Nebraska
Invite - Oct. 3, 2009
Kylee S
The first tournament of the year
was officially a success! Not only did the A team place 1st, but
there were strong showings from the B and C teams. It’s pretty cool knowing you
have enough girls with interest and talent to make up three competitive club
teams. Not every university has that luxury. Although there were only a total
of nine teams at the Nebraska Invite, the competition was strong and the games
were physically tiring. I can attest to this, seeing as I’m still sore one week
later.
The ride to Lincoln only took three
hours, shorter than most girls thought. With our new privilege of van rentals,
we were able to leave in a caravan. I couldn’t decide if we looked more like a
presidential parade or a soccer mom carpool. Either way, we looked official. We
were especially thrilled to have Kelci Shipley, a Lincoln native and KU Club
Volleyball alumni, accompany us on our trip as a fan/tour-guide.
The club had dinner together at the
only Olive Garden in Lincoln, meaning we had to wait a good half hour or 45
minutes before being seated. Breadsticks have never tasted so good. We
proceeded back to our hotel where most everyone passed out right away. Getting
up at 7 a.m. is hard enough as it is.
Play started at 8:30 a.m. in
Nebraska’s rec center/volleyball gym. After pool play and a brief break for
lunch, match play started. The A team made it to the championship game against
K-State A, beating them in 2 sets. It was about 6 p.m. by the time our club
left, that’s what the soreness of my legs told me, anyway.
About three quarters of the club
opted to head back to Lawrence Saturday night. This was a little sad, but
people seemed stressed about various midterms. The remaining bunch had quite
the dinner experience at a random BBQ/pizza joint we agreed upon only because
it sounded like the greasiest food we could find. To our fascination, this
place doubled as a karaoke bar. Dani and Stephanie S. did glorious renditions,
respectively. We were finally kicked out at 10 p.m. because “some of us are
underage”. They were very rude about this - Kelsey tipped accordingly.
After returning to the hotel,
everyone congregated in the hallway for lack of a better place. After talking
and sharing a couple laughs for an hour or two, most everyone had passed their
point of exhaustion. Because all of my roommates left, I had the entire room to
myself. That was a great night of
sleep.
We left Lincoln Sunday morning and
got back to Lawrence around 2 p.m. I could barely walk, but it was a awesome
knowing the soreness was well worth it.
The B and C teams are playing at
K-State this weekend, and the A team plays next over Fall Break in Iowa City.
The
A team with their 1st Place trophy
UW Madison Badger
Classic – Nov. 21, 2009
Coming soon!