USA D3 Volleyball Brazil - Wrapping up the trip!

We had the best of intentions to update the blog every day of the trip. However, a busy scheduled combined with some slow internet connections made that a difficult reality. So, as I'm writing this I am sitting in the airport in Rio de Janeiro waiting for our flight back to the states. It will be hard to put the last few days into words, but I will do my best!

FRIDAY:

Day 5 was our first day with no volleyball. After an early wake up call, we boarded the bus for the five hour drive to Rio. Fortunately, there was beautiful scenery most of the way. We crossed over a small mountain range that had beautiful vistas that words and pictures can't really describe adequately, unfortunately. 

The drive was way worth it when we arrived in Rio and went straight to Sugarloaf, where we boarded a 40 passenger gondola to the top. It was a hazy day, so the very top was actually in the clouds. Every few minutes, the clouds would clear a little, and we could see breathtaking views of the coast (including Copacabana Beach) and the city. One of the really fascinating facts was that the gondola system to the top was built in the early 1900's. Fortunately, it has been updated since then!

After we left Sugarloaf, we headed to check into our hotel which sits directly on Copacabana Beach. The serpentine patterned black and white tile sidewalks stretch the length of the beach, and we walked several miles of them over the course of the last few days. After throwing our bags in our rooms, we headed to a long overdue lunch/dinner at a local buffet including some great flan for dessert. On the way back from dinner, we learned the hard way to wait for the green walk signals at intersections, as a handful of us came way too close for comfort to a local bus and taxi speeding down Copacabana Avenue! Let's just say that cars are not as pedestrian conscious in Brazil as they are in the states! After a few hours to settle in and look around the beach (my family had the chance to watch a high level beach soccer game, including a bicycle kick for a goal), we met back up to head to a small open air market which was our first souvenir shopping opportunity. We found some local art, some tourist junk, and a variety of t-shirts and knock off soccer jerseys. Then we headed for an evening snack which consisted of our leader's favorite, an Ovaltine milkshake from Bob's Burger.

SATURDAY:

We didn't think the trip could get better, but Saturday was a day that we will all remember for a long time. After some time at the beach in the morning (including playing in the massive waves), we met at 11:00 to head to the Marina Barra Clube for an incredible experience. When we arrived, we were met by our hosts, the Ripper family, who came bearing gifts of shirts and water bottles. Ju Ripper played volleyball at USF in Tampa, and her entire family is involved in helping area players have opportunities to play at the next level. They arranged a tournament for us to play the Marina Barra team as well as the Flamengo team. The men's and women's teams played on side by side courts in their beautiful facility. Before play began, we found a family of capybaras just hanging out behind the gym. They resemble a giant guinea pig, and they were very patient with our paparazzi style photo taking! Our time hanging out with them was cut short by needing to lineup for our opening ceremonies. All six teams marched in and stood while one of our players sang the Star Spangled Banner and they played the Brazilian national anthem. Then it was time for volleyball. We ended the day with a win and took second place for the day. The tournament concluded with a medal presentation to each of the teams as well as a short collaborative dance demonstration with anyone game enough to get up in front of the group. To say it was entertaining would be an understatement. We waited for the Marina Barra players to shower and then took some of them on the bus with us where we met up with all of the teams at a local pizzeria. The party continued there as we swapped language lessons, jerseys, dance moves, and laughs with our new friends. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us!

SUNDAY:

Just as Saturday was an unforgettable experience from the relationship and volleyball side of things, Sunday proved to be just as unforgettable from a sightseeing perspective. Caitlyn and some others started the day by being on the beach to catch the sun rise over Sugarloaf. Then several of us made a quick trip to a local grocery store to pick up Brazilian coffee and chocolate to take home.  On the way back, we took a slight detour through the local farmers market which was full of fresh seafood and beautiful produce. Then, it was finally time to get on the bus to go see the Christ the Redeemer statue! In order to get up to the statue, you have to ride a train up the mountain (with breathtaking views along the way as well as locals selling bottled water at random stops along the way) and then walk up close to 10 stories of steps. The time and the climb was well worth it! Since it was Sunday, there was a small mass taking place at the base of the statue, and there was a huge crowd. It was a bit of a challenge to make your way through the crowd to get pictures without inadvertent photobombers, but we all managed to walk away with some great shots. 

Once we came down from the mountain, we boarded the bus for a short ride to the international market which is an open air market that takes up a city block. After doing some shopping there, some of us walked the three miles back following Ipanema and Copacabana Beaches and others rode the subway back to Copacabana where they played some beach volleyball (thanks to a local family who was kind enough to lend them a ball). Then we all met up again and walked to dinner at a local Brazillian steakhouse. The waiters made their way around to each of our tables with a variety of meat that they would slice directly onto our plates. One of the local specialities was chicken hearts. Hannah Kate captured my first taste of one on video, in case you doubt that I actually tried one. If you can get past the look of it and the texture of it, it's not too bad. I'm not sure I appreciate it as a delicacy like my Brazilian friends do, but I was able to eat a couple of them. The final course was a grilled pineapple, and I will happily recreate that back in the states! Speaking of pineapple, we had a great selection of fruit at every meal here. I will definitely miss that!

MONDAY:

After seeing everyone's sunrise pictures, my family and several others decided to head to the beach for sunrise today. It was really windy and we got a little sandblasted, but it was totally worth the 5:45 am alarm to see that beautiful sunrise. After the sun came up, the kids played in the surf for a bit while I soaked up a few last minutes of beach time. Then it was time to shower to head to Centro (via the subway, which is a very nice one) to finish our souvenir shopping at the market area known for name brand knockoffs. It was a unique shopping experience, and everyone came away satisfied with lower cost items including popular soccer jerseys, handbags, etc. Once we headed back to the hotel and emerged from the subway, we were met with our first bad weather of the trip. It rained the rest of our day, but we didn't let it keep us from a couple more adventures. 

