Angie Akers VolleyBlog

New Thoughts for a New Year

2010-01-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

As we head into a new decade, New Year's resolutions and goals are the first thing that come to my mind. A few years back I wrote an article about staying focused and goal-oriented even through tough times. It seems relevant to share right now, so I am going to post it below. At some point, I will get around to reflecting on my 2009 volleyball season, but I am not quite there yet. This is what I have to share for now:

November 15, 2006

Staying Focused and Positive When Things Get Tough by Angie Akers

One of the hardest things to do as a professional athlete is to stay focused and positive when faced with challenging situations. Unexpected situations arise, both on the court and off, which challenge our beliefs in ourselves and in others. In order to rise above these situations, it is essential to stay in the right frame of mind.

What is the right frame of mind, you may ask. The answer is in our thoughts. We are what we think we are. I have always known that my mind is my strongest ally and if I train my mind to think great big thoughts, I will accomplish great big things! While at first this can be a very difficult and daunting task, once you get the hang of it, it is really easy and fun.

I have asked many successful people, such as Gold Medalists in different sports, NFL football players, and millionaires what they thought of themselves before they achieved their greatness. Every single one of them said the same thing: They knew what they would accomplish long before they ever did. They developed a belief system in themselves that was so powerful that they saw it to fruition.

I decided to put this method to use. There was a time when I was very frustrated with where I was. I was engulfed in negative thoughts and emotions. I was stuck feeling sorry for myself for all sorts of situations that came about. I made a conscious decision that I was going to change all that.

The first time this came clear to me was when a younger beach volleyball partner left me to play with someone else. I was filled with anger, sadness, and self-pity. I imagined that I had the perfect partnership, when in reality I was trying to put a positive spin on a negative situation. It took a few months to see that this move was actually a blessing in disguise. I gained the confidence in my own abilities as a leader on the court and was also able to develop a more intellectual aspect of my game. The lesson that I learned from that particular situation helped me to become a better player and a better partner. It is all in how you look at it! Once I figured that out, I realized that when one door closes, another one opens. Now I am anxious to go find that door and see what is behind it. I imagine great things behind that door and when things get tough along the way, I think that those situations are the preparation for what is to come.

This whole process started within me by simply changing my thoughts. As soon as a negative thought entered my mind, I immediately changed it to a positive one. If anything, it just felt better. I immediately saw a difference in my performance on the court, as well. I became a much more consistent player, even though my athletic ability did not change. I remember my inner dialog used to consist of things like, “Don’t screw this up!” and “I hope I don’t make a mistake!” Now I think, “I am going to complete this play just how I did 1000 times in practice.” Instead of fearing “crunch-time”, I thrive on it! I visualize myself making the winning play.

There are times when I come up short. I may have imagined a different outcome than the one I got. Instead of feeling like a failure, which is easy to do, I search for the lesson in it. Every situation has a lesson to learn. You only fail when you do not find that lesson. Sometimes it takes a while to recognize, but it is always worth it. All it takes is patience, an open mind, and some confidence. Once this is realized, the ability to remain focused and stay positive becomes second nature.

It is important to recognize that an optimistic approach to life is much more enjoyable and fulfilling than a pessimistic one. There is nothing more satisfying than creating your own way out of a difficult situation. If it doesn’t work one time, I reevaluate what steps I took and I learn from them. I have found many tools for gaining this confidence and belief in myself through books, tapes, watching and talking to others, and self-searching.

Knowing this, what does it hurt to stay focused, positive, and dream big when faced with a challenging situation? As a wise friend of mine says, “Why not reach for the stars? You just might get the moon!” The moon is pretty darn good!

Marseille, The Windy City!

2009-07-22T02:41:00.000-07:00

France is amazingly beautiful. We arrived here on Saturday night after a week in Russia. The Mediterranean Sea is a gorgeous blue color and the coastline is hilly and dramatic. Beyond its beauty, the wind here is borderline insane. It MUST be the wind capital of the world.

When we arrived, we were told that the wind comes in three, six, and nine day cycles. We were at the very end of a three day cycle and there was no wind in the forecast. The first two days that we practiced it was not bad...just a normal “windy” day at Hermosa Beach.

Today is supposed to be our first match of the tournament. We were scheduled to play at 12 noon. We left our hotel and were on our way to the venue when we were told to turn back. The wind is howling and the venue is now dangerous because tents, sand, debris, and whatever else is flying everywhere. Good thing this tournament is stretched out over 6 days.

We have a meeting soon where it will be determined if play will resume today or not. It does not look good. The forecast is for more wind in the afternoon. So if that is the case, we are going shopping today!

We are sitting on edge ready to go for the next 2 hours and then we will know. Ugh.... the waiting!!! I am not sure that the next few days will be any better than today. You never can really predict Mother Nature here in the south of France.

Regardless, we will make the most of it. It has been a really fun roadtrip, although Tyra and I miss our husbands tremendously. We will return home soon enough. Just in time for Hermosa! We can't wait!

Angie Akers

Recap from Russia

2009-07-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

Moscow was a pretty good event for us until we had to forfeit due to injury. Thank God it is nothing too serious. It definitely put a damper on the 5th place finish because we were playing well and that put an abrupt stop to it.

We finally won our pool by going undefeated. Our first match was against Australia. We were struggling, but managed to come from behind in the third and win the match. Then we played Germany, Banck/Gunther, and had another three set match. We lost the first set, but steadied out and gained control for the next two sets. The next day we finished pool play in the morning against Austria, Schwaiger/Schwaiger. We worked out our kinks by then and we were cruising.

(The site was right next to these beautiful fountains. People were swimming in them all day.)

That afternoon, the single elimination started. Because we won our pool, we had a first round bye. We watched the match that played into us, Czech Republic vs. Ukraine. Czech pulled out a three set win that could have gone either way. It was good for us because we had played Czech twice this year already. We know them and know what we have to do against them. We had the rest of the day off to rest.

Friday morning we came out really strong and won easily in two sets, 21-16, 21-11. We then were able to watch the end of the Brazil vs China match that played into our bracket. China was up 14-11 in the third, but we said “this is not over!” and what do you know... Julianna and Larissa side out for 12, block for 13, ace for 14. China then sides out up 15-14. It was back and forth until Julianna and Larissa won 21-19. It was very exciting and fun to watch.

We were ready to play them. We were battling in the first set when I landed on Julianna's foot under the net. I jammed my ankle straight down. It did not twist, so I thought it was fine. I tried to continue playing, but landing on it was not good. We called a medical timeout and I got it taped up, but the tape did not help. We made a decision to forfeit because the quality of play dropped tremendously and we did not want to risk making it any worse.

Julianna and Larissa offered their Physical Therapist to me, and since Kelly (our USA therapist) was not with us in Russia, I took them up on it. They were very kind and I got great treatment on it right away. The prognosis is a ligament sprain in the back of my ankle. It is a tiny one, and thankfully it does not hurt except to land on it. I am being ultra cautious and icing and resting as much as possible.

We have 4 days off now while we travel from Moscow to Marseille. That will help us quite a bit. We leave Moscow today and will be in France for a week. On to the next stop! Three down, two to go!

Angie Akers

Red Square, Ballet, Bolshoi

2009-07-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

I have been without internet for the last 4 days, which has seemed like an eternity over here. In that time, we have traveled from Gstaad to Moscow.

We had three days in Moscow before checking into the Main Draw Hotel, the Korston. We stayed at a Marriott near Red Square. It was great to sleep in really comfortable, spacious beds for a few nights. By arriving so early before the event, we were able to master the subway system. It is very difficult to get around without knowing the language or alphabet. After the first day, we had our path down and could get around with relative ease.

The subway system is extremely impressive. There are marble pillars, statues, and beautiful trimming all through the subway stations. Besides the extravagance of its appearance, we were also impressed by the depth of the railways. We took an escalator down for three minutes. I timed it because it was the longest escalator any of us had ever seen. We are at the half-way point in the picture.

We were early in Moscow, so we decided to truly get a Russian experience. First, we ate dinner at a Russian restaurant and had borscht (traditional Russian beet soup), wild boar with a port raspberry sauce and buckwheat with mushrooms and figs. It was delicious.

The restaurant itself was very neat inside. We walked down a set of stairs and it felt like we entered another time and place.

After dinner, we walked to Red Square and stood in amazement at the beauty of the buildings and St. Basil's Cathedral. Then we pulled out our cameras and started snapping away. It was late at night, so we could not go inside of the Cathedral. I can only imagine how impressive it is on the inside.

The next day, we ventured to the ballet to see Coppelia at the Bolshoi Theatre near Red Square. It was truly magical! It was such a unique, wonderful experience. We enjoyed a champagne before the show and then took our seats and watched the incredible dancers do their art. I loved every second of it. The costumes were beautiful, the theatre was spectacular, and everything about the experience was incredible.

Our three day Moscow journey has ended and now we are back in tournament mode. We begin play tomorrow. We will find out soon who will be in our pool and then we will begin our mental preparation. We will watch video and focus in on our performance. Back to work!

The Manhattan Beach Open starts this coming Friday and we are so bummed to be missing it. It is very difficult on us to miss AVP events. We love playing on the AVP tour, but this is something we must do to not only improve our play, but to get the experience of competing on the international level. Trust me, we are very excited to return home and start competing "AVP style" soon!

Gstaad Recap

2009-07-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

The Gstaad Grand Slam was not a great tournament for us. We started off really strong, but finished with a disappointing 17th place. Our last match of pool play was really close with the German team, Holtwick/Semmler. Then because we lost, we finished 2nd place and we had to play again a few hours later. Only the 1st place teams in each pool got a first round bye in the single elimination.

We drew an Italian team that we knew very little about. Watching them in warm ups was about the only scouting we were able to do. It came down to ball control. We lacked it and they had it. It really is as simple as that.

