USA Select Team to Argentina
May 30 to June 11, 2006
Day 5 – June 4, 2006
By Kelsey Bowers (University of Florida) - USA Select “A” Team
After a 10-hour bus ride, we finally made it to our Hotel in San Francisco at 12pm. It is very strange sleeping on a bus and then waking up in a different town. We ate in the hotel and had a few hours to explore. Unfortunately, everything is closed on Sundays. At 5pm we left for the gym.
We got to play in front of a huge crowd. The gym was packed with people of all ages. While the younger team started to warm up, we were bombarded by children asking for our autographs and pictures. We went to a restaurant and ate a small snack before our match. This smaller meal is called “Merienda” and a lot of foreign teams, whose matches usually start at seven or eight in the evening, eat this “breakfast-type” meal before the since their last meal was at lunch time.
We knew that the Argentina National Team was going to be a great opponent and that we would have to play really well. After introducing both teams and playing both national anthems, we started the game. The first game was very intense. We were ahead most of the game, but unforced errors and serving errors dug us into a hole that we could not get out of. After leading 23-18 we ended up losing 25-23.
In the second and third games, the Argentina team really stepped up. We put a lot of effort into the game, but could not execute for points. We lost the match in three games. We lost the second set 15-25, and the third 19-25.
Although we lost, we learned a lot from our mistakes and now know what we will have to do to get better in the next games. Tomorrow we will work on our blocking and aggressive serving. We are all very optimistic.
After the game, we ate with the Argentina players. I tried to work on some of my Spanish (I can only speak a little Italian and that does not get me very far). During dinner, we all got to try cow tongue. That was an experience. All of the Argentina players are very nice and we exchanged pictures of boyfriends and family. I am very excited to get to know them all better.
Day 5 – June 4, 2006
By Bethany Akerhielm (Dayton University) - USA Select “Frosh” Team
Today we arrived in San Francisco at about 11:45. Once we got settled into our room, Amanda and I went walking around the city until lunch. Pretty much everything was closed because it was Sunday. Then we had lunch and relaxed some before the match. When we arrived at the gym, there was another match going on, and there was a pretty big crowd already. After that match ended, we had team pictures, and then began warming up for our match against (team).
The gym filled up completely by the time our match started. There was some confusion before the match started when we were getting announced, and we were running out onto the court at the wrong time, which made us look a little inexperienced to the international game. Then, we did not have a good start to our match, and had quite a few rotation and overlap calls.
We made far too many errors in the first two sets and the experience of opposing team forced us to give up the first two sets, 14-25, 19-25. In the third set we limited our errors, and fought to win 25-18. Unfortunately we were unable to continue our consistent play in the fourth and gave up too many strings of points. We lost this last set 20-25.
It was cool playing in front of a big crowd that was so supportive and energetic, but we just made too many errors with adjusting to playing the international game. The types of things that we made errors with adjusting to were leaving too early at the serve, overlaps, and what to do when the captain subs out. Another thing that is different in the international game is using paddles with the number on it to sub in and out, rather than just running to the line. After the match, the coaches took us out back for a quick team meeting. Reed talked about the fact that we need to play like a team and less like individuals, and Geoff said that we needed to play with no fear. He also said that this is the only time that this particular team will be playing together, and that we should take advantage of this opportunity and have fun playing with each other.
After our talk, we showered and headed inside to watch the next match. There were tons of younger girls asking us for autographs and for pictures. The next match was a pretty quick one, with our other team losing to the Argentinean National Team in three games. We had dinner with them after the match, and it was fun to talk with them over the meal. One of the girls is only 16, while another one is 28. I think it would be weird being on a team with that big of age differences, but I would have never guessed that watching them play.
Link to Official Argentinean FEVA Page
