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Day 5, June 12, 2005
USA "White" (Kevin/Santiago’s Team) vs. Nuevo de Julio Olimpico (Freyre,
Cordoba)
By Darcy Thompson
After going to bed at about 4 in the morning, everyone woke up nice and chipper at 9 for breakfast. After that we had the morning off, so everyone went about their own business. Some checked their e-mail, some called home, some just walked around the town. After the free time we all had lunch at the local mall. After lunch we were nice and fed and ready to hit the road and play - or so we thought…
We loaded up the bus at 2:30 ready to go to San Francisco! 3:00pm rolled around and we were still ready, but not moving. It was 3:30pm and we were still ready, but the bus wasn’t and we continued to sit in the same spot, right in front of the hotel. By 4:00pm our readiness was turning into impatience.
Finally it was 4:30pm and we on our way to San Francisco to play. What happened you ask? They say the bus we were supposed to take did not show up and we had to wait and get permission to use the bus that was there. My philosophy is that while we thought the coaches were waiting like we were, they actually were taking advantage of the wine special at the mall where you can get two bottles for 10 pesos (we know their tricks). Either way we were finally on our way.
After about three hours we were close, and we were late enough that we had a police escort in front of us. We were supposed to play at 6:00pm, but didn’t arrive until about 7:30pm. We pulled up to the gym and rushed in as fast as we could. As soon as we entered the gym we got a standing ovation from about 2000 Argentine people. We were greeted like royalty. After that we went through a fast warm up and were finally ready to play.
Because of the time crunch we played best-of-three games. The first game went by kind of fast, and came out in a loss. The second game was a nail biter.
We battled back and forth for the lead. All the way to the end we battled point for point. Although the second game ended in a loss as well, we definitely made them earn the win, and we finally came together and were playing as a team. After the game we headed to the locker room to get cleaned up to watch the second game.
Editor’s Note: On this night the "White" Team didn’t play the ARG YNT, but a local club team instead: 9 de Julio Olimpico, from the neighboring town of Freyre. The club had the ARG YNT captain in their ranks though, and she and her teammates really put together a nice match to win in front of their home crowd.
Day 5 continued
USA "Red" (Tom and Mark’s Team) vs. ARG National "B" Team By Joanna Schmitt
Before our game we were lucky enough to be able to bond with some young
Argentine volleyball players. We were able to communicate about major things such as popular music, food and famous people such as Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and many others. As we were walking out together the pride on their faces
was priceless.
The first game was a battle point for point until 20 when Argentina pulled away. We were again playing the ARG Senior "B" Team, and breakdowns in ball control caused some issues late in the game. We started off hot in the second game with a five or six point lead, however Argentina made numerous great plays and the lead slipped away. The second game also ended in a loss. We came out with some fire in the third game but just could not pull it off.
After the game we signed a few autographs for the fans and then headed to
dinner with the Argentina team. Due to the delay in the first game it was
extremely late and everyone was tired, however dinner was extremely entertaining. The tables were mixed with Argentina and USA players. They were laughing at our Spanish and we were trying hard to sound somewhat competent. Somehow we got onto talking about whistling. From that point on things were a little loud. They attempted to teach us a new way to whistle. Needless to say none of us have mastered it yet.
After dinner we headed back to the bus for our long drive home. On the way the team had some excellent bonding time and many laughs that we will never forget. We finally arrived at the hotel around 4:00am. It was a long day and long night but we are all looking forward to tomorrow.
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