Rather than sit in a beautiful place and stew in it, Canyon took us on a little adventure. We captured most of it in the video below. Enjoy!

Back-Tracking to Stavanger, Touring the Fjords

2009-07-09T02:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry to back-track a bit, but I finally have an internet connection that will allow me to download my videos. Here is our tour down the fjords. It was an amazing little boat trip and I hope you enjoy the "Tour Guide 101" video!

Gstaad - 2-0 in Pool Play, One More to Go!

2009-07-09T02:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of play for the women in Gstaad. It rained sporadically throughout the day and was very cold. Thankfully, we did not have to play in rain. It stopped just in time for both of our matches.

Our first was against Mexico. We played a game and a half of great volleyball with a half a game of sub-par play. We won in two sets, but the second was much closer than it should have been. We were up 13-8 in the second then gave up quite a few points in a row. We figured out how to stop the bleeding and won 21-18.

Our next match was against Czech Republic. There was another break in the rain and out of nowhere was the biggest, brightest double rainbow we had ever seen. It was so vibrant and majestic. Everyone had cameras out snapping away, but we were playing so I could not take a picture. I will track one down and share it soon.

We played very well in this match. Both games were close until the technical timeout, but then we stepped it up and got a few aces, blocks, and transition put-aways which made them not so close.

Now we play against another German team, Holtwick/Semmler, at 3PM today. We need to win this match so that we get a first round bye into the single elimination part of the tournament. The winners of each pool get a first round bye which will guarantee at least a 9th place finish.

We will watch video this morning and get our game plan together. Then I need to do some laundry in our sink because the hotel charges $4 per article of clothing! NO THANKS!

Go USA!

Angie Akers

Rainy Day in Gstaad

2009-07-07T08:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was our first full day here in Gstaad. It started off rainy and cold, but after it cleared, we practiced with EY and Nicole and actually all got sunburned. After practice, we stayed around and played foot-volley. We were laughing so hard at ourselves. The video at the bottom is a little bit of the action!

Today was the qualifier for Gstaad. Tyra and I got up early before they started play and practiced with EY, Nicole, Mike Dodd, and Shelda from Brazil. It was very cold so early in the morning, but we beat the rain which was really nice.

We have the day off until this evening when we have the technical meeting. There is a technical meeting before every FIVB tournament where they discuss particulars about the location, anything we need to know about the transportation available, as well as verifying that all the teams are present. They will also release the draw so we will find out who the other teams will be in our pool.

It has been about 52 degrees and raining all day long. The internet is sporadic, so I have not been able to get online to check the weather for the week.

We watched video in our room from World Championships and made some notes of some areas where we can improve. Then we walked to the courts and watched Mexico play Australia.
It has been a low-key, mellow day. Tomorrow will have more action to report.

That's all for now.

Angie Akers

Recap of World Championships in Stavanger, Norway

2009-07-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

What an incredible experience the last two weeks have been. We got a great finish at the biggest beach volleyball tournament in the world for the year 2009! We struggled at times, but really rose up to the challenge at other times. It was such a great learning experience for us. I know that it will make us better as a team.

Our last day in Stavanger, I decided to be a tourist and went on a 3 hour boat ride down the fjords. I felt like I was in “The Lord of the Rings.” The scenery is breath-taking, astounding. I am not sure that the pictures do it any justice.

It was a perfect day for a boat ride and it made me feel at home since it was the 4th of July. There is no better way to celebrate the 4th than being on a boat on a warm, sunny day.

After that, I watched Matt and Casey play an epic match against the Brazilian team, Harley and Alison. It was the most “jawing” I have ever seen at a volleyball match. From the first few points, the testosterone was high and both teams were more than emotionally engaged. Matt and Casey dropped the first set, but won the second 37-35. All the Americans were cheering and going crazy for them. They were leading in the third as we watched one phenomenal play after another. The match lasted over 1 hour and 40 minutes and you could tell that both teams had given it everything they had. Unfortunately, Matt and Casey came up short in the end, losing 17-15. It was such a heart breaker for us to watch, I can only imagine how disappointed they were. We all were very proud of them for the incredible effort they put forth.

After that match, we watched Jen and April in the gold medal match against Julianna and Larissa of Brazil. Jen and April were incredible. April was absolutely bombing her jump serves, getting ace after ace or getting them in passing trouble. The girls looked aggressive and confident. They won in two close sets, which was very exciting for Team USA! Jen and April are the World Champs for 2009! It definitely makes me feel better that our loss in the tournament came at the hands of the World Champs.

It is now Sunday and we are in Gstaad, Switzerland. We had a very early morning flight and arrived here this afternoon. It is currently raining very hard and is a bit cool... sort of what we expected in Norway.

Gstaad is a beautiful little village set in the mountains. It makes me think of The Sound of Music.

We begin play here on Wednesday. Our schedule will be much faster paced than it was in Norway. We are only here for 6 days before we head to Moscow.

Tomorrow we will practice and possibly do a little sight seeing. Right now, sleep is what I need, so off to bed I go!

More later!

Angie Akers

5th Place at World Champs!

2009-07-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

(Tyra and Angie celebrating a big win over Goller/Ludwig of Germany.)

I was extremely disappointed yesterday after our loss to Kessy/Ross, only because of the way sets two and three went down. We played extremely well in the first and then it all disappeared. I stewed in it for a long time and had trouble sleeping last night, but am now beginning to realize and understand that I can and will learn so much more from a loss like that to a team like that and it will only make me/me and Tyra better. That realization does not take any of the pain away, but it is helping me to move forward.

Don't get me wrong, I am extremely proud that in our second international event together, (my second FIVB ever), we finished 5th place overall. 5th place at World Championships...with all the very best teams in the entire world! Yes, I am very proud of that!

Now the tournament is down to three Brazilian teams and one American team. Jen and April play Ana Paula/Shelda to see who goes to the gold medal match. Go USA!

Now that this tournament is over for me and Tyra, we will take today off to recover. We plan to do our laundry, which has been piling up for 10 days now, do a little shopping, watch some of the matches, and then go to the player party tonight!

Our flight leaves at 8:30 tomorrow morning for Switzerland, so it will not be a late night for us. We go to Gstaad for one week. Canyon, our coach, is meeting us there, so we are very excited to see him again. It will be great to have him with us at this next Grand Slam event.

It is breakfast time, so I am going to sign off... but first I have to check AVP results from Day 1 of Coney Island! I am sure it was a great day at the beach and I look forward to hearing about it!

(I did not forget about posting the videos. It is not working right now for some reason. I will keep trying until I figure it out.)

All my best,

Angie Akers

Three American Women's Teams in the Top 5!

2009-07-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a little view of the action from our match versus Goller/Ludwig of Germany. We won another nail biter in 3 sets!

I just spent the last two hours trying to download some videos, but it did not work for some reason. I will try again tonight after our next match. We are running out the door to go play Jen and April for a spot in the Semi Finals!

More later!

Angie Akers

Single Elimination Starts Today

2009-07-02T04:08:00.000-07:00

Tyra and I are excited to start this part of the tournament. We play at 5PM tonight against a small, but very scrappy and tenacious Canadian team. They are both around 5'6, but these girls can ball! We must play smart, ball-controlled volleyball on our side of the net. It will be a good challenge for us.

We keep talking about what would happen if these Canadian girls played Katie and Tracy Lindquist. We really want to see that match-up! We have asked several of the Americans who have seen both teams and everyone is split. It would surely be a very fun match to watch!

Unfortunately, Nick and Brad are matched up against Jake and Rosie so only one will advance to the round of 16. Big bummer when countries are matched against themselves at World Champs. They are playing right now as I am writing, so by the time you are reading this, the results will be in.

OK...gotta get ready to go kick some butt!

That is all for now...GO USA!!!

Angie Akers

Team USA

2009-07-01T01:43:00.001-07:00

Norwegian fans of all ages are really into the volleyball action. I could not pass up this photo opportunity...his hat, his stance, his attitude... all so cute I had to take a picture.

Here are the ladies of Team USA watching Nick Lucena and Brad Keenan play against Norway in the stadium. The boys won in two sets and will advance out of their pool. After the day of play, we went out to dinner in town. On our way to the restaurant (at 9:45PM) we came across this hot air balloon. We watched as they filled it up and raised it in the sky. Pretty cool.

We ate at a Mexican restaurant in Norway! Not exactly authentic Mexican, but pretty close! At least they had a sombrero! It was my birthday, so I got to wear the "birthday sombrero." It was so much fun hanging with everyone.

Today we will go cheer on the USA teams that play today. We have the day off, but we will practice at 5PM. After that, they have the "drawing of the lots" to see who plays who and at what time.

It is another beautiful day here. We packed our winter clothes because it is usually cold and rainy. We brought scarves, jackets, raincoats, hats, layers and layers of warm weather gear, but it has been in the 70s and sunny every single day! Perfect!

Coney Island starts this Friday and we are very bummed to miss it. If we were home, we would be flying there today. I am sure it will be a great event with some great competition. We will be following online.

We plan to celebrate the 4th of July with a big Team USA celebration. That is the last day of the event, so we can all relax a bit and have some fun.

We are heading out to the site now to cheer on EY/Nicole against the German girls. Maybe I will stop by and get strawberries while I am at it! ;)

More later!

Angie Akers

Rough Day - video

2009-06-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Just a quick video to fill you in on the day. We just got back from a great dinner which took my mind off of volleyball for a few short hours. Now it is time to get some sleep and get back into it!

Angie Akers

2-0 in Pool Play

2009-06-28T14:19:00.001-07:00

We just played the French and had an absolute battle! We came through with a victory, but it was not pretty. I cannot even begin to count the number of "lets" that just trickled over the net, completely ungettable against us. It was really hard not to get frustrated. We had our chances to win the first set, but ended up giving it to them 25-23. I struggled siding out, but found my rhythm after that first set.

