Volleyball Road Trip

I had the privilege of going with the Pioneer volleyball team to Southern California for the Pacific Coast Classic tournament. Not too many Division III SID’s have the opportunity to travel with their teams, and really, its a part of this job that I love (when the opportunity does present itself).

In-n-Out will never be the same

There are a couple of reasons that they packed me up and took me with them (other than the fact that like a little lhasa apso, I’m cute and fun to travel with). The main reason was that group tickets get bought in advance and there was an extra one, so they had the space. The other reason is that this is a HUGE tournament that has no support from the sports info staffs from the host schools. All of the matches are hand-statted (by the bench staff), so in order to know what actually happens at a match, one has to be there.

Friday was pretty easy, with no one but volleyball playing. On Saturday, however, I was juggling keeping a line score for volleyball while talking to our football team in St Louis (who had just wrapped up a huge victory against Principia) and writing a release about cross country’s huge win at St Martins. Wireless internet, cell phones… imperatives in my world. Seldom far from either.

Saturday wasn’t easy for the gals, either. We had to do line judging and score for a 10 am match, then play at 12:30 and 2:30. Right after the 2:30 match ended, we loaded up one car and a van and zoomed across the valley to get to Whittier. Brandon and I made an emergency trip to Ralphs to find sandwich fixings for a light snack before the Whittier match. Afterward, it was a stop at In-N-Out that capped the day.

My favorite part of the trip was probably seeing Liz Nguyen, a four-year Pioneer in two sports. Every trip to So Cal always seems to bring out our alums, back to show support. Liz had her face all painted up and was filled with Pioneer spirit. Thanks Liz! And thanks to AAAAAAALLLLL of the parents who were there. I loved the fact that Christina Herring’s parents came to the matches, and out to dinner with us on Friday. Christina is a basketball player, but her roommate, Lou Ohki, is a volleyball player, and the Herrings came out to support her. That is great stuff!

CLICK HERE to see pics from the trip.

-Melissa Dudek