Volleyball Blog 8/20/10: Abby Monson
August 11, 2010 09:09 PM | General
(11:00)
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| Abby Monson |
So I’m going to do this a little different because I don’t know what else to write, I love poems (I’m a nerd), and I want to switch it up a bit. So, here it goes…
After sleeping ever so soundly,
I awoke to a yummy yogurt parfait,
The humid air outside hit me profoundly,
And I drove off to start my day.
We had a light, pre-game practice at ten o’clock,
I peppered with the lovely Michelle,
And served it up to the little miss Mock,
After warm-ups, we already started to smell.
Bonnie and Lauren set the tempo for passing,
We ran through the game day routine,
Last year’s peak, we are already surpassing,
Everyone is staying positive: being “green”!
Sweaty and energized, we all stretched down,
Packed up our things, and headed to eat and rest,
Norm, Chelle, and I went to Kroger to shop around,
We devoured a home-cooked meal like it was an eating contest.
After a long nap in my ever-so-comfy bed,
Pumped up for the match, I headed to the gym,
I proceeded to braid the hair on my head,
And put on the new uniform that makes us look oh-so slim. :)
On the court we competed, Gold versus Blue,
Each side played hard and gave it their all,
The turnout in the stands was quite the crew,
Energy and rhythm, it was a great game of volleyball!
In the end, each set was won by Gold,
But we mixed up the teams each time,
So different lineups could unfold,
Andrea killed it at the end…rhyme?
For some middle school kids, we signed autographs,
Then we coached a clinic to help improve their skills,
We gave high fives and made many smiles and laughs,
I think they all improved and enjoyed the drills.
At night the team headed to cheer on women’s soccer,
I picked up Pizza Al’s for some of the girls and me,
We gobbled them all up – not at all a shocker,
Now, here I am, sleepy and full as can be!
This season is already so productive and fun,
Focusing on tempo, communication, and form,
We’re a better team now, ready to GET IT DONE,
We’re taking the Big East by STORM!
Posted by Andrea Miller on Thursday, August 19, 2010
(10:23)
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| Andrea Miller |
Today was our last really long day of preseason. We started off bright and early this morning with lifting with Corey Twine. It was our last lift during preseason! There were lots of giggles during lift but everyone paid attention to detail to keep Corey from getting emotional! Hoorah!
On our way back to the locker room we noticed Starbucks bags full of muffins and bagels for us. Thanks Jill! : )Then, after a brief nap in the locker room, we started practice at 9:00. We did a lot of passing and defensive drills today and Jill said that she thought that it was probably our best morning session, and we agreed. Our energy and focus on every drill kept practice moving productively.
After practice, we were surprised by more food! We got Chick-fil-a for lunch! On break, most of us passed out pretty quickly and got a decent nap in. We came back ready for our three hour practice. Today’s practice started off with our actual match warm-up to prepare us for game play. It’s very exciting to be getting ready for matches! We played some intense hitter vs. hitter games, but they made everyone really eager to play more. We ended with several mini games, and we just kept wanting to do one more game!
We did our daily ice bath after practice and then headed to another team dinner at Damon’s. Sidney got sang to again by the lovely WVU Volleyball Choir, and of course, got dessert J It’s been a tiring but great day today for us, and now we are pumped up for our Gold and Blue scrimmage tomorrow! Join our excitement and support our team by coming to the scrimmage tomorrow at the Coliseum at 5:00 p.m.
I really love all of the energy everyone is putting into playing and being part of the team! Just playing today showed all of our hard work is paying off. The better we played, the more excited we all got, and it definitely showed in our performance!
Posted by Kari Post on Wednesday, August 18, 2010
(11:00 p.m.)
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| Kari Post |
Today the freshmen got to move into the DORMS!!! They were all so excited that we started moving them in at 8 a.m.!!! Sidney (whose Birthday is TOMORROW) is rooming with Gabby, and then Lisa and Liz are rooming together. They are all very excited to be starting a new life without the parents around (sorry mom and dad <3) and coaches, while also making a new volleyball family. This is going to be a very exciting year for everyone!
