Day 1 - February 25 – Casey Simpson (North Carolina)

It is great to finally be here. All the preparation and emailing is over and some of the team, coaches, and myself arrived in Madrid around 9:00am to find out most of our team was either rerouted through other countries or delayed because of bad weather back in the states. With the seven girls that had already arrived and the three coaches we set out to find our visiting quarters. Surprisingly, the rooms we stayed in were very nice. Next, in an attempt to waste time while we waited for the second group to finally arrive in Madrid, we went to a second division volleyball game. Many of the girls and myself found the coaches and players attitudes on these two teams were out of control. Coaches were yelling at courtside and players would just completely turn away from each other. The level of play was somewhat poor but they also seemed extremely young. Next we made our second attempt to gather up our whole team from the airport. Sure enough, with a small wait we were all accounted for, minus two bags. Continuing on with little sleep and a game still ahead of us, we headed back to the dormitory to rest and get changed for the match. 

Match time is nearing and we have all split up into partners to pepper. The balls are different, lighter maybe. The first game begins and we just jump into playing without any practice. It took us a while to adjust to each other but some players stepped up and really helped everyone out. It was a great time playing with new teammates and learning, who is best at what. It was definitely different playing against a foreign team because they are so serious and the separate languages were interesting. As we shook hands before the match began, when people usually say “good luck,” we said nothing and neither did they because no one knew what to say. If was also funny because we would whisper to each other about things to look for and spots that might be open but if we would of just talked normally they still wouldn’t have been able to understand us. We lost the match but we will definitely be able to beat them next week when we come back to play in Madrid. I was impressed with some of the talent the girls on the other team had. They were very effective from the right side. The libero on the other team was very good and constantly put up a good pass. However, compared to the other team we had seen earlier in the day the girls on this team were much bigger. We had a nice meal with the team afterwards and shared a cultural experience, however; the language barrier created a some confusion. On to Portugal in the am.