Day 3, Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - Jacksonville 16s’ Day
By Alison Young and Kirstin Smith, Birmingham Volleyball Club

Ciao! Last night we were all forced to go to a dance that turned out to be totally awesome because Tory tore it up on the dance floor. And this morning we all woke up very early only to find out that we didn’t play until 4:00 in the afternoon. A lot of us went back to sleep and others went shopping. We hit all of the local shops in search of clothes and anything that could be bought as a souvenir. Our older Jacksonville team played at 2:00 and so we ventured over to the gymnasium and did indeed have many adventures. We touched the Adriatic Sea, played on the playground, and were chased by Slovenian children with fireworks. We made it to the gym in one piece and supported our team, and after their loss we had a crack at the Europeans. We played OK Bihac and beat them 25-18 and 25-17. We all played really well and gelled like we’d been playing together in years. One of my teammates, Cierra, had an amazing game. We then watched the San Jose 18s get beat by some other monstrous team and then left to go play Gracanica. Unfortunately, we came out a little short with the final scores being 25-20 and 25-17. We didn’t play our best game and we hope to play them again to have a little revenge. We’re excited about our new journey to Maribor tomorrow also. We’ve had a lot of fun learning about the other teams and players and learning bits and pieces of their language. Ciao!

Day 3, Alaska’s Day
By Caitlyn Hebert, Delta High School

When we played our first game I was expecting the European teams to be harder to play against than anyone we had ever played before, but really it wasn’t any different, just sloppier. In the USA there are strict guidelines that we have to follow, but here pretty much anything goes, I remember one time a girl pretty much palmed the ball when she tried to tip it over the net. It’s just crazy how things have changed. In the last two matches we played, which were played today, we tried a new rotation which helped out a lot. We did really awesome today on serving and on the second game we really got better with our teamwork. I think our biggest problem is defense and working together to get everything set up. After volleyball we had the rest of the afternoon off and we were able to go site see and shop around the town of Izola. We’ve been having a wonderful time and hope to keep improving in our volleyball skills.

Note: Team Alaska opened Day 3 with a loss to OK Ljubno from Bosnia, and finished up with an 18-25 and 23-25 loss to the home team from Izola. According to Alaska Super-Fan Michelle Knox, “…they improved immensely with their new serve receive pattern in the 2 nd match of the day. We’re expecting big things from these girls as the tour continues.”

Day 3, Jacksonville 18’s
By Leah Melton, St. Augustine VBC 18s

Well, we began our day at 8:30 for breakfast with the rest of the group. We played our first game at 1:00 so I decided that a nap was in order. We played a hard fought game against ZOK Gracabica from Bosnia but lost in two games 18-25 and 19-25. I am amazed at how well these teams play and though we have lost every game, we have all learned so much and improved as well. Our second game was at 6:00 but they were running behind so we ended up playing at 7:15pm. This is what is known as "European Time˝ and I think I like it because everyone runs a little late just like me! By the way we lost that one too, but it was also close and that was the best game we’ve played so far. We played Postar Belgrade and the final scores were 14-25 and 21-25. We came back to the hotel to eat once again and I think we will call it an early night. I think tomorrow will be our lucky day and I cannot wait to play!

Day 3, San Jose
By Shannon Krug, Colorado Juniors

Today we had another rough day on the court. We went 0-2 again but we are becoming much improved the more time we spend on the court. Now that we are more comfortable on the court, we flow more as a team. In the first match against Ok Postar Belgrade we started game one off slow after a day of site seeing. But we came back and lost a tight one. Then in the second game we started off strong and then lost the lead at the end and came out with the loss. The second match against Ok Rijeka from Croatia was a much different story on the other hand. We came out the strongest we ever have and actually had the lead going into the first time out. That was a first. Then they got turned on and we slowly lost the lead. We gave up a good fight. The second game however was a different story as we came out slow but worked our way back in. I personally think it was the best match of volleyball played yet in the tournament. We actually looked like a team that had been working together for more than just two days. Volleyball overseas is much different. It’s awesome to get this experience because you will never see these kinds of players/teams in the states. It is completely different but it is a blast. This was completely worth it. Hope you are having fun in the States. Ciao!

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