The second and third sets were not as close, but they continued to frustrate us with very scrappy defense and net tricklers. We won the second 21-17 and then went on to win the third 15-12. It was a big sigh of relief to get that win.

The match was at 7PM, which was a beautiful hour to play. It was another wonderful day, weatherwise, and the temperature was perfect for playing.

Tomorrow we have a day off, which is much needed. I plan to get a massage and treatment, but I will stay out of the sand.

We are having lots of fun with the other American athletes. All the boys and EY/Nicole play tomorrow so we will go cheer them on.

Here is a glimpse at what the sky looks like at 1AM. Pretty amazing.

Day 2 of Competition

2009-06-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our day off, but we had a pretty full day of gym, practice, treatment, and watching other matches. The weather has been rediculously wonderful so we have enjoyed being outside as much as possible.

Anyone recognize the good-looking guy in the middle of me and Tyra? We were surprised to walk off our court after practice and run into Misty's father, Butch May. We felt like we were back home in Southern California!

This is Kelly, our Physical Therapist, in action. Service with a smile!

Here is a quick glimpse of the stadium from the first day of competition. The crowds have been great.

We are about to head to breakfast and start our day. We play France at 7PM tonight.

More later,

Angie Akers

First Day of Competition

2009-06-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Our match was scheduled for 6PM so we slept in. Had breakfast around 9:30 and then made our way to the courts for practice. We moved around with Kessy/Ross and Ivy/Fendrick. Afterward, we had lunch and watched the other teams in our pool play.

We still had 3 hours to kill, so we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. We made our way back to the site and did our full warm up.

The first set of our match against the Swiss was great. We came out serving, blocking, and siding out really strong. We got quite a few aces and blocks. We won 21-13. Next game was not so good. They served really tough and got a load of aces on us. We played good enough to win, but we should have been much better. The important thing is that we won and we are 1-0 in pool right now.

I definitely had first match jitters. It was odd playing our first match of the tournament at 6PM. We have tomorrow off, but we are going to practice at 6PM because our next match on Saturday is scheduled for 7PM. It is difficult getting a routine down with such odd playing times . We are figuring it out and finding what works for us.

The daylight hours make it very difficult to get to sleep early. It isn't dark until after midnight. The sun starts to come back up around 3AM. We have been staying up until 12 or 1AM and sleeping in as long as possible, which usually is until around 8 or 9AM.

We found a great Indian restaurant in town. We ate there two nights in a row and will probably go back there tomorrow night. The food here is outrageously expensive at the restaurants. We are trying not to spend our money on eating out, but the food at the Indian restaurant is so good, we can't resist.

We started watching the HBO series, True Blood, last night. We watched one episode and then we were hooked and had to start the next. We both fell asleep half-way through it, so we will watch it again tonight.

I get to sleep in tomorrow and am very much looking forward to it!

I just got some very good news that Tyra, Ty Loomis, Ryan Mariano, and I will be visiting the Troops stationed in the Balkans this coming August. Tyra and I will go straight from Austria and meet the boys there. I am so excited that this has worked out and we will get to go visit! These trips mean so much to me and I am so honored to be able to be apart of them!

That's all for now!

Angie Akers

Stavanger Day 3

2009-06-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Today has been great! The weather could not possibly be better. I finally have my camera charged, so I have been snapping away. Here is a look at our day:

We practiced this morning with the Belgian girls and their coach, Kerri Pottharst.

Then we went to the gym for a workout. Afterward, we wandered over to a farmers' market and bought some strawberries. We laid in the grass by the church while I ate every last one of them!

We got treatment with our team Chiropractor and then came back to our hotel to shower.

We are about to head out to dinner, but I wanted to post some pictures first. Tomorrow we will practice in the morning and then attend the Opening Ceremony for the event. Enjoy the video and check back soon!

Angie Akers

Day 2 in Stavanger, Norway

2009-06-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

Stavanger is beautiful! Tyra and I arrived late on Monday after our little flying fiasco. The worst thing that happened to us is that Tyra's luggage did not make it. I am sure it will be here in a day or two, but in the meantime, we have had to do quite a bit of shopping. Yes, yes...life is rough! We were forced to shop.

The weather has been phenomenal! We arrived with sunshine and today has been cool, crisp, and sunny. It really is a perfect day here. I took my camera with me when we first went out, but as I tried to snap the first picture, I realized that the battery was dead. I will charge it back up and start snapping on our next outing.

The tournament site sits right next to a port, Cruise Pier. Today an enormous cruise ship was docked right next to the courts. It would have been a great picture if the battery in my camera would have had a charge!
(The volleyball courts are to the left of the cruise ship. They wouldn't fit in the picture!)
Today we discovered the Norwegian strawberries! So so good! I ate an entire package myself! The flowers and fresh fruits here are really spectacular. All the flowers that I see here are ones that my mom has in her gardens back in Indiana. It reminds me of my momma!

We are heading out now to go practice and get dinner. Last nights dinner was a bit suspect. We thought we were ordering chicken, lamb, and beef at a Greek restaurant, but we are pretty sure that we were given reindeer. We asked and were told it was beef, but it was very gamey and didn't taste like beef! Hope it wasn't Rudolph! ;)

Pictures and video to come!!!

More later!

Angie Akers

From Ocean City, Maryland AVP - on to World Championships

2009-06-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in the Frankfurt Airport Lufthansa Business Lounge waiting for my connecting flight to Stavanger so I thought I would take this opportunity to write about Ocean City and the journey to get here, in Frankfurt.

Ocean City... we made progress. We kicked the curse of our 7th place finishes on the AVP tour. We finished 5th place. Still not where we want to be, but progress. We played pretty well at times and then at other times, we forgot which way was up and which way was down. It happens. It is all about growing as a team and making progress, which I feel we really did.

We flew into Washington Dulles on Wednesday before the event started. Jeremy, my husband, arrived just before us so he picked up the rental car and then came back to get us. It is a 3 hour drive to OC, so instead of fighting traffic at rush hour, we decided to take a detour through DC and drive around Jeremy's old stomping grounds. We drove through his old neighborhood, by his school (St. Albans's), and then ate at me and Tyra's favorite place, Whole Foods. By the time we finished eating, traffic had cleared and we hit the road.

Once we arrived, we crashed right away and slept in on Thursday. We woke up to pouring rain and miserable weather. Once we got up, we walked down to the event site and watched a bit of the qualifier, visited the medical tent for some chiropractic treatment, then practiced a little later in the day.

We woke up early on Friday to beautiful weather. Our first round match was scheduled for 11 AM against Hall/Kuk. We were a bit shaky, but pulled things together and won handily, 21-16, 21-16. Our next match was against Stonebarger/Koester who pulled out an upset over the 11th seeds, Mason/More. We came out strong in the first and won big, 21-12. We lost a bit of our momentum, maybe had a lack in concentration after the first set and lost the second set 19-21. Then we decided to get down to business and take control of the third. We won 15-10. That was it for Friday.

Saturday morning we faced Hanson/Rutledge to get to 5th place. We started out strong with good ball control and a good game plan and won the first set 21-16. We were down big early in the second, but came rallying back to take the 18-17 side switch. Rutledge had a few key blocks which shifted the advantage back to them. They took the second set 21-19. We fell apart in the third set. We lost our ball control and made setting and hitting errors which absolutely killed us. We lost 10-15. Time to regroup....

After the loss, an enormous storm system blew in. We watched as teams played in the torrential downpour that ensued. The rain slowed down just in time for our warm up for our next match against the Lindquists. We actually started the match, took a side turn down 3-4 when the beach officials came in to declare that the entire beach was officially closed until further notice. Everyone had to evacuate the beach. There was quite a bit of thunder and lightning and more rain to come, so we were put on a 2 hour delay. Tyra and I went to the nearest hotel and sat in the lobby to wait it out. Once it cleared, we went back to the beach and had to warm up all over again.

We had another all-out battle with the Lindquists. They play crafty, scrappy volleyball so you must stay on your toes. They won the first set 21-19. We stayed patient, made some crucial plays, and won the second set 21-18. The third was a bit back and forth. A controversial referee call fired us up and put our backs against the wall. We pulled together as a team and fought our way out, winning 15-11. A big sigh of relief.

Next we faced Minello/Lima whom we lost to in Atlanta. We were fired up for this rematch. Wind was a factor and we used it to our advantage. We served aggressively, we hit aggressively, and we played good defense. (All important things to win!) We won in two sets, 21-17, 21-13. That win broke us of our 7th place curse. We were now in 5th place and moving on.

After we finished the match, we were getting treatment in the medical tent when another storm blew in. It was another torrential downpour that lasted about 15 minutes. Once it blew by us, an enormous rainbow formed over the ocean. It was beautiful.

The next morning, we faced Dodd/DeNeccochea in some seriously windy conditions. We did a great job of controlling the ball on our side of the net in the first set. We got a few aces and we sided out very well. We had a very big lead towards the end of the game, but Di served more than a few "tricklers" over the net that were untouchable. That pulled them in closer until we won 21-18.

We are not really sure where our ball control went after that first set, but it left us. We struggled through the next two games and ended up getting creamed. It was a big bummer, but in the grand scheme of the tournament, we made progress.

After the match, we got more treatment before hitting the road again back to the airport. Traffic was very heavy, so it took a bit longer than the 3 hours we anticipated. We still had plenty of time to stop by a Whole Foods and get our last kombuchas and salads before heading to Europe for 5 weeks.