Today was a recovery day where we helped our endurance by doing some sprints as a team with Milkdud (Corey Twine). We would wave through bike sprints starting easy and getting tougher as we go. As part of our recovery day most of us met with Nicole (trainer) in order to do some rehab or an ice bath. I did ice and STIM, while Michelle Kopecky brought the trainers their Heavenly Ham lunch!!
We had dinner tonight at Oliverio’s and it was pretty good!! The main event was that since tomorrow is our own Sidney’s birthday, she got a piece of cheese cake (which we all got a little taste or two of) which was amazing!
Today was amazing and now we are fed and sleepy, and ready for a long day of volleyball tomorrow!
Posted by Gabriela Nadal on Tuesday, August 17, 2010
(11:00 p.m.)
Today we started bright and early for our lifting session at the Coliseum with our wonderful strength coach, Corey Twine. Then, we had a little power nap and snack time before our morning session, where we practiced our synchronized passing and setting - which we kept working on until we perfected it. I was oh-so-lucky to be partners with Miss Stephanie Mock!
Then, we moved on to positional drills where I had the Stormin’ Norman (Abby Norman) kicking my butt with her turbo serving skills. Once we were done with our morning session we all went up to the Jerry West Room for our wonderful lunch from Chick-fil-A, which I might say was quite scrumptious!! ;-P
After lunch we all went home for a quick nap before we had to get back to work. Bons (Bonnie West) and I went an hour early to do a serving skills video with Coach Jill (coach Jill Kramer) and Coach Bakes (coach Bakeer Ganes) for the AVCA, and lets just say we have a lot of bloopers due to The Bakers amazing Hollywood acting skills LOL! :D. Once we were finished we went back to the locker room for a quick snack before our night session which was AMAZINGGG!!
We all did great from start to finish, and we didn't want to stop because the team was having so much fun competing and working hard! We ended our session with a few sprints as a way to hold us all accountable for letting any balls drop. Then, we cooled down with a few nice stretches and an ice bath.
After our ice baths, we went back up to the Jerry West Room for our Texas Roadhouse dinner and team meeting.
Let’s Go Mountaineers!!!
Posted by Lisa Reidal on Monday, August 16, 2010
(10:45 p.m.)
Heute war mal ein etwas anderer Tag, aber dennoch erfolgreich in nicht nur einer Hinsicht.
Nach einem gesundem und leckeren Fruehstueck, traditionsgemaeß im Panera, haben wir uns heute das erste Mal 9:30 zum Training im Kolloseum getroffen. Dabei ging es heut inhaltlich besonders um Block- und Abwehrverhalten. Wie eh und jeh waren alle samt mit großem Einsatz und voller Konzentration dabei, so dass wir wieder einmal von einem super erfolgreichem Training reden koennen, in dem jeder an seinen Schwaechen uns Staerken pfeilen konnte.
Zum Ende des Trainings haben wir dann 6 gegen 6 gespielt, um das vorher geuebte auch umsetzen zu koennen.
Die Stimmung war durchweg enthusiastisch und sehr angenehm.
Nach dem Training gab es Mittag, dass von Jersey Subs geliefert wurde und zwei sehr symphatische Maenner, die mit uns intensivst ueber Bindungen, Freundschaft und Fuehrungspersoenlichkeit gesprochen haben.
Spaeter am Nachmittag, nachdem wir unsere Mittagsschlafpause hatten, haben wir uns fuer unsere Team activity zum Bowling getroffen.
Dabei haben einige mehr mit ausgefeilter Technik und andere mehr mit kreativen ‚Technikideen’ geglaenzt. Denn wir haben heute gelernt, dass man den Ball auch, werfen, schießen, andrehen, durch die Beine, rueckwaerts, seitwaerts, ueber zwei Bahnen oder auch aus dem Sitzen ins Ziel bringen kann (oder auch nicht).
Also wir hatten viel Spaß und eine Steph, die den Mannschaftsrekord mit 144 Punkten aufstellen konnte.
Direkt danach ging es zum Abendbrot ins Damons, dieses Mal hyper organisiert mit Platzzuweisungen. Nach einer abschließenden Ansprache von Jill ging es dann auch schon in die Autos und fuer die meisten nach Hause. Bis auf Michelle, Abby, Lauren und ich – wir sind noch zu Sonic, um uns einen Milchshake, einen Sonic Blast oder auch beides zu goennen und konnten schließlich Kylie helfen ihrem Glueck ein Stueck naeher zu kommen, indem wir dem sueßen Sonic-Jungen ihre Nummer gegeben haben..
