Lauren Adams' Volleyball Diary: 11/13/06
11/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 13, 2006
Our last week of regular conference play began in Natchitoches, La., on Wednesday. We did all the traditional things we always do when we prepare to play Northwestern State. We stopped for our pre-game meal at one of our favorite five-star dining experiences, Trail Boss, and then as soon as the meal was over the team made its way to the Goodwill store. The entire team found and bought Christmas sweaters, the tackier the better, and shoulder pads are always a plus. We plan to wear these fine fashion pieces to Coach's annual end-of-the-year/Christmas party, and then out caroling.
After all of the shopping excitement, we went to the gym. The game went pretty smoothly. We played and won easily in three games. The highlight of the game (for me at least) was when the NSU coach made a few substitutions so that the entire front row was composed of Brazilians. Instead of the regular talk we were used to, they began screaming loudly in Portuguese. It caught us off guard, but we were able to yell back thanks to a few brief Portuguese lessons from Rodrigo Segantim last year. When the game was over we headed back to Nac to rest before we had to turn around and leave again on Friday.
We left for Central Arkansas at 8 a.m. on Friday. We knew the drive was supposed to be long, and with all the issues we had been having with the bus we were a little nervous. About 30 minutes into the voyage we noticed that there was a lack of air flow from the vents. When we called to the front of the bus to see what was wrong we were informed that the air conditioner was not working. As soon as I heard it was broken, the bus immediately felt about 10 degrees warmer. I decided to try to sleep through it. When I woke up about three hours later I was drenched in sweat and so was everyone else.
We stopped in Hope, the birthplace of former president Bill Clinton, to eat while Jim, our driver, tried to fix the bus. We hated to leave the cool comfort of the Western Sizzlin', but we knew we had to get back on the road. Stephanie Figgers grabbed an extra ice cream cone to bring to Jim, and his hands were so greasy that he ate it right out of her hand. The team got back in the mobile sweatbox and drove the last three hours to Conway.
Once we arrived in Conway, we had a short practice. When that was over we went back to the hotel to shower before dinner. We ate at McAllister's and then we came back to the hotel where several of us rented a movie, an American classic staring Johnny Knoxville, from the hotel. We were all able to get a good night's sleep before our game at noon the next day.
The match began with Central Arkansas beating us quickly in the first game, but Coach made some adjustments and we beat them soundly in the next three games. The win in Central Arkansas completed our second undefeated conference season; it also marked the 100th career win for the senior class. Pleased with our accomplishments, Coach let us stop at Dairy Queen on the way home and got us all blizzards (or the frosty treat of our choice). The drive back was not nearly as horrendous as the ride up. A cold front came through keeping the bus cool and comfortable. Jim made excellent time getting home and were back before 9 p.m. on Saturday night.
This weekend we will play in the conference tournament at UTSA. Winning this tournament would secure an automatic bid to NCAA tournament.
