USA Select Team to Argentina
May 30 to June 11, 2006
Day 6 – June 4, 2006
By Amanda Andersen (Ohio University)
Today we woke up around nine and traveled to a town called Nogoya. We had lunch and then time to ourselves. We left on foot for our match around 5:00pm and began to warm up. We played against “Colon”, a regional All-Star team of some sort. Our first game started off a little rocky as we are still getting used to the different kind of play here in Argentina, but it did go a lot smoother than the night before. The team we played was a lot slower than last night and we began to play at their level.
The first game went to 25-21, USA coming out on top, but we could have done a better job keeping our errors to a minimum. We set goals for ourselves for the second and third game, and that really helped us on staying focused and determined. Our goal for the second game was to keep our opponents under 15. We did accomplish that by finishing the game 25-14. In the third game, we won with authority, finishing 25-10. Our team seemed to have a better understanding of the rules here. We looked more comfortable in our surroundings, and by setting goals for ourselves, we had more of a drive.
Nogoya is a small town, and is the first time any U.S. team has ever traveled here. It was a big event in the town of Nogoya and the gym was full. It was cool to see the excitement in the locals’ faces to be able to watch our matches and interact with our team. They were very excited and interested in meeting us. They took many pictures and asked for kisses. I found it interesting how the children would come up and ask for a gift or “regalo” as they would say in Spanish. They would take anything from you, a hair clip, a bracelet, or even sweaty hair ties.
Day 6 – June 5, 2006
By Maria Taylor (University of Georgia) - USA Select “A” Team
Today we left for Nogoya, which is in the province of Entre Rios, around eleven this morning. Nogoya is a small town with a big personality. We were escorted into town by a police car and their blaring sirens. This helped get the town excited for tonight’s matches. Many people came out of their houses to greet our bus. After we got settled into our hotel rooms, we had time to walk around before the matches and a couple of us managed to get lost looking for an Internet café. Nogoya is a very cozy town and all of the residents were welcoming and were excited to meet us.
Today was our second chance at the Argentinean national team, and we definitely took it to them. Our first game we came out strong playing point for point with Argentina. It was like we had found the answer for everything they threw at us. We just barely came up short in the first game 25-19. But the second game we really put it to them and won our first game against the national team 30-28! We committed very few errors and finally learned how to shut down their big hitters. As our blocking and defense picked up so did our offense and it seemed as if we were unstoppable. The third game was tough and the national team fought hard and took the next one from us in a close 20-25 game. The fourth game, however, was a different story. The national team continued to play hard while our intensity began to fall. We were still putting forth the effort but the national team just never lost their composure. We lost the fourth game 25-15.
Although we could not pull out the whole match, the experience in Nogoya has been a great one. After the match we were swarmed by children begging us for anything from our hair ties to a simple kiss on the cheek. It is always exciting to feel that welcomed and appreciated. It seemed like the whole town shut down for our match and filled the small gym to standing room only.
Link to Official Argentinean FEVA Page