After yet another great meal, where we were able to celebrate Caitlyn's birthday with some cake, and a final team meeting with our entire travel party that included a drawing for a variety of goodies that Ron had collected over the week, we loaded our bags on the bus and headed for one last tour en route to the airport. Our Brazilian guide Leo (pronounce Lay-o), who is an all around great guy with one of the best smiles I've ever seen and is currently an assistant coach for a professional men's basketball team in southern Brazil, had arranged for us to get a tour of the club where he grew up playing basketball, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo. It also happens to be one of the most popular sports clubs in Brazil and will be hosting our U.S. Olympic teams in 2016. The Flamengo property sits right on the lake in the middle of Rio, and the first part of the property we toured was their boathouse and crew training facility. We then continued in the rain to see all of the facilities our Olympians will use for practice next year. It was well worth looking like a drowned rat to get the opportunity to see behind the scenes at such an exclusive place. 

As this trip comes to an end, I find myself reflecting on a few things. The hospitality of the Brazilian people was overwhelming. Our poor attempts to speak Portuguese were always met with smiles and appreciation. This sport that we love served as a common language all week, despite being in a different hemisphere and speaking different languages. The opportunities that sports provide for our athletes as well as the young athletes all over the world really are incredible. The group of 34 people who came to Brazil this week to represent the USA and DIII volleyball are leaving as friends, despite having never met before last week or even having been on competing teams in the past. I am incredibly proud of how these players embraced this opportunity and treated everyone we met with respect and generosity. Finally, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we are coming home with a strong connection with a country that opened her arms wide to us this week and tremendous gratitude for Ron Smith and all of "his people" who made this trip possible for us. Until next time Brasil, tchau!

USA D3 Volleyball - Incredible hospitality and great food!

Days 3 and 4 have been full of great competition, great food, and opportunities to explore Brazilian culture. Here is Caitlyn's perspective on the last couple of days! 

"After a late night in Valinhos, everyone was looking forward to finally getting a full night's rest! Wednesday morning we woke up to a traditional Brazilian buffet breakfast- eggs, meats, cheese, fresh fruit and a array of pastries and donut-like temptations. We had the morning off from volleyball so most of us headed to the Carrefour, a Brazilian style Walmart complete with a Subway, chocolate shop, bakery, and fast-food restaurant called Pimpas. It was fun to see the different types of fruit in the produce section, and I was surprised how many American brands (like Oreos) they sold. However, there were a few major differences: pipoca, pronounced pee-poh-kah, their version of popcorn reminds me more of an edible version of styrofoam packing peanuts and most of the bottle water sold is actually carbonated bottled water (a few of our players learned this the hard way). The rest of the morning was spent lounging at the hotel pool bonding before our next match.

At 4pm, we loaded the motor coach and headed to the Balaó, an echoing dome arena, to play Jundiai's U22 professional teams. The hospitality in Jundiai was incredible! They played our National Anthem before the match, provided professional refs, a professional photographer, and the fan atmosphere was exciting. The minute we walked into the Balaó we felt like celebrities because everyone, including the families that traveled with us, was constantly being asked to take photos with fans! My favorite part of Brazil (besides the food) has been the people! Post-match, the Brazilian players always ask us to trade our college or USA t-shirts for their jerseys or warmup shirts- I even received a Brazilian flag in exchange for one of my extra shirts. The look on their faces when we agree to exchange is priceless and sometimes they thank us with a hug or kiss on the cheek! After our matches in Jundiai we had the most incredible dinner at a local family-style restaurant called O Bom da Picanha II. They served us salad, breaded corn and potatoes, chicken, steak, and of course dessert. This is a good time to mention that I've been in a permanent food coma the entire trip.

Thursday, we departed our hotel in Jundiai and traveled about an hour and a half to our next match in Piracicaba. All of the gyms we have played in have been so different and unique. Piracicaba's was older then Valinhos and Jundiai's and was shaped like a barrel or airplane hanger and was in conjunction with a professional soccer stadium that we also got to visit. The Piracicaba women's volleyball team was comprised of 12 of the most athletic looking 22 to 28 year-olds I've ever seen! They were talented yet classy and I was proud of how our team really stepped up to the challenge. After the match we were once again approached to trade T-shirts, spandex, and even socks with the Piracicaba players. I think this is a tradition we should bring back to the states! After the match we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a fancy place called Burger King :-) The menu was virtually identical to ours back home, except with a different assortment of Brazilian sodas.

Last night we traveled three hours to San Josè dos Campõs and checked into our overnight hotel, which really is more like an apartment with a separate living room, kitchen, and two balconies that overlooked the city. Before we went to sleep we had a little time to explore a local mall and have dinner in its giant food court. We were given $50R (about $15US) to choose whatever we wanted. I played it safe and went with a create-your-own pasta place that Leo (our Brazilian guide/interpreter/foodie/BFF) recommended. Many members of our group indulged in Ovaltine-flavored milkshakes from Bob's Burgers. I'm not a huge chocolate person so I went with gelato to deepen my food coma.

This morning we woke up really early to travel to Rio de Janeiro! It's about a four hour ride depending on traffic. I'm currently sitting on our motor coach and almost everyone is resting up for a big day of site seeing. I am looking forward to visiting Sugarloaf today and hopefully seeing a few stadiums as Rio prepares to host the Olympics next summer! Tchau!"