So now for the second part of the story.... We boarded our flight from Dulles to Frankfurt, actually took off in the air and were flying about 20 minutes when the captain came on and said that one of the generators was not working so we would have to dump fuel and turn back. We would have an extra heavy load since we just took off so it would be a very heavy, potentially dangerous landing. For precautionary reasons, they called in the emergency team at the airport. We flew around dumping fuel (which made me cringe at the thought of such waste) for about 15 minutes. We had to dump tons and tons of jet fuel to get the plane to a safe weight for landing. Then we made our descent and landed the plane, without incident back at Dulles. The runways were cleared except for the dozens and dozens of emergency vehicles all waiting for us. It was an eerie sight to see all the flashing emergency lights lining the runway as we landed. Thankfully, we were safe on the ground.

We had to switch to another aircraft at a different gate, so we gathered our belongings and waited at the next gate. The whole ordeal took just under 4 hours, so we missed our connecting flight in Frankfurt to Stavanger, Norway. No big deal...we were booked on a later flight leaving in the afternoon, which is why we were sitting in the lounge when I started writing this. I am finishing it while we are actually flying.

So far our adventure is off to an exciting start! Once we arrive in Stavanger, we will have 2 full days to acclimate and prepare for our competition. Because it is the World Championships which consists of the top 48 men's and women's teams in the world, the event lasts 10 days. There are only 3 courts for competition, which means we will play one match every other day. We start off with 12 pools of 4 teams and from there, the top 2 will advance plus the best 8 of the remaining 3rd place finishers in pool to complete a 32 team single elimination tournament.

We begin play on Thursday. The forecast is for high 60s and sunshine! I can't wait!

I am bummed that we will miss the Coney Island AVP event, but we plan to do our best representing the USA here in Norway.

You can follow our results at http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/index.asp?sm=12
(Sorry! Can't figure out how to hyperlink this with my new computer!)

Thanks for reading!

Angie Akers

Beginning of a Long Journey

2009-06-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I am leaving for Ocean City, Maryland. This AVP tournament stop will mark the first week in a 15 week-long stretch of consecutive tournament play for me and Tyra.

We are traveling to many interesting places. Our journey begins in Maryland and will take us to Norway, Switzerland, Russia, France, Austria, Spain, and several stops in the USA.

We will have the opportunity to compete for Team USA at the World Championships in Stavanger, Norway from June 25th through July 4th. Unfortunately, World Championships coincide with Coney Island AVP, so we will be missing Coney Island. However, we intend to post video blogs from the road to let you all know where we are and how we are doing.

Be on the lookout for some articles and other publicity about AVP stars Jeff Nygaard, Ryan Mariano, Brooke Hanson, and Matt Olson. These athletes just returned from visiting our Troops stationed in Afghanistan. This is the third trip overseas to visit our troops that I have had the opportunity to do behind the scenes work on the logistical side, but the first that I could not actually attend myself. I was extremely bummed not to go with the other athletes, but my injuries and preparations for the World Championships kept me from going. I will be sure to make it on the next trip. From what I hear, they had a wonderful time interacting with lots and lots of our military men and women. Certainly, it was an experience never to be forgotten. I am anxious to hear their stories.

It is back to packing for me. I need to finish up some last minute details before I relax for the evening and then I hit the road!

Hope to see you at the beach!

Angie Akers

Month of May Review

2009-06-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

The month of May has had several ups and downs. It was extremely busy, which is why I am only writing about it now.

The last thing I wrote about was the San Diego tournament. Since then, we have had three consecutive tournaments: Houston, Osaka, and Atlanta. I will start with a recap of Houston.

Wouldn't you know, going into Houston, I got the worst sinus infection of my life. I felt absolutely horrible and wanted nothing but to crawl in my bed and stay there. Knowing that was not an option, I got my butt to Houston.

Tyra and I struggled from the start. Her knee was bothering her to the point that she could not bend or move very well. Knowing this, I wanted to do my part to make things easier for her, but my head was in a fog from all the over-the-counter medications that I was taking. We were a pathetic sight.

We lost our first match of the tournament to Fendrick/Ivy and had to battle back through the contenders' bracket. We beat ourselves. We were not physically able to do things that we normally can do, but we did not make up for it with intelligent play. Live and learn.

Anyway, I am not going into detail about the matches because my head was so foggy I can barely remember playing. We finished 7th place and caught an early flight home. 12 hours later, we were jumping on another flight to Osaka, Japan for our first FIVB tournament.

We almost did not make it to Japan. The swine flu had recently made its way to Osaka, and the airports were quarantining every plane from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. My sinus infection was in full force and I was coughing, sneezing, and constantly blowing my nose. Upon arrival, our plane was stopped on the tarmac while a team of health professionals boarded our plane and inspected each individual. I was very nervous at this point because we had to fill out health questionnaires asking if we were experiencing a cough, congestion, runny nose, sneezing, etc. Thankfully, I did not have a fever, which is the main thing they were looking for. When the examiner questioned me, he red-marked my health form. That meant the doctor had to come inspect me to decide if I would be placed in quarantine or not. Let me clarify that, the doctor would decide if, not just me, but everyone within a 2 meter radius of me would be quarantined.

The passengers seated around me were all nervous, as well. I assured them that I had seen a doctor in the United States and that my sickness was, indeed, just a sinus-infection. I was cleared and we were all on our way.

The Osaka event was really great. I was so nervous, excited, and anxious. It was my first FIVB main draw! We were seeded 26th going into the event.

Our first match was against a very good German team, Goller/Ludwig. We played very well and won the match in three sets, 15-10 in the third. We were excited to get that first match win under our belts.

Next, we played a team from Czech Republic. We played very well again, and won in dominating style in two sets. That put us into 9th place and finished for the day.

Our next match was against the 2nd seeded team from Brazil, the Salgado sisters, Maria Clara and Carol. We were on a hot-streak and won this match in three sets, 15-10 in the third. That win put us into 5th place. Then we faced a very good team from Greece. We were clicking and continued to play well, winning in two sets, securing our place in the semi-finals.

The strange thing was that by winning that match, we had the next day completely off. We did not really know what to do with ourselves. We had never had a "day off" in the middle of a tournament before. We thought it would be a blessing since we were still battling our health issues, but it turned out that it broke our momentum.

We lost in the semi-finals to Talita/Antonelli from Brazil. We played in the bronze medal match against a very good ball-control team from the Netherlands. They were hot and we were NOT! We finished 4th place, which we were very happy about considering it was our first tournament of the year. The difference in those two matches between winning and losing was serving. Those two teams served very tough consistently throughout the entire match. We never found our rhythm with serving and did not get either of them in any trouble. In order to beat those teams, we will have to serve tougher and control our side of the net.

Osaka was a very valuable tournament for us. By placing 4th, we were able to improve our seed dramatically. Because I had no finishes to report, I was given a 25th seed which was averaged with Tyra's 4.5 seed. Now I will replace that 25th with the 4th! It is a huge deal for us! Especially since the next tournament we play in on the FIVB tour will be the World Championships in Norway!

We flew back to the US on the Monday following the tournament. We were home for about 36 hours before we had to fly to Atlanta. We did not know where on the planet we were at and what time it could or should be. Sleeping was a challenge. I was wide-eyed in the middle of the night.

We started the tournament on Friday against Pavlik/Rouwenhorst. Tyra's serve was en fuego. She had 6 aces in the first game. Tough serving and steady siding out helped us win convincingly, 21-12, 21-16. Unfortunately for us, we were finished for the day.

Our momentum was broken up the next day by Dodd/DeNeccochea. They dominated us by serving really tough and keeping us on our toes on defense. They played very well and gave us a beat down.

We moved to the contenders' bracket and played Fendrick/Ivy to get to 7th place. We did not play great, but we played good enough to win.

Next, we played Lima/Minello. We were out served and lost in two sets. They just bombed serves at us, getting aces and creating trouble for us. We did not return the favor and had trouble scoring points. We lost, simple as that. We both were extremely disappointed. We know we are better than that. We have had some challenges set before us, and I am absolutely positive that we are going to be better off down the road because of them. I am not discouraged, only frustrated at not getting immediate results, but I know they will come.

We are home now and have taken a few days off to rest before the next phase of tournaments. We will have 15 weeks in a row filled with tournaments. All of them, except Manhattan and Hermosa will be on the road. It will be exhausting, but I am excited for what is to come. I will do my best to keep you informed and up to date, but forgive me if I fall behind. The good news is that we are healthy again and have our injuries under control. We are anxious to get back out there and prove that we are one of the best teams on tour.

I am going to enjoy being home for the next two weeks and then it's go time! Summer is here!

AVP San Diego County - Harrah's Casino

2009-05-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

Oh boy... where to begin. I am trying to forget this past weekend as quickly as I can, so here is my last attempt to rehash before I move on and put the weekend way way way behind me. From that sentence I am sure you can tell it was not a great weekend, volleyball-wise, for me and Tyra. We struggled from start to finish. Boy was it UGLY! Before the volleyball began, we did have some fun moments worth mentioning.

We arrived at the Harrah's Rincon Casino and Resort on Thursday evening and grabbed dinner with Hans Stolfus, Anthony Medel, John Moran, and Annett Davis. Tyra, Annett, and I pretty much listened and laughed the entire dinner. Those three guys are highly entertaining. They have opinions on pretty much everything so we shared quite a few laughs and had a great time.

Tyra and I did not have our first match of the tournament until Friday afternoon at 3:30. We tried to sleep in, but an unhappy, screaming child in the room next to us provided an early morning wake up call. We took our time getting ready and eventually made our way out to the courts which were across the street. We still had quite a few hours to kill, so we watched some of the women's matches and then moved around on the practice court.

