Well, last night ended too late to get the girls on a journal, and they're all off enjoying Rome this morning, so I thought I'd start the tour off with the first journal.

We've got a great group of people on this trip, and it's clear already that we're going to have a great time. Many of the girls have already been in Europe for a few days traveling around, and the majority landed at least a day early so it seems that jet-lag won't be a problem. And it's much cooler in Rome than past summers (still pretty warm though) so I'm sure that everyone will have plenty of time and fire to conquer the city.

Our delegation of Americans only comprises 11 girls, but since we have 3 girls from Boston College and 3 girls from Oregon, we had to break into two separate teams to play two separate matches on Day 1. (NCAA Rules forbid more than 2 girls from one university to play together during the summer.) Fortunately our great friend Mario from AS Fidia Roma was able to convince cross town rivals/friends Pallavolo Ladispoli to come and challenge our second team.

Rosters for Day 1
(daily rosters will change for all pre-Sibillini matches)

Team Third Degree, Coached by Mitch Jacobs (Marshall):
- Erin Virtue, Setter
- Lauren Westendorf, Outside
- Callie Zwettler, Outside
- Kylie Gilmore, Opposite
- Kristen Bitter, Middle
- Allison Shepp, Middle
- Ashley Amadczyk, Libero

Team VolleyHut, Coached by Burt Fuller (Utah State):
- Heather Madison, Setter
- Allison Anderson, Outside
- Callie Zwettler, Outside
- Kylie Gilmore, Opposite
- Kristen Bitter, Middle
- Michelle Oakland, Middle
- Kristin Kenney, Libero

The first match started at about 8:30pm and AS Fidia (a B2 Italian Team = 4th League) handled Team Third Degree pretty easily in a 2-0 match. Our girls did some good things however, and it was a nice showing for 7 players that just arrived in Europe (most for the first time) and haven't ever played together. Some of the girls were surprised that we would jump right into a match without any trainings, but there's no better way to figure things out in Europe than getting right on the court and going after it. The European "shared hitting" is always a bit of a shock for the Americans too, but we quickly got over that and I'm sure it won't be a problem for the rest of the tour.

The VolleyHut vs. Ladispoli match was a little closer, with VolleyHut winning the 2nd set and finishing with a 1-1 tie. The lights in the "gym" (tent?) went out a few times during this match and were cause for some interesting moments of playing in the half-dark.

Both of the Italian teams comprised girls in the 18 to 22 age range, and I think that with another day or two of playing together, and getting used to being in Europe, both of our teams could beat these teams fairly handily. The B2 level in Italy is generally an amateur level, with teams training 2-3 times a week and playing once a week from October to April or May. It's a good level for our teams right now, especially as we're getting to know each other.

Tomorrow is a free day in Rome, with rematches against both Ladispoli and Fidia (this time in Ladispoli instead of Fidia's hometown of Cesano) on Saturday.