USA D3 Volleyball - Overnight travel and playing a pro team

Our first day in Brazil was a LONG one! Thank goodness for a group who are fun, adventurous, and givers! It started with a 9 hour overnight flight where most of us got a maximum of two hours of sleep, if we were lucky. Fortunately, that was the worst part of the day.

As the sun came up, we flew over the Amazon River and then continued south to land in São Paulo, a city with 16 million people! It seemed like the city went on forever with endless high rise apartment buildings. Once we were off the plane, we had our bags, were through customs, and on a really nice bus in less than an hour. As we made our way to Jundiai, we fought our urge to sleep to take in the sights, which included a pro soccer stadium and the parade route for Carnival. After about 45 minutes, we arrived at our hotel to eat a delicious buffet lunch, shower and rest for a few hours. I don't think a bed has ever felt so good!

Before we knew it, it was time to load the bus again and head to Campinos for our first match. As we started to warm up and get a feel for the court, our opponents showed up. We played the Division B pro team Valinhos. They had about 20 players on the roster (ranging in age from 23-30) including a 6'7" middle blocker! Warm ups were different from what our players are accustomed.  We did shared hitting where we got our first glimpse of what we were up against, as the Valinhos players grunted loudly as they crushed balls. We also played with the international purple and yellow balls for the first time for most of our players. They have a very different feel from the leather balls we use in the U.S.  Despite all of the differences and lack of sleep, our team played great and challenged our opponents in all aspects of the game. We ended up playing five sets (all to 25). While we lost all of the sets, we continued to get better as the girls got more and more comfortable playing together, and, most importantly, our energy and competive spirit stayed consistently high throughout the match.

The real highlight of the day was after our match when we had the chance to spend time hanging out with the Valinhos players, learning Portuguese, taking selfies, swapping shirts and Instagram names, sharing music, and laughing with each other. It was so much fun to see the similarities and differences and learn from each other!

We also got to watch our men's team play for the first time. They played a Masters level (30-40 year olds) team and lost in an exciting five set match. By the time they finished, it was after 10pm, and we were all starving! So, we headed to a local pizzeria near our hotel which was completely different from American pizza. There were all kinds of delicious combinations (none of which resembled our pizza except the crust) that they brought around to the table to take whatever you wanted. There was even dessert pizza with Neapolitan ice cream on top! After we all had our fill, we finally got to our rooms around 12:30am and slept the best I ever have on the road!

So far, we have not been disappointed with the hospitality of our Brazilian friends, the quality of volleyball, or the unusual experiences! Looking forward to another great day! Estamos animado para outro dia!

USA D3 Volleyball - Coming together and heading south!

It has been a great first 24 hours getting to know these players and figuring out how we are going to come together to represent our schools and country in the coming week!  Here is Hannah Kate's insight on the first day.  Enjoy!

"Our first practice was a bit rough, but what first practice isn't?  It was obvious that this group of girls is full of talent and we just needed to break some ice, which is exactly what we did when we got back to the hotel! Coach Mika had us write down 3 facts no one else would know about us and then crumple up the piece of paper. Coach passed them back out for other people to read and we had to guess who wrote the 3 facts. Through this extremely entertaining ice breaker game, I learned that 3 girls on the team have a twin, Coach Caitlyn used to live next door to a prison, and Coach Mika used to have a pet raccoon.  I mean who knew our Harvard graduate coach grew up on a dairy farm with a pet raccoon? I definitely didn't. By 11:30 we were exhausted and ready for bed, all of us looking forward to our second practice and flight to Brazil the next day. 
     After waking up at 6:30 AM on Day 2, the team met for breakfast in the lobby. We were then squished into a van to be taken to our second practice together. Considering we had known each other less than 24 hours, I would say practice went really well!  We were then squished back into our box-like van to go back to the hotel for some much needed showers. The van smelled pretty bad, but I have to say, the elevator ride with some of the guys from the men's team was way worse.
     After eating a quick lunch we loaded up the vans and headed off to the Orlando airport to catch a flight to Atlanta. On our way to the gate we spotted a large TV that was playing "How to Train Your Dragon 2". Apparently, you are never too old for an animated movie because a random forty-something year old man decided to join our childish indulgence. Four hours later, the plane is boarded and we are ready for take off! I'm literally typing this as we leave the ground. After this short flight, the only thing standing between Team USA and Brazil is a long 10 hour overnight flight. I have absolutely no idea how I will sleep. But no worries, our team has loads of Tylenol PM, Advil PM, melatonin, etc. I'm honestly surprised we got through security with the amount of (legal) drugs we have in our carry ons.
     Regardless of the long flight, I cannot wait to be competing in Brazil with this amazing team! Peace out America." 


Be sure to follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BerryCollegeVolleyball) and Instagram (https://instagram.com/berryvolleyball/) to see pictures each day!

Opportunity of a Lifetime - Nós estamos indo para o Brasil!

Early last fall, I was presented with the opportunity to coach the USA D-3 team headed to Brazil.  As you can imagine, it didn't take me long to say "YES!"  In the months since then, Ron Smith has assembled an incredible team of DIII volleyball players to represent the USA in what will be a trip of a lifetime for all of us.  Today, we all officially met for the first time in Orlando where we will practice tonight and tomorrow morning before boarding a plane tomorrow evening.  Joining me on this adventure is our own Assistant Coach Caitlyn Jansen and rising sophomore setter Hannah Kate Thompson as well as my family.  In addition to our women's team, we will also be traveling with the USA D-3 men's team.  To say that we are all excited to get started on this adventure is a tremendous understatement!  We plan to write daily (I'll get Caitlyn and Hannah Kate to share their perspectives, too!) in order to bring you all along for the ride!  Stay tuned and boa noite!