Our first match was against Paula Roca and Heather Lowe. It had to be the longest match of the tournament at 1 hour and 15 minutes. The first set, we were down big pretty early. We made a late set rally which pulled us in close, but we lost 19-21. That momentum helped us win the second set 21-14. However, they adjusted and came out battling. We traded early leads, but were neck and neck at 13. We served 5 match points before finally winning 23-21 in the third. We were relieved to escape this one with a victory.

We only played that one match on Friday. Afterwards we watched Brooke Hanson and Lisa Rutledge play against Ashley Ivy and Lauren Fendrick. Brooke and Lisa were amazing. Lisa is putting up a great block. She is averaging 2 blocks a game. That is the same as Phil Dalhauser. If she isn't blocking the ball or getting a good touch on it, Brooke is digging everything else! This team looks really good. They made the final by beating several very good teams. They are definitely a force to watch out for!

Saturday, we did not play until 1 in the afternoon. We had Dianne DeNecochea and Carrie Dodd. I thought our funk from the first day would be done and gone, but it was there to stay. We started off this match making some good plays, but absolutely killed ourselves by making 11 errors as a team in the first set! The second set was not much better. We made 9 errors. You cannot beat good teams making that many errors in a match. We lost 18-21, 18-21. We moved to the Contenders' Bracket.

Our next match was against Ivy/Fendrick. We were still struggling. We were down early and had to chase from behind. At the end of the first set, we were able to set up a few points and win 24-22. The next game we started out with a lead but blew it. We were tied around 17 and then we came up with some plays to finished it out. Tyra had two huge blocks and I came up with a dig and transitioned it out. We won 21-17.

We had to play again right away against the Lindquists. One would think that two big girls like me and Tyra would have no problem against this team, but we did. We came out smashing the ball in the first set and won 21-15. The second set we tried to overpower them by hitting it hard at them. That is one thing you cannot do against that team. They are not afraid of hard hits! To beat them, you have to hit perimeters away from them. We did not do that and we lost. We had our opportunities, but did not capitalize on them.

We finished 7th place. I am extremely disappointed in that finish, but it is a long season and we have plenty of opportunities to improve.

After we were eliminated, I stuck around the tournament and watched a few more matches. It is hard to stay after a bitter loss, but I figured it would be a good humbling experience.

I was shocked to learn the news on Sunday that Holly McPeak is done. The San Diego Harrah's event was her last one. She will continue to do the television announcing, but she is hanging up her bikinis. She talked about retirement all last year, but when she started this season I did not think she would ever find the right time. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to play with Holly last season. She is such a great competitor and a wonderful friend.

On the men's side, I am so happy and excited to see Jeff Nygaard back in the winner's circle with John Mayer. This was Jeff's 8th win overall and first since 2005. Congrats to Jeff and John!

We have an off weekend coming up and then we have three tournaments back-to-back. We start off in Houston, then Tyra and I will be missing Huntington Beach in order to compete in the FIVB tournament in Osaka, Japan, then we fly to Atlanta. The summer is just getting started and I hope to see you somewhere at the beach!

On a side note, if you are looking for other players' blogs to read, here are some of my favorites:

Hans Stolfus - http://www.hansstolfus.com/
John Moran - http://www.provolleyballlifestyle.com/
Todd Rogers - http://toddjrogers.blogspot.com/

Also, if you are an Xmen fan, go see Wolverine-Origins. Awesome! It's summer blockbuster time and I am excited!

Angie Akers

Taking the Beach to Riverside!

2009-04-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Riverside put on a great AVP tournament this past weekend. With only 3 months of prep time to get ready for us, the city did a good job. The tournament was held in a park and parking lot near the Riverside Convention Center.

It was a scorching hot weekend. Friday was mild with temps in the high 80s, but each day it got significantly hotter. Sunday, my car thermometer read 101 degrees. I love playing in the heat and that is certainly what we got.

Tyra and I arrived in Riverside on Thursday evening in time to get in a light practice. We then ordered room service, showered up and went to sleep. We had to be up early Friday morning for the KTLA morning show with Gayle Anderson. We made our appearance there and then started our preparation for our first match of the day.

We played two rounds on Friday. Our first match was against a new team to the Main Draw from Florida, Flarity and Sweat. We won 21-9, 21-16. Our next match was two hours later against Paige Davis and Brooke Langston. We won 21-10, 21-10. That was it for Friday.

The next day, we had a 12 noon match against DeNecochea/Dodd. We had to be at the top of our game against this team. They are big and physical, like us. We came out a little shaky and fell behind. We were down 9-12 at the time out. We pulled ourselves together and came out of the time out strong. We made some big plays which earned us points. We pulled ahead and took the first set 21-19. The second set, we controlled our side of the net and took care of every opportunity we had. We got a big lead, up 20-14 and closed it out. It was a big win. We did not play our next match until 8:45PM that night.

It was hard to gear up for the night match. I usually go to bed on the early side, so getting amped up to play at 8:45 was a challenge for me. We lost two very close sets 19-21, 18-21. I could not pass a perfect ball to save my life! Yes, they are one of the best serving teams in the world, but I can usually pass pretty well. This presented us with problems in our side out game. We scrambled pretty well, but we just did not have a consistent side out game going. We were disappointed, but it was our first loss, so we were still alive. I had that night to stew over it, but I had to be ready to play again the next morning.

We went back to the hotel and tried to get to sleep right away, but neither one of us could. We had to get up and play at 9:30 the next morning. I tossed and turned for quite awhile going over play after play in my head.

The next morning we played my old partner and friend, Brooke Hanson and her new partner, Lisa Rutledge. Brooke is such a good player. She had to sit out the 2008 season after having her shoulder reconstructed. She is back at 100%. She led the tournament in digs with an insane amount per game. This will definitely be a team to watch this year.

We came out strong and jumped to an early lead and pretty much kept our pace throughout the match. We won 21-12, 21-16.

An hour later, we played Kessy/Ross. We did not play our best match. We lost 16-21, 18-21. I made stupid mistakes and was not aggressive. It is frustrating, but I did learn a lot about this team that you can only learn from playing them again and again. While Tyra has played them over 15 times in the last 2 seasons, that was my 3rd or 4th time. It is frustrating to lose, but Tyra and I have played in only 2 tournaments together. The first was Panama City which turned into a single elimination event and we only played 3 matches. Riverside we played 6 matches. We only have 9 matches under our belt as a team. We will get better. We are still figuring each other out.

In other news, we added a new member to our team a few weeks ago. We hired Canyon Ceman as our new coach. Canyon retired after last season and was attempting to move into the job market. Even with a Stanford education and multiple Masters degrees, he is having a hard time finding a job in the current economic climate. Lucky for us, he loves the sport and is not ready to step away completely. We have worked with Canyon for the last 6 weeks or so and we really like what he adds. We will be taking him on the road, which is great news for us. I always think having a coach on your bench is a big advantage.

We were supposed to be competing in Brazil this week, but I have a knee injury that needs some rest. Nothing too serious, but a week off was the doctors recommendation. We are home and taking the time to recover and then we will hit it hard to get ready for San Diego. Valley Center, California to be exact, in San Diego County at the Harrah's Rincon Casino.

On a completely separate note, my husband, Jeremy Akers, tried out and made the team of Notre Dame Football Alumni traveling to Japan this summer to compete against a team of Japanese All-Stars at the Tokyo Super Dome! I am so proud of all his hard work to get in shape for the tryouts and for his commitment to continuing his training for competition. He is blogging about his experience. You can follow it at www.onemoregame.blogspot.com.

Lastly, I was asked to write about what my diet looks like in a typical day. I did it and if you are interested, you can take a peek here.

That's all for now!

CIAO!

Angie Akers

Changes all around the AVP - Commissioner and Muskegan

2009-04-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

This last week presented several major changes within the AVP. First, the CEO and Commissioner of the last 8 years, Leonard Armato, is no longer in charge. A press release was issued which you can click here to read if interested.

It is too soon to tell what this means for the tour. We are in a very scary economic climate, but we are managing to stick around. I can only hope that things turn around quickly. There are mixed opinions about the job that Leonard Armato has done. One thing is for certain, he brought the sport back from nothing. He deserves to be recognized for his role in beach volleyball's revival in the United States. Having played with Holly last season, I got to spend time with both Holly and Leonard. They are such generous, amazing people. Their contributions to the sport have been bigger than most people are aware.

Another big announcement was made regarding the 2009 schedule. The tournament in the Hamptons has been replaced by Muskegan, Michigan. While I was very interested in a tournament in the Hamptons, I believe this is a great move. First, getting to the Hamptons in the middle of August sounds like a logistical nightmare. I believe Michigan will be easier and cheaper to get to. The date is set for August 21st-23rd, the week before the Chicago event. That means more time in the Midwest! I love that!

For you sports fans out there that are interested in things other than volleyball, check out this new blog written by my husband, Jeremy Akers. He is writing about his thoughts, expectations, and training as he prepares to play in one more game for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame under legendary coach, Lou Holtz! The team will travel this summer to Tokyo to compete against a team of All-Stars from the Japanese Football League. You can find the blog at http://onemoregame.blogspot.com.

Tomorrow we drive to Riverside for the next tournament. I am excited to see what this new site is going to be like. We have had some serious wind at the beaches the last few days, so I am anxious to see if it is windy inland, as well. The forecast calls for some heat which will be nice!

We are scheduled to leave for Brazil on Sunday night right after the Riverside event ends. That will be our first FIVB tournament of the year. I still have lots of packing to do, so I am going to get to it! Be sure to follow our results this weekend!

Angie

AVP Kickoff - Spring Break - Panama City

2009-03-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

After what seemed to be a long off-season, the AVP kicked off the 2009 season in Panama City Beach, Florida this past weekend. The event was scheduled for a Saturday/Sunday 24 team double-elimination tournament. However, the weather was incredibly bad on Saturday and the AVP was forced to cancel play for the day. We watched from our hotel room as torrential rains and 30 mph winds ripped across the venue. It was a crazy sight to see. We were glued to the Weather Channel hoping to see this huge storm blow by us fast, but more just kept coming. The good news was that the rain did clear for play on Sunday. The forecast was for sunshine, but the winds did not die.