Also in vielerlei Hinsicht ein erfolgreicher Tag.
GO MOUNTAINEERS!
Well, it’s the German trying to translate that German text into English! Hahaha
So let’s start ...
Today was a different day, but still succesful – succesful in many ways!
After a healthy, tasty breakfast, traditionally at Panera, we met at 9:30 for practice at the Coliseum. Today we focused especially on block and defense during our two-hour practice in the morning. It was again a pretty good training, because everyone showed great effort and concentration (like always), so that everyone was able to improve weaknesses and establish strengths too. In the end we played 6 on 6 to incoperate the recently learned things.
After practice we ate lunch that was delivered from Jersey Subs and listened to two nice guys that talked intensively with us about relationship and leadership.
Later in the afternoon, after we had our nap break snd then we met for our team activity: BOWLING.
I was really impressed with some people, because they either showed great ability or just creative ideas of how to bring the ball into its target. That’s why we learned today that you also can do the following things with the bowling ball: throw it, shoot it, spin it, roll it through your legs, roll it backwards, sideways, over two lanes or roll it from a sitting position.
Well we had much fun and it was Steph that determined our team record with 144 amazing points.
After our team activity we went to Damons for dinner. That time it was super organized - we got seat assignments – such a bummer! (I just wanted to put on my new favorite word)
And after a quick and final meeting with Jill everyone got in their cars and drove home. That is except for Mich, Abbs, Lauren and me – we went to Sonic and enjoyed a milkshake, Sonic blast or both and were able to help Kylie finally find happiness in her life by giving the cute Sonic delivery guy her number! ;)
ANNND ... we greeted the soccer boys next door, after their first day of preseason, with lots and lots of saran wrap wrapped around their entire front porch. We’re so sneaky!
Well in many ways a succesful day!
GOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!
P.S. Thanks for helping me with this - Abbs, Mich and Lauren!
Posted by Abby Norman on Sunday, August 15, 2010
(10:17 p.m.)
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| Abby Norman |
After a nice relaxing day off, it was time to go back to the gym and get to work. For our morning session, we separated into our positions and came in at different times to work on some individual drills that were a little more slow paced, but reps that we definitely needed. Michelle Kopecky and I carpooled in the morning and after a quick stop at Panera, we headed to the Coliseum while listening to our new favorite artist, Matthew Kline.
My group, the outsides and opposites, came in last and we were greeted with a huge surprise by none other than Corey Twine who came in to watch our practice. After chatting with Corey for a little bit, we warmed up our arms and then began with the evil Air-Cat which shot serves at us like it had a mind of its own. After we got away from the Air-Cat, we worked on some blocking and transitioning after defense. It was a very productive morning that gave us time to work on our individual needs.
We next headed to lunch which required a team adventure of sorts. It was a race to Honey Baked Ham and Michelle Kopecky, Abby Monson and I found a short cut and arrived first. After a quick chat with everyone, we all headed home for a power nap before going back to the Coliseum for our afternoon session.
After warm ups, we began with a fun competitive round of doubles. I was paired with the ever beautiful Stephanie Mock who just recently got her haired dyed by Kylie “Grenade” Armbruster. Kylie loves being called “Grenade” because of her obsession with the hit television show, Jersey Shore. Stephanie and I came out of the tournament with an even record of two wins and two losses. We next paired with Lauren Evans and Sidney Sauter for another round of competitive quads. We once again came out with an even record, but there are still more days ahead where another doubles tournament could spring up and Mock and I could take gold.
Once the competition was over, we all realized how extremely exhausted we were. That first week of preseason had finally taken its toll on our bodies. We spent the rest of practice working on transitions and serving and giving what Coach Jill would call “100% effort with 60% of what your body has right now.” It was tough couple of hours, but everyone gave their best until the very end. After a quick sprint, we stretched and then headed into the training room where our trainer, Nicole Lowery was waiting with extremely cold ice baths that were the coldest since preseason started. It took a hot shower for me to be able to feel the lower half of my body again.
