SFA Volleyball Blog: 9/2/2008
9/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 2, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The SFA Volleyball blog is in its third year of existence, with senior outside hitter Shelly Swendig chronicling the weekly travels, adventures and successes of the four-time defending Southland Conference champion Ladyjacks. Check back each Tuesday for weekly editions.
Thursday morning we left at the convenient hour of 6am, heading for the great states of Kentucky and Ohio. After a three-hour drive to Dallas, a two-hour flight to Cincinnati, and another two-hour drive to Lexington in a HUGE bus (by huge I mean we barely fit), we were all itching to get out of confined spaces. We stopped and ate at Macaroni Grill, which was pretty good, minus the first loaf of bread some of us were lucky enough to get that tasted like cardboard. Our waiter had a great sense of humor, and even jokingly hit Erin in the shoulder with a tray holder several times- or maybe it was just one extended drag. I supposed it to be her birthday present. Providing other entertainment was one of the cooks who enjoyed yelling in a very strong Kentucky accent.
After "lunch" we went to the University of Kentucky to have a short practice, then we went on a team shopping trip to Kroger for some late night snacks. In case you were wondering, yes, we did get too much food for one night, and yes, we were running around like idiots for the 20 minutes or so that we were there. The next morning, we woke up and had a little breakfast then headed off to the gym to face the Western Carolina Catamounts. We later discovered that a Catamount is like a mythical mountain lion or something. Anyways, the gym was stifling hot, but no need to worry, because the antechamber to the basketball locker room was cool, even a bit chilly, and all six of their plasma-screen TVs showing the same Kentucky men's basketball game were in proper working order. Oh yeah, the game. We won in three- it looked a little rough at times, but I suppose that's to be expected of the first match of the season.
Post-match we ate a Ruby Tuesday's, which I must say had a wonderful salad bar. The croutons were delicious, as was the cottage cheese. From there we set off for Oxford, Ohio to watch Saint Louis and Miami (OH) play. We watched three games - excuse me, "sets" - then headed to the old Sycamore Inn. Before we went to bed, we loaded up on some fruits and vegetables in room 205. Mmm... fruits and vegetables... We weren't scheduled to play SLU until 2:30, so we were able to sleep in a little bit on Saturday morning, which was quite lovely. For brunch, we went to some bagel place, which was quite the hoppin' spot. It was good once I got my food. We ate outside, where some students were partaking in a traditional college activity and invited us to join. This was at about 11:30am. Driving through campus, we came to the conclusion that this was the college that you see in movies: guys throwing footballs on their front lawn, a girl sitting under a tree and reading, and plenty of college activities - all happening outside. I guess that is what happens when it's not 90 degrees with 100% humidity every day.
Anyways, we finally arrived at the gym and got ready to face the Billikens of Saint Louis. I guess it was the weekend of weird mascots. I thought it was a fun match, even though we lost and could have done better. Spirits were high going into the match against Miami, but a couple of long runs by them sealed our fate. We lost in three, which was absurd, but we can't do anything about that except work hard this week at practice and make sure it never happens again. After the match, they announced the all-tournament team and even gave a trophy to Ray and me for being the Captains. I've never heard of such a thing and I though it was kind of silly, but hey, I'll take any trophy they want to give me.
After the match, we went to La Rosa's, which was Italian interestingly enough. The food was good, Whitney's sister was the life of the party, and the waiter had never even heard of a malt, but was able to whip up a milkshake for Coach's birthday. Sunday morning it was time to pack up and head for good ol' Texas. The trip home was relatively uneventful except for an old man who thought Whitney was in elementary school, and Erin and Jami would not stop doing the "Amber dance." Seriously, they didn't stop. Somehow I still laughed every time...
This weekend we are going to the SMU tournament, where we'll play SMU, Montana and New Orleans. Hopefully silly Gustav won't interfere with these plans. Shout outs to Damon, Cy-Ridge, and the Block Lobsters.
Word of the Week: Perturb - v. to disturb or disquiet greatly in mind; agitate. Ex. I am perturbed that I cannot think of a good "word of the week" right now. Perhaps next week's will be better.
