Sibillini 2007
Journal Entry #7 – Comunanza Day 5
July 5, 2007
By Erin Schroeder, University of Dayton

Hello from Italy!! Today we awoke just before 10:00 to leave for Ascoli Piceno for a little shopping and fun with our teammates.  The drive was about an hour long in our three shuttle buses with both teams and coaches.  Everyone was excited to shop and see some of the European stores in the small town none of us had heard of before.  Our day was beautiful, and perfect for walking around to all of the different shops, and trying to find the best bargaining stores we could find.  Most of our teams stuck together and went to similar stores where we could all find good clothes, for reasonable prices.  Some of the stores, however, were much pricier than any of us had expected.  One look at the first price tag sent us on our way out of some stores.  Although some places were expensive, many of the girls were able to find shops that fit their styles. 

Once the stores closed at 1:00, we were on our own for lunch in the town.  Myself and three other girls were able to find a small pizzeria a little outside of the town.  It was cheap, small and a perfect meal for our appetites after shopping.  Once 2:00 came around, we were to meet at the buses to ride back home to the monastery for our daily naps before our games, which consist of at least an hour or two of solid rest and relaxation.

Our game tonight versus Montenegro was at 6:45 on our usual court in town.  We left at 5:30 to get to the court at a reasonable hour for warm-ups.  The sun of course was still shining in our eyes while we were warming up, but the shadows soon overcame the court, and we were ready to play!  The match started off like usual, a few good serves with some great plays by our defense.  Montenegro soon began to get back some composure, but our serve and extensive offense was no match for them.  Seeing how well we played as a team, our win in three was no surprise.  We were happy to congratulate their team on a well-played game, and wished them only the best for the tournament.

Our night was complete with a post-game meal up in the mountains near the other court.  We had a variety of pasta, bread, french fries and meat.  The dinner was with both teams so we were able to stay after and have some ice cream to celebrate our victories.

Other teams match by: Gayle Tripp, University of New Mexico

Our first match of bracket play was against he Serbians who were also the players we had a chance to meet and exchange t-shirts with.  Watching them beat the Czech team in five the night before, we knew despite their young age that they were really a relentless and competitive team.  Nevertheless, we were ready for whatever was to come!

Playing on top of the mountain was unique to say the least.  The weather made playing a little difficult and continued to become colder as the sun went down.  The first game we had the advantage of playing on the side of the court away from the sun.  We came out serving and passing really well, giving us the advantage to take the first game.  We stopped their power hitters early on, but it was not enough to take the second game.  Starting off slow led us to only chase them the rest of the second game.

In the end of the second game we gained momentum almost coming back to win it, but just channeled it to the third and fourth games.  The sun was now down and it was freezing!! Despite the elements of weather and location we won the long rallies and stopped their explosive outsides. Once we could control their outsides with great blocking the game was over. Their two outsides seem to have emotion that is very contagious. They got frustrated therefore their team did also, only giving us a much-needed victory. Next was a win against the Czech to play in the finals!

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