The final part of our day consisted of a great team dinner at Boston Beanery where we all enjoyed a delicious meal and stimulating conversation. Overall, I think the day was an enormous success and we all got to work on skills that needed improvement. This being my fourth and final preseason, it is great to see everyone with such high energy still and always giving the maximum effort at every practice. Tomorrow should be another fun filled day with practice in the morning and a training session and team activity in the afternoon. I cannot wait!
Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOO Mountaineers!!!
Posted by Sidney Sauter on Saturday, August 14, 2010
(8:45 p.m.)
Today was our first recovery day which for most of us was much needed! After getting treatment and ice baths (which were EXTRA cold today...) at the Coliseum most of us met up to get lunch at Oliverio’s Marketplace. Coach Jill told all the girls that we could bring any boyfriends or parents to lunch so she could meet them and see who we hang out with outside of volleyball. So I finally got to meet Kari’s infamous Blake, Julio, Abby’s new boyfriend, and Matteo, Michelle’s rock star boyfriend (who is apparently a really good singer)! After picking up lunch, a lot of us went to the movie theater to see Dinner for Schmucks which was hilarious! We then took a short break away from each other then met up again to have dinner at Damon’s. So overall it was a very relaxing day for most of us, although for some of the team I’m sure it wasn’t as relaxing because they spent the day moving into their new apartment!
Today also gave me a chance to think about everything that has happened this past week. Being a freshman, I was extremely overwhelmed and nervous coming to WVU but warmed up quickly to our VERY outgoing team (nobody is afraid to say what’s on their minds...). But I soon learned that everyone is super friendly and willing to help with anything! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of this season and am really looking forward to spending time with everyone! Hope to see you at our games!
GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!
Posted by Kylie Armbruster on Friday, August 13, 2010
(10:46 p.m.)
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| Kylie Armbruster |
Today was our third day of doubles. We started off the day with some intense lifting with the one and only alpha male, Corey Twine. Once again in all grey and those fresh Nike kicks. Today was more up to speed in the weight room because the incoming freshman are starting to get in the grove of things, which is an awesome start! After our body building by Corey, we took off our Chinese lifting shoes and went to the locker room to get a power nap. Although the power nap was mostly Norman, grumbling at everyone for talking, haha ... she was funny :) Quite the Land mine ... so she calls herself (Hehehe).
Practice began at 9:30 and everyone was pretty tired, although we played a game called Euro Ball, which got everyone fired up and ready to go! We went through our passing series and everyone did a great job along with my lovely partner, Liz ... aka Lizard. Half way into practice we started scrimmaging. Everyone was going hard after the balls and being extremely scrappy. Within just the few days of practice I had notice such a great change in our team and everyone has improved in various ways. We are already clicking very well on the court which is just the beginning :)
Towards the end of practice we have some inspiring little Mountaineers prance right in the Coliseum. Little do we know its Lauren Evans old job :) That lil' goober. It was a Jewish Summer camp that came in to watch and support us. We told them to come down and we took a team picture with them and signed some autographs. They were adorable.
Practice came to an end and it was time for everyone to go home and get ready for our photo shoot! We started at the coliseum with head shots then went to the downtown campus to take some class photos which turned out really cute :) Ashley Pappas, our America's Next Top model, took stunning pictures even with a swollen cheek Haha :)
After a long day, we all met for dinner at Texas Road House. Little do we know its Jill's fake Birthday, turning 21. (Hehehe) The resturant starts clapping and the spot light is on her ... literally, lol. With no hesitation she climbed on top of the birthday saddle while we all sang in glorious tunes Happy Birthday! Serinna has the best voice. Altogether the day was a ton of fun! Practices have been productive and just a glimpse of how much talent our team has and we can not wait to show it when game day comes! Season is just around the corner and we are ready to go!
Lets GOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!
Posted by Liz Gulick on Thursday, August 12, 2010
(10:45 p.m.)
Today was the second day of two-a-days! With no lift today we got to get a little extra sleep because we didn’t have to start until 9 a.m. Everyone started out with a really good breakfast at Panera then it was off to the Coliseum. It was extra hot in there today. In our two hour morning session we worked on arm swings, serving, and serve receive. Jill was happy with us because we stayed really focused during drills that are less exciting and not too competitive and we got in lots of good reps.