Because we lost an entire day of play for the tournament, the AVP was left with no option other than to make the tournament a single-elimination event: you lose, you’re OUT! The top 8 teams in a 24 team main draw get a first round bye. This means that the top 8 teams are guaranteed a 9th place finish or better in a single elimination tournament. Fair or not, it is the way it is. Tyra and I were the 4th seed of the tournament, which is a great place to be.

We played our first match on Sunday at 10AM. The winds were howling. We had an idea in our heads that a tournament in Florida would be hot and humid; not the case with this tournament. The temperature was 67 degrees, but the winds were gusting between 15-25 mph. (Now that is WINDY for beach volleyball!)

We came out strong and won our first match 21-16, 23-21 against the 13th ranked team on tour, Paula Roca and Heather Lowe. The first set we played really well and maintained a lead throughout. The second set, we fell to an early lead and had to play catch up. We came up with some big plays at crucial times which helped us get the win in that second set.

Our next match was against the 12th ranked team, Lauren Fendrick and Ashley Ivy, who upset the 5th seeds, Holly McPeak and Jenny Kropp. We won that match in three sets, 21-13, 19-21, 15-11. The first set, we were clicking and things were going our way. They made some adjustments for the second set and it took us a little too long to recognize and adjust ourselves. Going into the third set, we were patient and knew what we needed to do. We took care of business and won the match. That win put us into the semi-finals.

Our third match of the day was against the Beijing Olympians, Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh. We played them very tough, but came up short losing 28-30, 13-21. The first set, we blew a 14-7 lead. It makes me sick to think about it, but the good news is that we were in a good position. We will definitely learn from the loss. That put an end to our tournament, finishing in 3rd place.

As soon as the match was over, we ran off the court to our hotel room. We were determined to catch our flight home out of Pensacola. We left the beach at 3:30 and our flight was at 6:15. We quickly showered and jumped in the rental car and drove 2 hours to Pensacola. We arrived at the airport at 5:55. We ran with all our belongings to the rental car desk, throwing the keys at the nice worker, and continued running to the ticket counter. We had to check our bags, print our boarding passes, and get through security. It was 6 o'clock at this time and it seemed impossible to make our flight. The ticket kiosks would not print boarding passes because we were cutting it too close. We somehow managed to sweet talk the lovely woman working at the counter into checking our bags and printing out boarding passes for us! This was 15 minutes before our flight was to leave! We raced through security and were blessed with no lines. We got to the gate just in time to get on the plane. Thankfully, we made it and so did our bags! It was seriously unbelievable.

So our first tournament of the year, cut short by bad weather, was a 3rd place finish for us and full of excitement and adventure! Not a bad way to start out 2009! We have 2 and 1/2 weeks now until Riverside which is our next AVP event. We know what we have to do and we are working hard to improve everyday and be the best we can be! #1 is in our sights!

2009 AVP Schedule

2009-03-03T18:49:00.001-08:00

Well, it is about time! Folks, we finally have a schedule for the 2009 season. Without further ado, here it is!

March 26 – 29 Panama City Beach
April 17 – 19 Riverside, CA
May 1 – 3 San Diego/Rincon Harrahs
May 15 – 17 Houston
May 21 – 24 Huntington Beach
May 28-31 Atlanta
June 18-21 Ocean City, MD
July 3-5 TBD
July 16-19 Manhattan Beach
Aug 6-9 Hermosa Beach
Aug 14-16 San Francisco
Aug 21-23 Hamptons
Aug 27-30 Chicago
Sept 4-6 Cincinnati
Sept 17-19 Las Vegas
Sept 24-26 Glendale

We are going to a few new places. Panama City should be great. It is Spring Break and I am sure we will have good, rowdy crowds. When I first saw Riverside, I said, "huh?" Apparently the location of the tournament is a trendy little spot. We shall see on April 17th! The San Diego event is now at a casino instead of on the beach. That should be interesting. We are very excited to be going to the Hamptons in August! It is high time there and I am sure the Hamptons have never seen something quite like what we will bring.

There are 16 stops on this schedule, two less than last year. I like it. With the current state of the economy, we were in fear of losing several more, but I think 16 is a good, solid number of events that will make a complete season.

We are going to some interesting cities and hopefully the tour will have good success in those new places! It will be a year to watch, for sure. There are so many new teams plus without Misty and Kerri, there will be new women emerging to the top of the ranks.

We are four weeks out from the first tournament. Tyra and I are training hard and getting better every day. We are looking forward to the season starting, but we realize that we have a lot of work to do before then, so we are thankful that we still have four weeks. We have our eyes set on climbing to the top! I am excited for all the good things to come!

AVP Hot Winter Nights 2009

2009-02-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Here we are already in the middle of February 2009, Valentine's Day, to be exact. I swear each year comes and goes by faster and faster. There are still six weeks until our first AVP Tour Event in Panama City, Florida. That gives Tyra and me a lot of time still to train hard and work out the kinks. We are both very motivated and excited to get things going.

We both had the opportunity to play in the Hot Winter Nights Tour, which started in January and is still going on now. However, she and I were only invited to one swing each. Her trip sounded like just as much fun as mine. Here is how it works:

Four women and four men are invited to play in a two or three city swing per weekend. Those players fly in on a Wednesday, play Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and then fly home on Sunday. In most places we bus from city to city. Don't think Greyhound here, these buses are straight rock star buses! The competition format is very fun for us players. We are not selected with our regular season partner. We each compete as individuals and come out with a single winner. We play a game with every other player, then decide who is the "Best of the Beach." However, on night two of my Midwest swing, we decided to change the format for the Finals to a co-ed four versus four game. It was a huge hit. My Hot Winter Nights group consisted of Elaine Youngs (EY), Dianne DeNecochea (Di), Brittany Hochevar (Britt), and on the men's side, Todd Rogers, Phil Dalhausser, Nick Lucena, and Casey Jennings.

Our first stop was in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Van Andel Arena where the temperature was a whopping 15 degrees. We flew from LAX to Grand Rapids on a Wednesday. We were delayed for about 3 hours in Detroit so it ended up being a late night for us by the time we got dinner and settled into our hotel.

The next morning I woke early to visit some local radio stations to promote the AVP and the HWN event at Van Andel Arena. I went on the air with 3 different stations and had a great time chatting with the hosts. We spent some time talking about the format for the event and how much fun it really is to see beach volleyball in the dead of winter. We then gave away tickets to the event.

After the radio interviews, I met up with all the other players for a meet-and-greet lunch event with some local club volleyball players and their parents. We signed some autographs and chatted a bit, then had about 2 hours to ourselves before the Main Event. I hit the gym and did some yoga and lifting.

Once we arrived at the Van Andel Arena, we gave two mini clinics to some local kids. We did not have much time with them, but they seemed to enjoy it while it lasted.

As soon as the clinics were over, the arena opened to the ticket holders and people started to flow in. You could see the look of excitement on their faces when they walked in from the freezing cold and saw bright lights, sand, and guys and girls in board shorts and bikinis! The ladies played first, so we started our warm-up. At 7pm, it was "go time!" Geeter was there on the mic and introduced us all.

The first match up was me and Di versus Britt and EY. With this format, you most likely will have to play a different position that your usual one. Plus, it will most likely change with every different person you play with. So with Di, I played on the right side and stayed back to play defense. The last two seasons I have played on the left side and have run up to the net to block. So this was a completely new role for me. It is really fun to change it up and play with different people. We do not practice this format together, so what you see there at the event is truly a pickup game! Di and I got off to a good start and won 15-12.

The next match was me and Britt against EY and Di. This game was a barn-burner! I played on the left side and we split blocked while the other served, but I ran to the net to block during transition plays. We battled back and forth until Britt and I won 19-17.

The last match up was me and EY versus Britt and Di. I played on the right side for this game. EY and I split blocked and she ran to the net for transition. By this time, it was definitely confusing figuring out who runs up and who stays back. I am sure there were several miscommunications, but we figured it out and won 15-11.

The win gave me three wins in pool which put me in 1st place. EY finished 2nd by one point over Di. So that meant EY and I would play against each other for the final and I would get first choice of partner between Di and Britt. I picked Di, but we would not play the final until after the men played their pool games.

From the time we stopped playing until we were to go on again for the final, we did not stop signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans. It was really incredible! We all were shocked at how many people wanted to have their picture taken with us. I was asked to sign bald heads, foreheads, forearms, and cell phones in addition to the usual ball, t-shirt, ticket, or piece of paper. It was great to see everyone having such a good time.

Once the men finished, we were back on the sand and ready to play our Final. Di and I started really strong and jumped out to a 12-4 lead. We nearly blew it! We gave up 7 points in a row before our next side out! We pulled it together and went on to win 15-12 which gave me my first ever Hot Winter Nights win! It was a super fun night which we got to share with an amazing crowd. They were loud and crazy which really fired us up.

As soon as the men finished, we had to shower up and get on the bus for a 10 hour long bus ride to Kansas City. It was a cold and windy night. The bus was blowing all over the road which made it hard to sleep. Thankfully, our bus driver stayed awake all night and got us there safe and sound.

That night, in Kansas City, we were scheduled for a meet and greet and another clinic before the doors opened. We had a question and answer session with about 60 kids, then got most of them out on the sand for a little volleyball.

The KC Sprint Center was just as great as Grand Rapids! When the doors opened, we had another great crowd come rushing in to escape the cold and wind.

