2008 Volleyball Blog - Week 8

by Amanda Trask - November 4, 2008

I can definitely say that the volleyball team decided to make our last week of the season the most exciting one. Tuesday night was our “Game of the Week” against Smith College. Since it was luau-themed, the gym was adorned with pineapples, hula girls and tiki heads, while the fans wore blue leis. Thanks to our squash team, some lucky fans got to wear pink, green and purple leis, because the team donated their leftovers from their fundraiser to us. Many of our student-athletes were there, and it was really great to have all of their support. Not only was the gym packed, but some of our friends who we worked with at the Boys and Girls Club were able to come to the match! They lined up on the court to shake our hands before the match. Having all those fans really pumped us up, and we were able to win our first set against Smith. Though we lost the other ones, it was a great night of volleyball and team spirit.

On Thursday, the seniors got to run practice, and boy, did we run them to the ground! Just kidding! But seriously, we wanted to have a practice that was fun, yet useful, and we tried our best to come up with different drills that incorporated important skills. We soon realized that coaching is a tough job. We had to make sure everyone understood what was going on and hope that they liked it! Once people got in the groove of the drills, it was very rewarding, and we were excited that we were able to contribute.

The next day was October 31, a.k.a. Halloween! Of course, we had our annual Halloween practice. Though some people were too stressed out with school to remember we had a Halloween practice, there were a few of us who came in interesting outfits - Some members of the team made up the red, green and yellow bulbs of a traffic light. Others, including myself, arrived dressed in pink, green and orange with giant, colorful clocks. No, no we were not trying to be Flavor Flav. We actually were the human form of the popular catch phrase, “SexyTime” from the movie Borat, much to our coach’s dismay. (She loved it). While we looked silly, the practice was challenging, as we had to prepare for our last match against MIT.

After practice, we all showered and went to Coach Terrell's house for dinner. It was lovely! She made us a Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and corn, along with a green bean casserole made by our assistant coach and a pumpkin pie made by Brenna! We watched Poltergeist, and some people played Scattergories. It was a delightful Halloween evening.

Our final match of the season, which also happened to be our Senior Day, was the following day (I told you we had a busy week). The seniors were truly touched by everything that the team did. We never imagined the lengths to which they would go to ensure that we had a special and memorable day. We walked into Kendall, and the hallways leading up to the gym had pictures and streamers on the walls and banisters. After we were all dressed, we headed to the team room which was filled with streamers and balloons, along with four thrones, since the theme of the day was “Queens of the Court.” Yes, they actually made thrones for us on the bench in the team room, complete with crowns and sashes. They also made posters and collages for us. Somehow they managed to find little board game candies in honor of our weekly game night, along with gifts that were specific to each of our interests. They clearly put a lot of time, money and effort into our Senior Day. It was a great way to end our season, and we are grateful for everything. Hopefully everyone will carry this great energy and team dynamic into spring season and next year - It will be here before you know it!