We had an hour after practice was over before lunch so everyone went home or ran some errands. At noon we ate Jersey Subs up at the club level. Amy Wagner, the Women’s Chaplain for West Virginia’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), met with us during lunch. She’s a really cool lady and got a lot of us excited about it! After lunch everyone went home and passed out so we could be ready for our three hour afternoon practice.
In the afternoon session we worked on out of system balls, lots and lots of hitting, some servers vs. serve receive, and five-on-five. Everyone was drenched after practice because it was so hot and we all worked really hard. We got in a nice cool down stretch after practice and then everyone ice bathed (like we do everyday). Quite chilly…
We ate Boston Beanery for dinner in the Jerry West Room. At dinner Jill told us to bring boyfriends or whoever to lunch Saturday so she can meet the people we have relationships with off the court. If anyone’s interest, Kylie’s looking for a date! Ha, kidding, but not really. Jill also told us about what we’re doing for our photo shoot tomorrow, but I’ll let Kylie go into detail about that tomorrow :)
It was a really fun and competitive day! We got to play a lot today compared to our first two days of practices. Day Three… SUCCESS! We can’t wait to get the season started… 16 days until our first match!
GOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!
Posted by Stephanie Mock on Wednesday, August 11, 2010
9:00 p.m.
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| Stephanie Mock |
After warming up, we strapped on our Chinese weightlifting shoes and went to work in the weight room. Even towards the end Coach Jill finally realized how much fun we were having and joined in with our upper body and abdominal workout. After completing all of this, we then cooled down with a band stretch.
After completing lifting, we realized we had a little bit of spare time before practice. We filled this time with a quick power nap in the locker room so we could be energized and ready to go for our first practice of the day.
In this practice we focused again on a lot of defense and different movements to the ball. Finally, towards the end of practice we put these new movements to work and the coaches got to let it rip and hit some balls at us.
After completing the first practice, we ate lunch and met with our nutritionist to find out how bad we've really been eating (haha just kidding). After lunch we had a little bit of time to go home and rest up for our second round of practice. Again, we reported to the Coliseum and got straight to work.
We went over some proper arm swing techniques and the hitters finally got to get up on the boxes and hit some balls at us defensive players. :) Also, later in practice we learned about transitioning on the court and where we should be for different tempo hits. After completing our final drill and all of us looking like we just got out of the shower, but really we were drenched in sweat, we cooled down and hit the ice baths.
Then, we reported to the Jerry West Room for a feast. After dinner we reflected on the transitioning we had learned in practice and took some notes on it so we can really get it to stick in our heads.
Overall we had an awesome day and were all really looking forward to the rest of preseason and for the season to start!!!!!
LETS GOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!! : )
Posted by Karly Rasmussen on Tuesday, August 10, 2010
8:45 p.m.
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| Karly Rasmussen |
Finally, after a long time of sitting around it was time to practice! Everyone was definitely anxious. Coach Jill likes to play music during practice which was a big change but everyone liked it and it allowed us to loosen up and just play.
Our three hour practice, which was filled with a lot of work on serving and passing, seemed to fly by. After practice we all stretched, jumped into the ice baths and headed up to the Jerry West Lounge for dinner. After we ate, we talked a little bit about what tomorrow’s practices would be like and covered some defensive tips. Everyone is really excited for the season and can't wait to get in the swing of things.
Go Mountaineers! :)
Posted by Bonnie West on Monday, August 9, 2010
9:47 p.m.
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| Bonnie West |
Tonight was the first official dinner with the team and coaches of preseason. The entire team had been talking about meeting our new coach and getting on the court all of last week, so everyone was extra early arriving at Oliverios! When Jill arrived the girls were anxious to hear what her goals and expectations for the season were and just to get to know her in general. After a long dinner of laughs, stories, and talk about the upcoming two weeks we met outside for a brief team meeting. Serinna Russo provided comic relief (as usual!!) when she asked if the "then" symbol in our notebooks was a "smiley face." After we looked over our schedule for tomorrow morning we huddled up for the first of many "HOORAH!" chants of the season :)
More then anything, we all just want to be on the court playing with each other again and with the new freshman! Because this is my last season as a Mountaineer, I personally can't wait to get into my practice shirt and kneepads tomorrow afternoon for the start of my senior year!
Go Mountaineers!