I played with Britt first against EY and Di. We won 15-13. Then it was me and EY against Britt and Di. We lost 12-15. Then Di and I beat EY and Britt 15-12. That made Di our pool play winner by 1 point over me and Britt. However, we decided that we would play the co-ed fours exhibition instead of the regular final which would be a match up that the fans had already seen that night.

The co-ed four on four was an absolute blast! My team was Nick Lucena, Phil Dalhausser, EY, and me. We played against Di, Britt, Casey Jennings, and Todd Rogers. The rules for that night were that we would play on the women's net, but the men could not attack. With the women only attacking, the rallies were very long and exciting. We had Phil setting and Nick back playing defense. EY and I were on the left and right sides attacking. We lost this game, but it was fun for us and the crowd really got into it. We were experimenting with the format and it was a huge success.

When the coed fours was over, we showered up and hopped back on the bus and went straight to Indianapolis. We arrived early in the morning and had most of the day to catch up on the sleep we missed from hanging out on the bus.

We made our way to the Conseco Fieldhouse and gave another clinic just before playing. This was the last stop of the three night Midwest swing. It was the largest crowd we had of all three nights. There were over 5000 people in the stands. It was a sort of homecoming for me. Indy is only two hours from Fort Wayne where I grew up, so I had lots of family and friends in the crowd. It felt absolutely amazing having such a huge crowd behind me, cheering me on!

I played with EY first and won 15-13 over Di and Britt. Next, I played with Di and won 15-13 over EY and Britt. Lastly, I played with Britt and we lost 11-15. As soon as we finished the pool play, we started signing autographs again. The lines were insanely long! We stood there and signed every last ball, t-shirt, ticket, arm, and cell phone that was asked of us. Then it was time for the Final.

This night, we played on the men's net and the women set and played defense. On the men's net with the men attacking, it was much more like the men's game with shorter rallies: bump, set, kill. I was on a team with Phil, Casey, and Britt. I tried to hide behind Phil's block, but still managed to get hit in the stomach while protecting my face! It did not hurt, but it probably looked like it did! We had a lot of fun playing the co-ed fours. It was a great way to bring all the athletes on the court at once for a Final. We won the fours and left the Hot Winter Nights Tour with a victory!

The whole experience from the Hot Winter Nights was incredible. We were in freezing cold cities in the middle of our country playing beach volleyball! The crowds loved it. It provided an escape from the harsh winter for a few hours.

After the event was over in Indy, I had to catch an early morning flight down to Ixtapa, Mexico for my 4th annual trip to the South of the Border Volleyball Vacation. I went from 15 degrees in Indianapolis to 90 degrees in Mexico in one day. It was quite the turn-around. I will fill you in on the details of that trip in my next blog so stay posted!

Stay warm, happy, and healthy!
Angie

New Vision, New Year, New Pro Beach Volleyball Season

2009-01-10T13:06:00.000-08:00

It has been entirely too long since my last entry, but I will make up for it here with all the new information and updates that I have to give!

First, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. It came and went in a flash for me, but was filled with lots of fun, family, and happiness.

In early December, I finally got Lasik eye surgery after years and years of contact wearing. I finally got fed up with all the discomforts of wearing contact lenses; dry eyes, blurred vision if the contact wasn't sitting right, sand caught underneath the lenses just to name a few!

I went to the Maloney Vision Institute and received the best care imaginable. Dr. Maloney and his staff are the absolute BEST in the field and it is very apparent from the first step into their facility. Every employee is just about the nicest person you will ever meet. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and patiently gave me detailed answers to every question I had. I could not have imagined being any more comfortable with anyone when it comes to my vision. Not only did I receive such a warm welcome, but the procedure was incredibly quick, painless, and precise! The results are simply astounding. I went from having 20/200 vision with an astigmatism to 20/12.5 vision - BETTER THAN PERFECT! The recovery was fast and painless. Dr. Maloney is absolutely amazing. He made me feel at ease from the first moment I met with him. His experience speaks for itself. If Lasik eye surgery is something you are considering, I URGE you to see the very best and get it done right. See Dr. Maloney at the Maloney Vision Institute. I will be proudly wearing a Maloney Vision Institute body tattoo this season. Make an appointment and tell them I sent you!

Thanks to Dr. Maloney, my passing on the volleyball court has improved! I feel like I can judge the ball so much better now and I have accurate depth perception which is making a world of difference! It truly is exciting to go to practice and be able to see clearly at all times. I feel like a kid who just received the greatest Christmas present ever!

Speaking of Christmas, on Christmas Eve, I organized a small group of athletes and executives to visit the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital. We joined Santa and some of his helpers in delivering presents to the patients. I was so pleased to have Matt Fuerbringer, Rachel Wacholder, Holly McPeak, Leonard Armato, Jason Hodell and his son, Chris Akers, and Jeremy Akers join me on the visit. The patients were really excited to have visitors and expressed how much they appreciated our time. It was a great experience which really set the tone for the holidays. I am currently working on a few initiatives to further thank the men and women who have or are currently serving in our military. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I would be more than happy to hear them! Just leave a comment or send me an email.

Besides the excitement of my new vision, I am also thrilled to announce that I will be playing with Tyra Turner in 2009! I will go from being the "big girl" blocker to, most likely, split blocking and playing some defense. I will probably move back to the right side, as well. It is a great opportunity for me to play with Tyra for several reasons. First, she is a great player. She is young and has several years ahead of her. Also, she had great international success the last few seasons playing with Rachel Wacholder. One of our goals is to play on the international tour as well as the AVP Tour so this is a great opportunity for me to play with an internationally experienced partner. I am really excited about our potential and am expecting great things from us this season!

I just finished my first full week of training. It feels great to be back in the sand and working hard in the gym. I have two more weeks and then I go to Grand Rapids, Kansas City, and Indianapolis for the Hot Winter Nights! That will be fun and exciting! Playing in Indianapolis will be really special because it will be the first time for me to ever play professionally in Indiana in front of my friends and family. If you will be making it to any of these events, please let me know!

After the Hot Winter Nights, I will be heading straight to Ixtapa, Mexico for the greatest vacation in the world, the South of the Border Volleyball Vacation. If you are looking for an active vacation in paradise, this is it. You will not meet nicer people than those who attend this trip. It is like going on a tropical paradise vacation with 100 of your closest friends and playing some beach volleyball! It doesn't get any better!

Well, it is time for some playoff football games, so I am going to sign off and go watch. Thank you for reading and I hope 2009 is a wonderful year for all of you!

Peace!

Angie

My Visit to Fort Bragg

2008-11-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

This past weekend's trip to Fort Bragg was a great experience. I arrived Saturday evening and was greeted by one of the founding members of FUBAR and Warriors’ Promise, Ken Hunt. Ken recently retired from the Army after 27 years of service. He was a Green Beret. His father, Master Sergeant William B. Hunt was Vietnam Special Forces and went MIA after being shot from above in Vietnam. It happened when Ken was 5 years old, so he doesn't remember him much. He has spent most of his life asking questions and trying to search for him or any last detail that he can track down.

On Sunday morning, Ken and I were scheduled to meet at the US Sports Bar on Fort Bragg where I would be signing autographs and hanging out with the soldiers and their families.

When we first arrived on the Fort, we set up our display at the bar where lots of families and individuals would be watching Sunday Football. We displayed all the FUBAR and Warrior's Promise give-aways we had. We gave out drinks, bars, stickers, patches, T-shirts, hats, and autograph cards from me and Nascar driver, Johnny Sauter. There was a great turnout.

(This is a picture of an inscriptions on one of the memorials at the site dedicated to the memory of the soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division who made the ultimate sacrifice for America. It is one of my favorite pictures because it is a reminder about who the true "All-Americans" are.)

The visit at the sports bar went very fast. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to actually play volleyball with the troops and their families, but hopefully we will plan a summer visit and get people out using the courts. The sand courts looked very nice, but November in North Carolina is not a good month for beach volleyball... A little too cold for me! I did get the chance to talk to a lot of the soldiers. Most of them were either returning from or getting ready to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan.

After the Sports Bar, Ken showed me around the Fort. The visit was very nostalgic for him. He was born at Fort Bragg and had been stationed there many years ago himself. We visited Special Forces Memorials for our fallen soldiers including Master Sergeant William B. Hunt, Ken's father. It was a special moment that I was proud to share with Ken.

He also showed me around a few of the museums. My favorite was the old aircraft. When I was young, I collected plastic toy replicas of these old, beautiful planes. I felt like a wide-eyed kid again.

It was a great weekend that was very special for me. It has inspired me to do more. I want to encourage all the civilians I know to thank our veterans and active military. These holidays, please do not forget them.

One way to honor our soldiers is to support the Warrior's Promise Foundation. The mission of the Warrior's Promise Foundation is to improve the quality of life for the men and women of the military community in need. Please read more about it at http://www.warriorspromise.org/.

Wishing you all a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving Holiday!

Angie

PS. I just posted all the pictures from my trip to my website. Go to www.angieakers.com and click on the Gallery to find Fort Bragg 2008 pictures.

Roy Williams Charity Bowling Event

2008-11-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to be a celebrity guest at the Roy Williams Bowling with the Boys' for Safety Net Foundation. Safety Net helps low-income, single mothers in the Dallas area.

The event was fantastic. When I first arrived, I met up with some of the other celebrities that were participating. Chris Kirkpatrick from N'Sync, Comedian Gary Owen, and Deal or No Deal's #1 model Claudia Jordan. We were driven to the event in a limo bus. When we arrived at the Bowling Alley, we walked the Red Carpet into the event. Our pictures were taken and we were escorted to get our shoes and shirts and then to our lanes to meet our teams.