2013 Season Highlight Video

Last night, we had the opportunity to celebrate our incredible 2013 season.  In the days to come, I will share some of the stories and photos from the night, but for right now I just want to share the highlight video.  I hope you enjoy following us on the journey.  We were beyond blessed to experience all that we did this season!  Enjoy!

Berry Volleyball 2013

Okay, so the blog has been a little unattended for a while, a long while.

It's hard to believe that we are already about midway through the 2013 season.  This group has been such an incredible joy to coach, and we could not be more excited about the successes we have had and even more about the progress we are making daily.  They came back to preseason in the best shape of any Berry team to date, and it has shown in their high level of play over the last 6 weeks.  We saw things in our practice gym and on the road in the first few weeks of the season that we were not seeing until the very end of last year.  That is exciting stuff from a coach's perspective!

Our preseason schedule took us as far as Virginia and Texas, and our conference schedule has already taken us to Memphis and Arkansas.  We are in the middle of a three week travel stint right now that makes me think we should be dubbed the 'Road Warriors.'  Fortunately, this team gets along incredibly well and is able to enjoy even the mundane and annoying parts of travel.  From finding interesting people to watch in the airport to finding ways to entertain ourselves when we have bus challenges to enjoying the sights and food of our locale, you can always count on this group to be entertaining and to be enjoying each other's company.

The 2013 edition of Berry volleyball has set some lofty goals for themselves, and our coaching staff is so excited to be on this journey with them.  We look forward to keeping you better informed along the way!  If you happen to be in Jackson, MS or Birmingham, AL this weekend, we would love to see you at a game!

Our Senior!

A great deal has happened since I last wrote, and I will in time try to put into words what it was like for this team to reach it's goal of winning the first ever SAA Championship.  However, I want to take a few minutes now to highlight a player who was such a huge part of that journey - our senior, Jenn Tinnell!

Jenn Tinnell came in as a freshman as part of the first class to be recruited under NCAA rules at Berry. As a member of that class, she was slated to compete for four years with no post-season play as Berry was just starting the four year transition from NAIA to NCAA.  As a freshman, she played primarily right side for us and was a major contributor.  Going into her sophomore year, we were expecting more of the same.  She had a great preseason, and I had submitted our starting line up for our first match with her number on it.  Two minutes before the game started she went up for an attack and came down what appeared to be a little off balance.  She started walking towards the bench and I met her to ask, "Are you okay?"  Her response..."I think I just tore my ACL again."  As a coach, you hurt when your players hurt, and there have been very few instances that I have hurt any more for a player than I did watching Jenn sustain that injury and then go through an incredibly extensive surgery and rehab to repair what ended up being very extensive damage to her knee.  Not only did she not return to play her sophomore or junior year, but no one (including our coaches, her parents, or our trainers) expected her to return for her senior season.  She had been able to play tennis again, but we all thought volleyball was out of the question.  However, Jenn had other plans.

Jenn has always epitomized "team player," and she desperately missed playing a team sport.  She trained on her own all spring and summer of this year in the hopes of proving to herself, her coaches, and her parents that she could return to play volleyball.  She came to see me in late June / early July long after our roster had already been solidified for this fall to ask if I would be willing to give her a chance to come back to play on the team.  At that point, she had not played competitive volleyball for almost two years, and my first response was concern about her being disappointed in what she would be able to contribute now versus what she contributed as a healthy, talented freshman.  After consulting with her parents and doing a bit of soul searching regarding her motives, she and I agreed that she could come back to join the team.  However, we did decide that it would be in her best interest not to play a front row position that would require a lot of jumping.  So, she would become a 5'10" defensive specialist who also happened to be one of the smarter hitters I have ever coached.  As a coach, I really didn't know what to expect from her physically, but I did know that she would make our team better with her work ethic and her team first mentality.

The first day of preseason brought the expected physical testing, grueling two a day practices, and tests of mental toughness.  What stands out the most to me both then and now from that day was the pure joy that was emanating from Jenn.  It didn't matter how tough the drill was, how tired she was, or what position she was playing, she was ecstatic to be back with her teammates playing the game that she loves.  I mentioned that I had noticed her big smile during the first practice and how happy it made me to see her back on the floor, and she merely responded, "It's SO MUCH FUN!!"

As the season progressed and her younger teammates developed meaningful relationships with Jenn, it was no surprise that she was selected as one of the co-captains.  She brought a consistently positive attitude to the gym and her work ethic and attitude constantly reminded all of us to not take one day for granted.  On a team that consisted of 10 of our 15 players being freshmen and sophomores, her maturity  coupled with her experience brought so much to the gym.  Her skills returned quickly and just got better as the season went.  By the end, her ball control, and particularly her serve receive, was one of the biggest components to our success this season.  She played well enough as a libero (a position she had never played prior to this year) to be named to the 2nd Team All Conference and make the SAA Conference All Tourney team as well as be named MVP of the Berry Invitational.  However, beyond all of her great play, it is Jenn's humility, love for her team, and calm under pressure that we will all miss the most!  As her coach, it has been a pure joy to have been along for the ride with her this year and watch her overcome so much to lead her team to the greatest season in Berry history!

Enjoy some highlights from Jenn's career...

Dig Pink - Jersey Auction and more!

On Wednesday, October 17, Berry Volleyball will hold our second annual Dig Pink event to raise money and awareness to benefit the Side Out Foundation, a charitable organization that is committed to the unification of the sport of volleyball and its alliance with the movement for breast cancer awareness, education, and research.  You can click on the link above to donate directly to help us reach our fundraising goal of $2,500, or you can help us reach our goal in a number of other ways.

