Volleyball in the Sun

Leaving two days before the rest of the school went on a much-needed midterm break, the Senior Volleyball girls as well as Sarah B, Allard ’17 & Cate B, Allard ’17 headed to the warmth of California. Also on the trip were dedicated volleyball parents Dawna Merriman Yanick, Lorri McPhee, Jenny Broere and both Rosanne Zysko and Alan Wood who came to support the girls and coaches on this amazing adventure. Ms. Fougner, Mr. Minckler and the girls used this time to bond as a team and get some touches on the ball before heading into the Island playoffs.  Arriving on Tuesday, the girls loaded into two cars and headed to the hotel. Once there, everyone settled in and then headed to grab dinner at a quiet restaurant. Waking up on Wednesday, the team headed to the beach in Carlsbad and went for a team run before playing in the ocean waves. With Rachel J, Hope ’16 getting a nose bleed, the team knew it was going to be an eventful and joyous trip. We then headed back to the hotel to change before grabbing a quick lunch at In-N-Out Burger, a request of Lauren Y, Mack ’15. Getting all suited up, the team headed to Sage Creek to play our first match.  Welcomed by the Sage Creek girls with flip-flop key chains, we were excited to play this friendly match. Playing best of 5, the girls worked hard and were able to win the first three. Then it was dinnertime! Sage Creek was very kind and hosted the girls for a barbeque where we got to get to know each other. The next morning, the girls trained on the beach with the Sage Creek coach, former US pro beach player Noël Frohman, learning better movement in the sand that would directly help future play on the court. After a swim and a quick lunch, the girls went to play their second game against Oceanside State. With strong serves from April B, Hope ’16 and fantastic hits from Lauren H, Allard ’15 the game ended in three.  With one day left in Carlsbad, the girls took the opportunity to have another beach run. We really enjoyed these runs as it was a great opportunity to push ourselves while surrounded by the beautiful views and interesting culture of California. Then we went to shop for the afternoon before heading to Huntington Beach to be hosted by Carmen and Gary Hanson, for a lovely dinner and night of fun. The team bonded by playing an interesting version of pool which included leaping onto the table for Sarah B, Allard ’17. After getting to Anaheim, the girls went to American Sports Center with 40 volleyball courts set up to have a one-hour training session where we worked on hitting and defense before heading to downtown LA to watch UCLA play NCAA Div. 1 - #2 ranked University of Washington Huskies at the UCLA campus. Going first to the store so the girls could purchase some UCLA merchandise and see the campus, the anticipation to watch the game grew. We were not able to take our eyes off warm up; we knew the game would be full of astonishing plays. Both teams played with energy and incredible movement; the game was absolutely astounding to watch and ended with Washington State taking the win. Waking up on Sunday, the girls went for an hour long run along the beach in Newport! We enjoyed running in the sun and then played beach volleyball, where we worked again on movement and ball touches. Heading back to the hotel, we got ready for the final team dinner of the trip at CPK. Here we looked back on the trip and how far we had come as a team.  As Monday was the last day, we headed to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland! This was going to be a highlight of the trip. In the morning there were a lot of rides that were having mechanical problems; one group of us was stuck and had to walk off Splash Mountain, while another group was stuck on California Screamer for an hour before getting rolled back to the start in order to exit the ride! Disneyland was full of memories and fun and it let the girls relive their childhood memories and have fun with the parents who joined us on the trip.  California allowed us to spend time together and bond instead of being away from each other for a week. Everyone on the trip was sad to leave the sun of California and go back to classes, but we also felt eager and motivated for the upcoming playoffs! Mollie MG, Mack ‘15