USA Youth Team
Day 2, December 28, 2009
By Ashley Wittman, Northern Lights
Today we started our morning by waking up at 9:30am and having a delicious breakfast here in the Hotel Pula. Then we were able to hang out for a couple hours because we didnt have to play until 3:00pm and 6:00pm that night. As we were headed off to our playing place, I could tell everyone was very excited to start playing all these different teams. First we played Israel. We won that match in three games. It was an exciting match but also it helped us get used to playing with each other once again and get back into the groove of things. Everyone on the team played and did a great job since we have only been together for one practice. Against Israel, I thought everyone did an awesome job getting used to the new atmosphere, balls, and team.
After a quick snack, we drove to another gym to play Croatia. They played a very good match against us but we were able to adjust and finish out the night strong. (3-0). We progressed throughout the day and even though we made a few unforced errors the team stuck it out and we pulled out two wins. International play is very different than playing club or highschool ball. The main difference is we are playing with teams from all over and we are used to playing within our own region and have got used to our own rules and style of play, but when you come here the play is different. It has been a great start so far and hopefully we can pull the streak into tomorrow’s match(es).
Scores:
USA vs. Israel (3-0, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17)
USA vs. Croatia (3-0, 25-21, 25-18, 28-26)
End of Day 1 Results, Sets Won/Lost:
Group A played best 3 of 5 matches
USA: 6-0
Croatia: 3-4
Israel: 1-6
Group B played best 2 of 3 matches
Slovakia: 5-1
Slovenia: 5-1
Hungary: 2-4
Austria: 0-6
