 Roth Blogs from Croatia
July 18, 2008
Zagreb, Croatia - Keep up with Saint Louis volleyball player Whitney Roth as she blogs from Croatia where she is competing on the Bring It Promotions/USA Development Team in the 2008 Global Challenge. Entry #3 The past two days of tournament play have been exciting. We won our remaining matches on Tuesday, which put us in the top eight of the tournament. To remain in the top eight we had to win a crossover match against another United States team from Colorado. We won that match in three games and began to prepare for the tournament play that Wednesday would bring.We did have time to see the sights of the beautiful town of Pula. We toured the ancient coliseum, one of only six coliseums left in the world. We also shopped in the town center were there were plenty of markets and stores selling everything from tourist souvenirs to handmade jewelry. Today was the start of the tournament. This morning we played the Slovenian team and won in a great four-game match. We were happy with the way we played and felt prepared for the game tonight. We knew it would be a tough one though since we were going up against the team from Pula with their home court advantage. They were tall and strong and had two girls that played professionally in this region. It started off as a tough match, and we lost the first two games. Our team knew we had to push back if we wanted to stay in this match and have a chance to play in the finals. We fought back and won the next two games to tie things at 2-2. The fifth game turned out to be in their favor, with us losing in the end. It was a tough loss but a great match between two highly competitive teams. Tomorrow we will play for third place and a bronze medal against the Italian national team. Entry #2
We finally got to Pula, Croatia late Saturday night. We spent Sunday morning scrimmaging the Russian team and beat them handily in all four games we played.
Sunday night was the welcoming ceremony for all the teams participating in the tournament at the Pula city center. There are sixteen teams representing nine nationalities here. It was fun to watch the Croatian dances and entertainment they provided for us. We finally began tournament play on Monday. We played Monte Negro this morning and beat them fairly easily. We had some time before our final match so we spent a few hours checking out the tourist shops at the city center. The city of Pula is over 3,000 years old so there is plenty of fascinating architecture throughout the city. We came back in time to prepare for the 7 p.m. match against Maribor. Unfortunately, this match did not go so well. We lost in a very tight three-game match (the first pool play games are the best two out of three). I have confidence that our team will bounce back tomorrow and win the necessary matches to keep us in the gold medal round on day three. Entry #1 The past few days have been a pretty unique experience. With the addition of a seven-hour time change, we traveled over 24 hours yesterday and we definitely felt the affects of it throughout the day. When we arrived in Zagreb, Croatia we discovered that two teammates missed their flight and one girl's luggage got left in the states. While the coordinators of the trip waited at the airport for the rest to arrive, we left and ate lunch at a little cafe in Maribor, Slovenia before the night practice. The food we ate was similar to food from home with items such as pastas, breads, and salads so meals were not too much of an adjustment. After eating, we left straight for the gym for a light practice to help wear off the jet-lag. Practice went well despite the fact that most of us had been up for over 36 hours. After dinner we were told to stay up until at least 9:30 p.m. so that our bodies could adjust to the time difference. Needless to say it was not difficult to fall asleep that night. We woke up this morning feeling much better after a good night's sleep. After eating breakfast at our hotel, we traveled to a different gym and had another practice. It was exciting to see all the talent from different colleges across the country coming together. The biggest challenge is that each player has her own system and we all have to find a way to make something work together. We will be put to the test later this afternoon when we play our first match against the Romanian Junior National Team. Then we'll have some time after the match to sight-see in Maribor, hopefully in good spirits with one win under our belts! Whitney |
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