Day 2, Tuesday, December 28, 2004 – San Jose’s Day
By Katie O’Hara, East Valley

Well we woke up way too early and all my roommates were tired and didn’t want to get up. I was the last out of bed and was extremely tired and dying for more sleep but I of course dragged myself out of the nice comfortable bed. I did my basic stuff in the morning and then got ready to go play volleyball, yeah! All the girls met downstairs for breakfast. The food was decent but talking and getting to the girls while eating was the best. We then met two girls after breakfast who were our tour guides for a bit. We were also told that we will be playing against them as well. They showed us to the gym that we would be playing in. When we stepped in the gym I thought to myself how different this is than home. I thought this because it was old but still decent looking. I expected a lot worse. We were the first to play in the morning and our opponents were OK Gracanica from Bosnia. The game started around 10:00 but we arrived early because we needed to warm up. We put all our volleyball gear on and then got down to business. We warmed up and then played. Our first match was a bit strange. We didn’t have a chance to practice as a team so we were a little nervous to begin. We lost the first set 22-25 but won the second 25-20. The third match we lost 12-15. It wasn’t the best team but we were nervous and it was our first time playing together. We had to get a feel for each other. They definitely play different than Americans do. We were going back to the Hotel Marina to take a nap but we decided to watch the Jacksonville 18’s Team first. The got creamed by the best team in the tournament. These girls were tall and have been playing with each other for several years. After that we went and had hot chocolate and then went back to the main hall for the Opening Ceremonies at 1:00. None of us could understand anything they said but it was interesting and fun. Then some other girls and I went to eat pizza at a very good pizzeria before going back and sleeping for another hour. Later we got up and went back to the gym to play the team that Jacksonville 18’s had lost to, The Slovenian Junior National Team. We lost to them 12-25 and 11-25. Afterwards we had a team chat about what we could work on and what we did well on. Then we came back and ate dinner and are now getting ready to go to a party for us. It was a great day and I am having a blast playing here.

Day 2, Tuesday, Alaska’s Day
By Amanda Trainor Kyra Kimball, Delta High School

Team Alaska started this morning at about 7:00 am. We had breakfast at around 8:00am. After a good meal, we started off down the street to the gym we intended to play at. We started warm up like before any game in the USA, but when we came to the part where we warmed up, our hitting lines were different. We shared the court, which is something we are not used to. Then, when we got on the court they had us do a different traditional type thing. We all got on the court and huddled in a different manner. They were very friendly and spoke more English more than we thought they would. We lost both games, the one in the morning to OK Solkan from Slovenia and the one at night to OK Bihac from Bosnia, but we tried our best and that’s what matters. After the first game we came back to the other gym to watch the other age group play their game. Then all the teams participating in the tournament were announced. It was really cool like the Olympics. Then we went to the hotel and ate lunch, and after that we had a few hours of exploring. We visited the town by going shopping. It was actually really fun because we get to learn more about the different culture. Here where we are staying it is surrounded by water and the weather is really nice. We have really enjoyed our stay in Europe so far and we are excited about the rest of our stay here!

Day 2, Jacksonville 16’s
By Meghan Sherman and Cierra Pillsbury, JJVA

We woke up, had breakfast, and went back upstairs for more rest. It was finally time to go, and we met down in the lobby to wait for Brook who was going to show us how to get to the gym. We took a few moments for a photo op in front of the Izola city sign with the Adriatic Sea in the background. Our trip to the gym was long and cold. When we arrived, the shock on everyone’s face was priceless. The gym had a long winding hallway, like a mouse maze, and randomly placed steps. There were a few other teams warming up, but they seemed to be just to “messing around”. Some of the girls looked as if they were showing off for the Americans that had just walked in. Our coaches, K cubed, told us to begin warming up for the match. We finally got to the court and began. The warm-up protocol was difficult to understand, since the referee didn’t seem to speak much English. The other team (OK Tar from Croatia) who we later learned were only about 14 years old, seemed to be pretty good. The first game we lost 17-25. You could tell that we were very nervous, No one was playing like themselves, and we were very dull on the court. Our coaches told us to forget that we were in Europe and just play. We got out ourselves together and won the second game 25-12. We carried this winning attitude onto the next game winning 15-12. We were so excited to be able to show that the Jacksonville team meant business. Afterwards we took some more photos, and then headed to the other gym for the Opening Ceremonies. They started up some music and all the teams were introduced. Rita Crocket, former Olympian who is a mom of one of the San Jose players, spoke at the ceremony and it was the only time that we understood what was being said. We made it back to the hotel, showered, and laid around until about six. Our coach “KiKi” took us to a shop called Reds and we began browsing for jeans and other clothing items. Meghan was the only one to make any purchases. Then it was off to watch our Jacksonville 18’s team play their final match of the night. We met some Slovenian girls and struck some conversation. Tory asked most of the questions. We enjoyed learning about them and their families. We came back to the Hotel and ate dinner and now are off to the dance party to begin mingling. Ciao!

Day 2, Jacksonville 18’s
By Justine Burkhardt St. Augustine Volleyball Association (S.A.V.A.)

Our first match was against a team mostly from Maribor, but called the Slovenian Junior National Team. Unfortunately, we lost the game 10-25, 15-25. It was the first time that most of us have played together, but we made the best of it and kept our spirits up. After the game, we found out that the girls we played against were only 15 and 16 year olds; that wasn’t all too comforting. But they had been playing together for years. The second game was better though, we only lost 10-25, 17-25 to OK Rijeka from Croatia. It was a great experience to play a team about our age that played at such a high caliber of volleyball. They are such a wonderful inspiration. We switched the line up a little, for the better! It took a while for us to regain our confidence together again, We also made some short term goals as a team to keep up our intensity. All of the girls are very fun to be around and I am having a great time. We are playing volleyball, shopping and touring Europe, what more could we ask for?

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