Sibillini 2007
Entry #8 Comunanza Day 6
July 6, 2007
By Lorelle Schaub, University of Connecticut (Team VolleyHut)

Hello again!  Italy is still pretty much as amazing as it was the first day, and we are loving every minute of it!  This morning (Dylan Faulkner’s 19th Birthday) we got a few extra hours of sleep and headed to the beach around 9:30am.  We watched the Italian version of the AVP down at the beach of San Benedetto del Tronto.  There was a ton of great beach volleyball to watch, as well as great weather to get our tan on and enjoy the ocean water.  Beth had a little swimsuit incident but was easily fixed by Kerry tying it back together. It was a long day by the beach but a ton of fun.  We even got some bomb French fries!  After lots of sun, and few girls picking up a few more purses from walking vendors, we headed back to our lovely homestead to catch up on sleep and pack up some stuff.

(Editor’s Note: To celebrate Dylan’s birthday Tim and I sent a tray of cannoli’s up to Montemonaco for each of the teams.  Cannoli is a very traditional Italian “sweet.”  Cannoli comes from the word cannolo, meaning “little tubes,” and is fried pastry dough filled with a sweet, creamy filling made from ricotta cheese and chocolate chips.  Yummy!)

Team Volleyhut.com played up on the mountain of Montemonaco again, playing the Czech Team (SKUP Olomuc) to head to the finals.  Wet lost games one and two.  The games were close, but the Czechs kept edging ahead, while we seemed to always be a step behind.  Game three was a different story when we served the Czechs off the court and easily took the game, giving hope for a come back and a push for game five.  After a tough fight, and long rallies in game four, the Czechs once again edged ahead, ending our hopes for a USA vs. USA match in the finals.  We were disappointed but were ready for revenge and to prove ourselves the next day. Team Third Degree did much better.

Beth Karpiak, University of Michigan (Team Third Degree)

Tonight we met up with the team from Ancona again (Asoplast Galassia) in the semi-finals.  They really improved their play as compared to a few nights ago, and they came out a lot stronger and more consistent. Rumor has it they had two new players that did not play the first time we saw them because they were competing in a beach tournament. These two ladies added some extra spunk to their offense. At the same time, however, we had stepped up our game for the semi-finals as well.  The first game was close but we went on a run late in the game for the win. The next two games followed a similar pattern and we finished the match in three games. It really seemed that we started to click as a team. On to the finals!

There is only more day left in Italy and I’m defiantly not ready to go home.  This has been a pretty sweet “Euro Extravaganza 2007”, and I’m looking forward to everything that is left ahead of us!

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