1) Attend our match versus Shorter on October 17, and 100% of the gate admission will go towards the cause!

2) Bring your spare change to donate at the event.  We will have a "penny" war to see which school's fans can raise the most money.

3) Pledge to donate an amount of money per dig that we make in our Oct 17 match.  We are averaging 13.03 digs per set which means we are likely to have between 39 and 65 digs in the match depending on how many sets we play.  So, a pledge of $.50 per dig would mean a donation of between $19.50 and $32.50.  You can e-mail Coach Mika Robinson at mrobinson@berry.edu or contact your favorite player to make a pledge.

4) Buy a Berry Dig Pink shirt at the event or by e-mailing Coach Mika Robinson at mrobinson@berry.edu.  Shirts are $10 each and are available in adult sizes.

5) Buy one of the game jerseys in our jersey auction!  To bid on a jersey, e-mail Coach Mika Robinson at mrobinson@berry.edu to get a bid number.  You may e-mail Coach Robinson as often as you like to update your bid.  This post will be updated to reflect current bids.  Remote bidding will close at 3:00pm on Oct 17 and silent auction bidding will re-open at the match.  If you are unable to attend the match, you can e-mail a "high bid" to be applied at the end of the evening.  The following jerseys are available for auction:

ONLINE BIDDING HAS NOW CLOSED.  BIDS WILL BE TAKEN STARTING AT 6:30 UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF THE 3RD SET OF TONIGHT'S MATCH.

BERRY
 #      Player Name                            Current Bid       Current High Bid #

1      Stephanie Steele                 $75                     5
2      Krista Miller                         $40                    7

3      Sarah Steffan                      $20    

4      Emily Stromberg                 $20    

6      Kelsey Lochstampfor           $75                    10  

7      Stephanie Quinn                  $40                     6

8      Meredith Hopper                   $500                  1
9      Chrissy Ricketts                    $20                   4

10    Lauren Schmitz                     $20                  12

11    Anna Keappler                      $50                   9       

12    Gretchen Kaufman                $35                  11      

13    Megan Woodall                     $20        

14    Katie O'Rourke                      $20          
15    Claressa Brekke                    $50                   3
18    Jennifer Tinnell                      $20

 

SHORTER

 #      Player Name                      Current Bid       Current High Bid #

1       Jennifer Campbell          $20

2       Jasmine Crook               $20

3       Megan Pepe                   $20

4       Christina Johnson          $20

5       Lauren Millsaps             $20

7       Taylor Wilkerson           $20

8       Jasmine Nieman            $20

9       Leslie Welch                 $20

11     Brooke Dowd               $20

12     Loren Olive                   $20

13     Tanequa Whitman         $20

14     Anna Graham                $20

15     Jessica White                 $20                  13

16     Sarah Armstrong           $20

17     Dena Pierce                   $20

21     Jordan Corder                $20

22     Kelsey Kirk                   $20

23     Michala Askew              $20

 

Parents' Day and Mountain Day

What a great weekend to be a part of the Berry family!  Mountain Day is a homecoming tradition that celebrated its 98th year this year, and it is truly a unique Berry experience.  Then, when you add three home volleyball victories and recognition of our parents on Parents' Day, and you really could not ask for a better weekend!

Friday started off with our opportunity to pay Centre back for our lone conference loss so far this year.  Our team came mentally and physically prepared as we finished off our conference opponent in three sets.  However, there was no time to celebrate as our match versus perennial regional contender Maryville started a mere 40 minutes later.  The Maryville match turned into a thrilling five set victory that provided some incredibly long rallies for our loyal fans to enjoy.  Without a doubt, Maryville made us earn that victory, and singing the Alma Mater after the victory never felt so sweet!

Saturday brought Mountain Day festivities including the Grand March, picnic on the mountain, Parents' Day prior to our match versus Sewanee, and finally Marthapalooza on Saturday night.  The day was a resounding success with beautiful weather, another solid conference win, and great fellowship with friends and family!  Below are the pre-game video dedicated to our parents along with a few fun photos from Mountain Day!  Enjoy!

Home At Last!

When you start the season with three consecutive weeks of road games, you gain a totally new appreciation for playing at home!  We returned home this past weekend to play our first matches of the season in the Stephen J. Cage Center and what a homecoming it was!  Friday night started with a tailgate for our fans sponsored by Residence Life, our first 50 fans received a special Berry Athletics t-shirt, and our fans came dressed in the their "frat attire" as part of the promotional theme!  From the opening rendition of the Berry Fight Song to the crowd joining our team in singing the Berry Alma Mater after the home conference win, it could not have been more fun to play at home!  Here are just a few of the things that we like about playing at home:

• we have the best fans in DIII volleyball
• the Cage Center is an ideal volleyball facility that enables us to run our matches in a first class manner
• we get to control the warm up music  :-)
• sleeping in our own beds sure is nice
• no stress from missed classes
• no long bus rides
• did I mention that we have the best fans in DIII volleyball?
• coach's son provides ample entertainment any time there is music, and there is a lot of music at our home games

Fortunately, we get to play at home for the next two weekends!  If you are anywhere near Rome, we hope you will come and enjoy the fun as we continue on our quest for a conference championship!  So far, we are 4-1 (2-0 at home) in conference with some important match ups coming up in the next two weeks!

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what's in store!

