Well we started the day with the usual breakfast of bread with jam or nutella, and hot tea with honey. We then left the monastery for a day of shopping or eating whatever we preferred. The town of Ascoli Piceno is nestled in the hills of the mountains with streets paved in the traditional cobblestones and tiny streets. You have to be careful walking down these streets as cars fly down them narrowly missing cars and scooters that have managed to find somewhere to park. We were dropped off, given per diem for lunch and told to meet back at two o’clock. We headed for the center of the town which always has the town duomo (church). The piazza (square) was filled with military guards. They were doing a demonstration which included singing the Italian national anthem over and over. The unusual part was that the majority were women about seven to one. After that, we headed shopping which was very different than the previous shopping. It was not the usual markets and street vendors, but high scale shopping and designer brands. Stores had D&G, Marx, & Versace. It was strange to see these brands in such a small town because they don’t have these in my hometown of Salt Lake which is 300 times larger, of course, they are Italian designers. Some girls went straight to eating, some rested and others found the internet café, which is a commodity around here and highly desired among the girls. I walked around with Rachel and we ate at a random gastronomie (cafeteria style) ristorante. We had lasagna and skillet fried chicken. It was the traditional style of cheese lasagna and the chicken was seasoned with rosemary and garlic. It was full of flavor. Tim and Jo were kind enough to give us their left over batter-fried Ascolani Olives and bread. Over an hour later we finished eating. One thing that most Americans have trouble with is the pace of everything. There is no such thing as fast food. Eating here is time to hang out and talk. Their lunch siestas last three hours or more and everything closes. We all met back at the bus and headed back to the monastery for down time before dinner and our match.

We found some movies and watched Troy on the bus ride which was a nice change from the daily dose of Aqua Man, Kylie Minogue, and Italian techno. We all crashed for a two hour nap and woke mostly refreshed for the match. We then headed off for the fulfilling meal at Futura which always consists of some type of rigatoni. One thing I learned on my first trip to Italy was pasta types were regional. Everything served in Comunanza is all rigatoni or risotto. I am sure you could get something else except the tournament decided what we ate, so we will never know. Now for a short walk to the court before our match, but don’t forget the daily café (espresso). People here drink at least four to ten a day. Our coach drank about 15 iced coffees every day.

We began the match with the usual run around the court a few lines with movements, then circled up and stretched. We did things at the same time but we all stretched what we needed for as long as we needed. Every game I warm up with somebody different, today the winner was Jenn from Virginia Tech. I like changing it up because I learn more about my teammates that way. After a few minutes of throwing and pepper, we began shared hitting. The Slovene team (not us) were much better at hitting lines than the Czech team the night before. The Slovenes were very young and quiet. European teams don’t talk like Americans. They never call the ball or huddle together after points. They only said something to another player when she messed up or to yell back at their coach. We started off strong and pushed quickly ahead. Many of us still struggled with passing balls high and off the net. Everything was slower and higher but more powerful. We played very well together and Jenna did a good job at distributing the ball to all the players. My shoulder was still a little stiff so I worked at placing the ball in different parts of the court. I don’t think I hit the ball hard until the second game, but they never once picked up a tip. They played defense standing up and back on their heels.

After a sound defeat the first game, we switched sides. The second set was not so good. After four hitting errors and two shanks in a row, it was technical timeout with us down 2-8. we fought hard to catch up but we kept making unforced errors and never recovered from a horrible start and lost 25-22. none of us were happy about that so we started fresh the third game. We sided out first point and I started of serving. Eleven points later, they finally got a kill for their first point. However, their run didn’t last as Brooke passed a perfect free ball and Alex cranked it on the 3 meter line for a quick sideout. The remainder of the game was similar to that with the final score 25-12.

By the fourth game, we were ready to finish the match and get gelato. With a solid team effort; line kills by Amanda, stuff blocks by Rachel, assists from Jen (our right side) we won the match with the score of the fourth set 25-18. We all shook hands with the other team and took a team photo. After a quick stretch, we were off to gelato, then the fun bus ride back up the hill and most much needed rest before the semis tomorrow.

For more information, and some great photos, please see the past years journals: