January 2, 2009
USA vs. Slovenian Youth National Team
By Amy Scullion, Infinity Volleyball Club
Today was a crazy day. It started off nice and early at 8:30am. After a
quick breakfast we checked out of the hotel and loaded up the vans. For the
next two hours we exercised our excellent singing voices and jammed to our
iPods as we made our way to Bled, Slovenia. Upon arrival we had about an
hour to check out the city. It is really gorgeous and we had some time to
drive around the lake looking at the little island in the middle with a
church on it, and to check out the castle really quick.
Then we drove to lunch at a local restaurant. When we arrived we were
greeted by the Slovenian Youth National Team. We then had the opportunity
to sit down and have lunch with them. It was an awesome experience. All of
them could speak perfect English so we had a chance to talk and exchange
gifts. It was definitely one of the coolest things we have done so far.
After lunch we headed over to their training facility to get ready for the
match. In front of a small but loud Slovenian crowd we played a best of
five match. We got off to a good start with solid passing and serving, and
continued to play well as our blocking and passing improved. We won the
match in three close sets. We made definite improvements this match and the
coaches were happy with our effort and performance.
The team then had an AWESOME diner at a buffet style restaurant with
fabulous desserts. Once we were finished we got back into the vans and
headed to the train station in Trieste, Italy. We hit up the gift shop for
chocolate and red bull. We then had a massive dance party while we waited
for our train to arrive. We discovered that the bathrooms in the train
stations were very unordinary. There were not any toilets, just holes in
the ground. It was definitely a learning experience. When the train arrived
we all loaded on and prepared for a great time on the night train... Next
stop: Rome, 7:00am tomorrow...
Editor's Notes on the Match:
Scores for all 4 sets (USA won 4-0 with a 4th friendly set after the match):
25-19 25-23 25-23 25-17
Some Quick Stats:
Erica Denney, 8 kills, 4 blocks
Tori Dixon, 7 kills, 4 blocks
Ashley Wittman, 12 kills, 2 blocks
Jazmine Orozco, 6 kills, 3 aces, 1 block
Jane Croson, 7 kills, 1 block
Anna Dorn, 2 stuff blocks for points in the 3rd set
Aggregate: Team Kills 40, Team Aces 4, Team Blocks 15, Team Passing 1.9
Quick Quotes:
Jim Stone: "Much, much better team performance today. Fewer self imposed
errors and we saw big improvements in blocking and passing."
Melissa Wolter: "Great win for us. Having the opportunity to play the team
that just won the MEVZA Championships and get a victory is fantastic for
this young group."