Chemistry

Every year, our coaching staff seeks out individuals who we think will be a good fit athletically and, more importantly, a good fit with our team chemistry.  This past year was no exception.  This year, however, does present some interesting challenges and opportunities.  For the first time in my tenure as the head coach of Berry Volleyball, we have a full roster of 15 players.  Along with that full roster comes an incredible amount of depth and competition for positions and playing time.  Coming into the season, we challenged our players to see this depth and competition as the blessing that it is to a team who is determined to win the first ever SAA Championship.  After a week and a half of preseason, two scrimmages, and a tournament championship under our belt, I am happy to report that they have totally embraced this blessing.

This past weekend took us to our opening tournament at Clearwater Christian College.  We plowed through the competition with the composure and unity that would be expected of  a veteran team.  However, our team has five new players, no true seniors (both of our seniors medically redshirted last year), and ten of our fifteen players have a year or less of college playing experience.  I had numerous outsiders compliment our team's performance, and it truly was enjoyable to watch them go about their task of making every point count and relying on each other.  Position groups (players who all play the same position and thus compete directly for playing time) were obviously cheering for each other no matter which of them found their way to the court, accountability partners were celebrating good plays, and there were absolutely no lines between classes.  The day after the tournament ended we had the opportunity to relax at the beach, play a little sand volleyball, and just enjoy each other's company.  It was so much fun to watch the ebb and flow of their interactions as there were no consistent cliques, no individuals on the outside looking in, and everyone was included and inclusive.

Obviously, one might argue that a 4-0, tournament championship start might be the reason for all of our euphoria, but I am confident that it has much more to do with the heart of these individuals and this team.  I know we will face our challenges (we have already been faced with some injury challenges), but I know that our commitment to each other and the big picture will carry us through those challenges.

I often say that I am blessed to be the coach of Berry Volleyball and work with the amazing women who make up this team (past and present), and this year is certainly no exception!  While I might have majored in psychology, I can assure you that I know the right chemistry for a championship team when I see it, and the 2012 Berry Vikings have exactly the right ingredients!

80 Days...

80 days from today the Southern Athletic Association will crown its first ever conference champion in volleyball.  The 2012 Berry Vikings return to campus today and begin their quest to be one of the two teams playing in that game.  It will be a year of firsts...the first year the Vikings can compete for a conference championship since the move to NCAA DIII...the first year competing in the newly formed Southern Athletic Association conference...the first year that every player on the team was recruited under NCAA DIII rules...the first year with Assistant Coach Caitlyn Jansen.  It will also be a year of carrying on the tradition of the Viking teams who have played before...playing Shorter in the Cage...hosting another Dig Pink match to raise money for breast cancer awareness...honoring our parents on Parents' Day....playing with heart, passion, and commitment to team.  2012 is going to be a special year in Berry Volleyball history...the story has 80 days to unfold!

See you in the Cage!

The Big Picture

     There are many things I have come to love about Berry over the last four years, but one of the things that I love most is how it promotes finding ways to improve the lives of those around us.  Last night, our team was honored to receive one of the coveted Heart of Berry Awards "in recognition of invaluable contributions to the campus and community, for our support of cancer awareness and research, and for continuously embodying the Berry College motto, 'Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.'"  We received the beautiful plaque pictured above as well as a very nice certificate to commemorate the honor.  Quite honestly, we could not have been more surprised by the honor, as I don't think any of us feel like we have done anything out of the ordinary or above and beyond what we are all called to do.  In fact, we often talk about wanting to find more ways to give back.  However, I find myself this morning being very grateful not just for the recognition but for being part of an institution that places value on service.  This also led me to reflect on many things over the last few months that have reminded me of "the big picture."

     Every player who we have recruited to Berry College has heard me talk about how we want our program to be about life lessons (quickly followed by the assertion that you would be hard pressed to find anyone more competitive than me!).  In the heat of the competition, when we are dealing with injuries or conflict, or when challenges present themselves, we sometimes get caught up in the moment.  However, it is my hope that our values and guiding principles shine through, especially in those moments.  Fortunately, I always have some great reminders of that "big picture," our alumnae!  A few months ago, I got a call from a recent alumna letting me know she would be in town and hoping we could get together for coffee.  As we caught up over coffee the next day, our conversation quickly turned to some of her current struggles, and I was touched that she sincerely wanted my thoughts and advice on the topic.  About a month later, I had the pleasure of catching up with two of our alumnae while I was on the recruiting trail and they were coaching their club teams.  Aside from talking to them about their lives and coaching, the highlight of my weekend was watching them on the sidelines.  The passion with which they were helping their teams pursue excellence, the way in which they continuously supported their players, and their composure in the moment were all great reminders to me of "the big picture."  Over our spring break, our family had a chance to spend some time with Mickey and friends at Disney.  However, the friend that was the highlight of the trip was another alumna who chose to spend her two days off that week hanging out with us.  Just this past week, a simple "Happy Birthday" text to an alumna that I had not talked to in a while turned into a great text conversation.  While she reported how much she misses playing and misses being part of our team, she was also able to report on all of her current successes.  I wouldn't trade any of these moments for the world, and they make all of the daily struggles, conflicts, and challenges worth it ten times over.

     So, for today, I have definitely been reminded of Berry's charge to us...we are "not to be ministered unto, but to minister."  After all, that IS the "the big picture"!

Tribute to Our Seniors

There are a number of topics on my mind on the day after our last match for the 2011 season, but I want to put all of them on hold in order to take some time to reflect on the careers of our two seniors, Kiersten Hammock and Claire Scott.

As a coach, one of the greatest joys of my job is having a front row seat to watch these wonderful young women grow and mature over their four years of college.  Every year, we greet a new group of freshmen, and we say goodbye to another group of seniors.  In the time that passes between their first pre season practice as a freshman and their last game in a Viking jersey, each one of them leave an indelible mark on my life and challenge me to be a better coach every day.  Fortunately, senior night does not really mean goodbye though.  I look forward to continuing to share in their joys and frustrations for years to come as our Berry Volleyball Alumni family is just that...family.

I am so proud to say that I am Kiersten and Claire's coach!  They are leaving a tremendous legacy for this team.  At the risk of embarrassing them greatly, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on each of their careers in a Viking jersey.


Kiersten Hammock #14 - aka Kiki - MB from Athens, GA

Kiersten was already a freshman at Berry before I was even aware of her existence.  It was in the spring of her freshmen year that several of our other players came to me to tell me that there was a girl playing intramurals that was pretty good.  At their urging and my request, she finally came to see me.  We decided that she would come to a spring practice with the team as a tryout.  The one day tryout turned into two days and then into a week.  Finally, I asked her to come up to the office to meet with me, and I told her we would love for her to join our team.  Today, we both laugh at her utter surprise and lack of any response except "Ok".  She practiced with us all spring and then returned in the fall for her first collegiate season.  To say that her sophomore year was a bit challenging for both of us would be putting it mildly.  The two of us seemed to be completely incapable of communicating with each other.  At the conclusion of the season, we finally sat down and had a very open conversation where we both gained insight on the other's perspective.  She learned that my belief in her was beyond what she even imagined, and I learned that her guarded demeanor was completely rooted in her perfectionism and high expectations.

Since that first fall, it has been such a joy to watch Kiki grow by leaps and bounds as a volleyball player, and as a team leader.  There were points during her junior year when she still questioned why she was playing and if all of the sacrifice was worth it.  So, to watch her shine in her final season as a Viking (as a leader on and off the court) and to watch her pass on all of those lessons learned to this young team has been so incredibly rewarding for me to watch.  As her senior season was coming to a close, she set one career record after another (16 kills versus Covenant, followed by 19 kills versus Susquehanna and an All Tournament and Player of the Week selection).  We talked a lot this season about 'finishing well', and I can't think of a better way to describe Kiersten's career!


Claire Scott #10 - aka Yogi - OH from Portland, OR

When I took the job as Head Coach of Berry Volleyball, Claire had already committed to come play for the Vikings.  I met her for the first time at her summer orientation and saw her play for the first time when she arrived on campus for pre season.  During that first pre season is when she earned the nickname that I have a feeling will stick with her forever.  On a team laser tag outing, one of the upperclassmen decided that Claire reminded her of Yogi Bear.  From that point forward, she has been known as Yogi.  It was obvious right away that Claire was going to have a big impact on our program.  Even as a freshman, she played in almost every match, and she had a big impact on our defense and serving in a year where we had five seniors and won a conference championship.  It wasn't until much later that I would learn that Claire struggled that year trying to figure out if Berry was the right place for her.  She struggled so much that she even considered not coming back for her sophomore season.  Oh, I am so happy that she did!  She continued to grow as a player through her sophomore year and became even more of a go to player for us.  More importantly, she made better connections with her teammates and coaches and truly enjoyed the experience.

As a junior, Claire stepped into a leadership role when she was voted as one of the team captains.  Similar to Kiki, Claire also has a tendency towards perfectionism (okay that may be a slight understatement), and she struggled throughout her junior year with playing up to her own expectations.  She had a great year by all accounts, but she was often frustrated.  One of the funnier moments involving her handling frustration came after she and I had gone to lunch to find some coping strategies for when she got into that frustrated state.  She decided that she wanted me to send her to run if she got into one of those states during practice or a match.  Her teammates were unaware of our agreement, so you can imagine their surprise when I sent her off to run between sets one and two of our match against our biggest rival, Shorter.  She came back after two full minutes of sprinting the hallways of Shorter dripping with sweat but completely refocused and ready to perform.

As a senior, Claire stepped up in every way possible.  One of the requests our coaches made of her was  to be more vocal than she is by nature.  She took that request to heart and was consistently one of our most vocal players this fall.  To say she finished her career on a high note is putting it mildly.  She surpassed 1,000 career digs and 1,000 career points, led our team in kills, and was only 8 aces away from breaking Berry's career ace record.  Along the way, she earned All Tournament and Player of the Week honors and had 13 double-double performances!

 Highlights
It has become a tradition for our team to have a highlight video honoring our seniors that we play in the concourse before our senior night match and show the team during our pre-game talk.  Below is the video from last night.  Enjoy!

Dig Pink a Huge Success!

CURRENT TOTAL DONATION = $2,170.51

Tonight had it all...big hits, big blocks, incredible digs, milestones, AND we raised a lot of money for a great cause!  The final tally will probably take a couple of days as pledges continue to come in and shirts continue to sell, but the Viking Volleyball family is very appreciative of all of the fans who came out to support our Dig Pink event tonight (or supported from afar).  I think the fans that made it to the Cage tonight would say that they got their money's worth!

Here are the winners of the jersey auction:

#1 Meredith Hopper - winning bidder Michael Hopper for $200
#2 Krista Miller - winning bidder Donna Miller for $40
#3 Sarah Steffan - winning bidder Anonymous Donor for $50
#4 Christy Meggitt - winning bidder Anonymous Donor for $50
#5 Stormy Coppotelli - winning bidder Terry Coppotelli for $100
#6 Kelsey Lochstampfor - winning bidder Elysa Lochstampfor for $25
#7 Stephanie Quinn - winning bidder Yvette Dickens for $40
#9 Chrissy Ricketts - winning bidder Matt Ricketts for $100
#10 Claire Scott - winning bidder Bill Scott for $100
#11 Kristin Hargrove - winning bidder Anonymous Donor for $50
#12 Gretchen Kaufman - winning bidder Suzanne Kaufman for $40
#13 Megan Woodall - winning bidder Anonymous Donor for $50
#14 Kiersten Hammock - winning bidder Ginger Swann for $100

Total amount raised for the Side-Out Foundation from the jersey auction = $945
(Game jerseys were donated by Kessler Sports, so 100% of this money goes to the cause!)

