in the middle, and ran slides like it was her job - which, I guess, it was.  We didn't have another middle, so Ashley, Kayla, Tarin, Kris and Latoya all took their turns rotating through. I volunteered for my turn, but considering we didn't have another setter, the idea never really got off the ground.

I'll never forget the last couple points of the 4th game where Kris crushed a ball down the line, almost knocking a girl over.  One or two plays later, Tarin took a tight set on the outside and hammered the line defender in the chest, and the ball almost bounced up and smoked her in the face.

There were a ton of fans there, and a local news videographer and a reporter (if you can call him that) filming the match. Though the gym itself wasn't that big, the energy from the fans and players made it seem like a packed stadium.

After the match, the girls from the other team gave us a calendar, and the coach came by and offered us beer for “re-hydration”. I thought he was kidding, but he walked over with a 6-pack of a local brew. I didn't want to be rude and decline this Slovenian peace offering, so I gladly took a can with a few other teammates and we hung out in the gym still in our jerseys and playing gear. This is when Latoya was interviewed by the camera guys. She must have taken notes in college when you get the "media relations" speech, because she did an excellent job of complimenting the other team and saying polite things about Slovenia. We were hoping to see it on TV that night, but it didn't run in Maribor.

Everyone played great, and it was definitely the most team chemistry we have had so far. The trip was definitely worth it, even on our day off. We headed back to Maribor, talking up a storm in the van for the first 5 minutes until everyone passed out. I think we went out for dinner that night, but I have no idea. We were all zombies for the rest of the evening, but again, it was worth it.