USA Select Team to Argentina
May 30 to June 11, 2006
June 8, 2006
By Kelsey Bowers, University of Florida (and Joanna Fielder, “Team Liason”) - USA Select “A” Team
After waking up and eating a quick breakfast on the bus, we headed to Ramallo. We were all excited and a little sad to play our last match against the Argentina National Team. Before the game, we went to a press conference. Although the road to the conference was bumpy and we were all a little tired, it was definitely worth it. We arrived at a beautiful Estancia (the land owned by the owner of the largest cotton and leather clothing company in Argentina) situated on the River Plata with awesome views. We took tons of pictures. After the captains and coaches talked to the press, we sat down for lunch and entertainment. There were dancers, singers, and musicians. It was really an experience and fun to watch.
After we ate and took more pictures, we headed to the gym. We had the opportunity to work and coach some of the children from the town. I was given about ten girls (who only spoke Spanish) and was told to coach them. It was more then entertaining to try and communicate with them, but I had a great time and I hope that they did too. We paired up with some of the girls from the Argentinean Selection as well as players from the team our Freshman team would be playing against, Banco Nacion (this is a team from the same club that they played on the first day). After a couple hours of rest we were off to Merienda where we had a chance to get to know the girls from the Argentinian selection a little better. We paired off and asked each other some questions. The Freshman team had already started playing so we hustled back to the gym to catch the last two sets. After that, we were ready to play.
The first game was not our best performance. The Argentinian players all have amazing serves and our reception and defense struggled a bit. They came out really fired up with all six of their starters ready to take it to us. They had 14 kills in game one to our 4 and 5 service aces to our 1, giving them the win, 25-12.
We gained some composure and were able to put together a good second set,
out-blocking them 3-2 while limiting their kill and ace percentage. We were up 23-21, and then tied at 23-23, but were unable to fend them off, losing 23-25.
We really wanted to show the large and rowdy crowd that we could win against these guys and came out strong in the 3rd set. We limited our errors, and played consistently throughout the entire set. Our kill percentage of 58 compared to their 38 helped us score the needed points to come out ahead, 25-23.
After winning in 5 the night before, we were confident that if we could get them to the 5th set we would come out ahead. We gave everything we had in the 4th, but their 13 kills to our 6 as well as our poor reception allowed them to win this set, 25-20, and the match 1-3.
Following the match we had a great dinner at a really nice restaurant in the city of Ramallo. All 4 teams where present (Banco Nacion, Argentinean Selection, and both of our USA teams), and we all had a fun time talking about just about everything. At 3:00am, dinner and festivities were over and we boarded the bus for our last bus trip back to Buenos Aires.
Editor’s note: It was really neat to see the girls bond so quickly on this tour and it was evident on this last night that the girls had really made some good friends.
Day 9 – June 8, 2006
By Amber Simpson (University of New Mexico) - USA Select “Frosh” Team
The day started with a 3 hour bus ride to Ramallo. When we got there we went immediately to a press conference that lasted for a few hours. Afterwards both teams went to the gym to participate in a camp for some of the local boys and girls that were interested in playing volleyball.
We played our first match at 6:30. Everyone was very enthusiastic; we were all ready to leave everything on the floor since it was our last match as a team.
In the first game everyone played very well and we won convincingly 25-21. In the second game the other team came back strong, playing better defense against our attacks. We lost 20-25. Our level of play remained the same throughout the whole match, as the Argentina team continued to improve and exploit our weaknesses. We did win the third game 25-24, but lost both the fourth and fifth games 21-25, 8-15. I was disappointed with my play, but I was excited to see that my teammates picked up their game and did everything they could to contribute to a win. Everyone gave it their best effort to pull off a victory, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
The trip, I feel, as a whole has been a huge success. From the first day of practice to the last match, this group of girls went from being individual players to becoming a team both on and off the court. This trip has also been a good lesson for life. Learning how to communicate and work with people you don’t know will be very important for all of us in the future. It has made me a better person and I’m very grateful to have met so many wonderful people, from the players to the coaches. This trip is one I’ll be sure to remember for the rest of my years.
Link to Official Argentinean FEVA Page