Gate receipts, t-shirt sales, pledges, and spare change collections will be tallied in the next couple of days. Check back for our final total raised!

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this a successful event!

Dig Pink - Jersey Auction and more!

On Tuesday, October 25, Berry Volleyball will hold our first annual Dig Pink event to raise money and awareness to benefit the Side Out Foundation, a charitable organization that is committed to the unification of the sport of volleyball and its alliance with the movement for breast cancer awareness, education, and research.  You can click on the link above to donate directly to help us reach our fundraising goal of $2,500, or you can help us reach our goal in a number of other ways.


1) Attend our match versus Covenant on October 25, and 100% of the gate admission will go towards the cause!


2) Bring your spare change to donate at the event.  We will be passing around a special volleyball "bank" to collect change.


3) Pledge to donate an amount of money per dig that we make in our Oct 25 match.  We are averaging 16.45 digs per set which means we are likely to have between 49 and 82 digs in the match depending on how many sets we play.  So, a pledge of $.50 per dig would mean a donation of between $24.50 and $41.  You can e-mail Coach Mika Robinson at mrobinson@berry.edu or contact your favorite player to make a pledge.


4) Buy a Berry Dig Pink shirt at the event or by e-mailing Coach Mika Robinson at mrobinson@berry.edu.  Shirts are $10 each and are available in adult sizes.

5) Buy one of the game jerseys in our jersey auction!  To bid on a jersey, e-mail Coach Mika Robinson at mrobinson@berry.edu to get a bid number.  You may e-mail Coach Robinson as often as you like to update your bid.  This post will be updated to reflect current bids.  Remote bidding will close at 3:00pm on Oct 25 and silent auction bidding will re-open at the match.  If you are unable to attend the match, you can e-mail a "high bid" to be applied at the end of the evening.  The following jerseys are available for auction:


BIDDING BY E-MAIL IS NOW CLOSED (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MAXIMUM BIDS TO BE APPLIED AT END OF NIGHT)!  COME TO THE MATCH TONIGHT TO BID ON YOUR FAVORITE PLAYER'S JERSEY!

 #      Player Name                     Current Bid Amount              Current High Bid #

#1     Meredith Hopper                             $200                                              5
#2     Krista Miller                                      $40                                              10

#3     Sarah Steffan                                  $20                                               1

#4     Christy Meggitt                                 $20                                               1

#5     Stormy Coppotelli                            $100                                              4

#6     Kelsey Lochstampfor                       $20                                               1

#7     Stephanie Quinn                             $40                                               6

#9     Chrissy Ricketts                               $100                                              3

#10   Claire Scott                                      $100                                              7

#11   Kristin Hargrove                               $20                                               1

#12   Gretchen Kaufman                          $20                                               1

#13   Megan Woodall                               $20                                               1

#14   Kiersten Hammock                          $50                                               9

What happened to September?

After realizing that we haven't updated our blog since the first weekend, I realized just how quickly the first half of our season has gone!  After returning from California determined to improve, we did just that! We opened at home against Reinhardt with a solid victory in front of our always great home crowd and then won all four matches in the Cage that weekend to claim our 4th consecutive Berry Invitational Championship.  So, after our 0-4 start, we quickly found ourselves 5-4 and all seemed right again.

The beginning of the next week brought more challenges as we dropped a close four set match on the road to Piedmont, and we all felt like we could have played better.  However, as I am beginning to realize about this team, they are terrific at bouncing back.  We went on the road two days later and beat a very solid Faulkner team in three sets.

From there, our attention quickly turned to preparing to host our cross town rival Shorter the following Tuesday.  In front of a record crowd (over 1,000 fans in the Cage that night), we lost a tight four set match, but there were a light of bright moments.  See a few highlights below.

The following weekend we headed to Emory to play in their homecoming tournament.  I don't know when I have been so proud of a group of players as I was that weekend.  We went into the weekend with a variety of challenges including injuries, illness, and a team member having lost a loved one.  When it was all said and done, we played three five set matches (won two and lost one of them) and THEN played #3 in the country with a line up we had only practiced one day and competed very well.  Our team's heart and competitive spirit over the course of that long weekend was something to be admired.  Along the way we were also fortunate to have one of our families host us for brunch, and it was the perfect way to start that second day of the tournament.

This past week brought more challenges as the majority of our team were struggling with some type of cold/flu.  It was a rough start to the week as we dropped our match on the road, but we rebounded to defeat an NCAA DII school in the Cage to kick off Mountain Day weekend and honor our parents.  Below is a short video that we shared on parent night prior to introducing the parents before the match.  Enjoy!

Speaking of honors, two of our players reached really big milestones this month.  Senior outside hitter Claire Scott and junior libero Kristin Hargrove both reached 1,000 career digs.  It was fitting that they reached this milestone so close together as they compliment each other so well on our back row.  We were able to honor them prior to our parents' night match and present each of them with the game ball that was in play when they made their 1,000th dig.

We head to Shorter again tonight!  Looking forward to sharing some great highlights from tonight's match!  Go Vikings!