I was on Pastor Ricky Rush and Pastor Sewell's team. There were quite a few of us, as the turnout for the event was fantastic! The first hour and a half was spent talking with people and throwing a few warm up bowls. I warned my team just how bad I was going to be. Being the nice people that they all were, they welcomed me anyway! We had a hard time keeping a real score because there were so many of us in our lane. We would bowl out of turn on purpose just to keep things moving. I called in a sub, my new friend, Jace, who is a 3rd grader in the Dallas area. He was there with his grandfather, Pastor Sewell. Jace was pretty darn good! I tried convincing him that beach volleyball was a great sport and that he should watch it more often, but he was not so sure. He was a bit shy and really liked to stick with football. I could not blame him. He was surrounded by most of the Dallas Cowboys Football team. Terrell Owens was bowling in the lane right next to us! Jace was dying for his autograph and I think he got it!

Roy Williams made a very good effort to come around to each lane and spend a fair bit of time talking with everyone. With so many people at the event, I know it took a great effort from him. He was so friendly and thankful to have us there supporting his Foundation. I was honored to be there.

Toward the end of the night, each celebrity did a quick interview/sound byte for the Foundation. My first take was with the comedian, Gary Owen, who by the way was hysterical! I didn't say much because I was laughing so hard at him. I ended up doing my own byte after we were finished. I had a fantastic time hanging out with Gary and Chris. We all had just met, but by the end of the night it felt like we had known each other for awhile.

It was a great experience for me to meet and interact with so many amazing people. I felt that I had about 50 new friends. It was a fantastic feeling.

After the Bowling, we took the limo bus back to the hotel and I called it a night. I had an early morning flight to catch and was ready for bed.

It was such a short trip, but packed full of fun and great experiences. Plus, we helped out a great cause! I loved every minute of it!

My next trip will be in 2 weeks. I will be visiting Fort Bragg to meet and greet the troops there! I am really excited for the trip and know it will be another fantastic journey!

Peace!

Angie

Dubai - Post Season

2008-10-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I just returned from a very short trip to Dubai. It took 23 hours of travel to get there and 19 hours to get back. I was there for 3 days! Talk about a whirlwind! Here is what went down...

Thursday morning, I jumped on a plane and flew from LAX to JFK for the 5 hour flight. I had a 4 hour layover at JFK, which worked nicely because I was able to watch the Vice Presidential debate in the airport. Just as it was ending, we were boarding our flight. I then flew direct from JFK to Dubai, a 14 hour flight. We landed at 7:30PM Dubai time on Friday. By the time I got my luggage and got to the hotel, it was about 9:30PM. I felt extremely out of whack and somehow managed to stay up until midnight. I took Advil PM and zonked out until 11:30AM the next day.

Saturday we ventured down to the beach and found the site where the tournament was being held. It was 100 degrees and humid! We got there around 2:30 in the afternoon and were advised not to practice until 4 because of the extreme heat. We had not eaten lunch yet, so we asked where we could find a good restaurant nearby. The tournament directors invited us to eat lunch where the staff would be eating. It was fantastic! We had the best hommus, baba ghannouj, tabouleh, and fresh fruit. I was in food heaven!

After eating, we went down to the water and went swimming for awhile. The Persian Gulf is extremely warm! The air temperature was around 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the water felt like warm bath water. It must have been at least 90 degrees. Not exactly refreshing on a hot day, but fabulous to lounge in at dusk.

I was a bit shocked to see the extremes in culture in Dubai. There are Muslim women covered head to toe in black burkas with nothing showing except their eyes, even on the beach. I encountered one such woman in the ladies room and she was soaking wet from sweat and trying to cool herself down. Then I saw a woman in a thong bikini basking in the sun and frolicking around in the water. It was literally one extreme to another. Apparently, the United Arab Emirates is fairly liberal in the Muslim world.

Around 3:30, we decided to practice for a bit. We were on our own for the first hour, then we jumped in with the English girls and played a little. Afterward, we went back to the hotel and ate dinner there. We tried to go to bed early, but our body clocks were severely out of whack. I fell asleep at midnight, but woke up at 6AM. I read for awhile before heading down to the restaurant for breakfast. I met up with Tyra Turner, Nancy Mason, and Jen Boss, all who were having trouble sleeping as well! We sat at a table just hanging out for awhile trying to decide what to do with our day. Since Brooke and I had to play the country quota match that evening at 5PM, we decided to stay in while the others went to a giant water park.

We had several hours to kill, so we walked to a grocery store and did a little food shopping. Then we went back to our room and watched some TV. Around 3PM, we took a taxi back to the beach where the tournament was being held.

We took our time warming up, which was not hard in the 100 degree heat. We then had to play the country quota against Ivy/Fendrick.

It was extremely disappointing for us. It was Brooke's first tournament back from her shoulder surgery. We had a rough go of it and it was obvious that we had not played together in a long time. Afterwards, feeling rather foolish for traveling all the way to Dubai and not even making it into the tournament, I went down to the water and cleared my mind.

Brooke and I had intended to play in the remaining FIVB events in Thailand and China, but decided it was best not to go. I am OVER traveling right now, so that is just fine by me! I am really excited to be home and attempt being a normal person. I am not sure that is possible, but I am going to attempt it!

So after leaving the site, we went back to the hotel and changed our flight home. We bought new tickets leaving the very next morning. We decided to go check out the Mall of the Emirates and see what Ski Dubai was all about.

All I can really say is "HOLY COW!" Ski Dubai is like a winter wonderland all year round. We decided not to actually ski because we just did not feel like being cold. We looked through the window at the spectacle and could not believe our eyes. Here in the middle of a MALL in the middle of the DESERT is a ski resort! There were tons of kids riding inter tubes and toboggans down the slopes. It looked like great fun.

After checking it out for awhile, we were hungry and went to find food. We stumbled upon a wonderful Lebanese restaurant and had a fantastic meal. We dined on more hommus and pita, chicken tawouk, and baklawa. It was great.

We walked around the mall for a bit, but everything was closing so we took a taxi back to our hotel. We stayed up to pack and tried to get to sleep around midnight. I fell asleep fast, but woke up at 2AM wide awake. I turned on the TV and flipped through channels until 6AM. Then we left for the airport.

Our first flight was from Dubai to London. It was 7.5 hours long. After not sleeping much the night before, I was extremely happy to have a whole row to myself. I stretched out and slept for 6 hours of the flight.

As soon as we landed in London, we had to sprint from the plane to our connection. We had an hour in between flights, but by the time we got off the plane and went through passport control and security, it left us barely 10 minutes to get to the other side of the airport. We reached the gate just in time and got on the flight. It was another 11.5 hours from London to LAX.

I felt quite rested, so I read and watched movies. It went pretty fast and by the time I got home, it was 8PM California time. Jeremy picked me up from the airport and we grabbed dinner and opened a bottle of wine.

I stayed up until midnight and thankfully slept the whole night through. I feel great today and am pleasantly surprised that I do not feel jet lagged in the least! I think the trip was too fast for that!

I am home now and happy to be here. I have no plans other than to take some much needed time off. I am really looking forward to that!

If anything fun and exciting comes up, I will be sure to write about it! In the meantime, thanks for reading and being apart of my 2008 season!

All my best,

Angie

Glendale - Best of the Beach

2008-09-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

The AVP off season is officially here. The regular season ended this past weekend with the Best of the Beach in Glendale, Arizona. The weather was HOT and so was the action! We played with different partners every match and eventually found out just who was the "Best of the Beach."

Unfortunately, it was not me. However, I did have an awesome time. I was seeded 9th going into the event. My pool consisted of Annett Davis, Tyra Turner, and Barbra Fontana. Our first match was on Thursday evening at 6PM. The temperature was 105 degrees and we sure felt it! I played with Barbra first. We did not fair so well against Davis and Turner. They played pretty well and really took it to us. Unfortunately, our scores were 13-21, 15-21. So Barbra and I were 0-1 in pool play.

Friday morning, at 10AM with the weather at a pleasant 90 degrees and rising, I played with Annett against Barbra and Tyra. It was fun, but we did not win. We struggled finding a rhythm together. We lost 17-21, 16-21. That put my record at 0-2.

We played again at 12 noon in the HEAT! It was 103 degrees! I played with Tyra and got my first and only victory. It was an exciting three set match. We won 18-21, 21-19, 18-16. Tyra and I were down match point, 12-14 but fought our way back to win the match. It was really fun.

Tyra won our pool with her 3 victories. Annett, Barbra, and I all tied for second with our 1-2 records, so it went down to sets then points. Because my only victory came in a three set match, I automatically was in last place. Barbra and Annett were close in points, but Annett's losses were closer than Barbra's, so Annett finished second and moved on to the next round of competition. Barbra and I were eliminated.

As players, we really enjoy the format because it is a totally different challenge. You are put on the court with people you have never played with before and you have about 30 minutes to warm up, figure out your strategies, and try to create some sort of chemistry. It is interesting to see who you play well with and who you do not. It is a great way to end the AVP season.

After being eliminated, we stayed to watch the volleyball all weekend. It was nice to let loose and enjoy ourselves without having to worry about training or the next week's tournament.

I took Saturday and Sunday off, but I am back on the beach Monday morning. I will be traveling to Dubai with Brooke Hanson, my partner from last season, to compete on the FIVB tour. Brooke has missed the entire 2008 AVP season due to a shoulder injury. She has fully recovered and is itching to get back in the sand and compete. We leave on Thursday and will have to compete in the country quota before we can gain entrance into the qualification tournament. I will be blogging from overseas, so be sure to check in.

Have a great week!

Angie

Manhattan Beach Open

2008-09-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

The final team tournament of the year was held in Manhattan Beach this past weekend. Earlier in the year, this tournament's format was decided to be an 8 team automatic entry with 8 more teams coming in from a qualifier. After much campaigning and even going before the Manhattan Beach Council, a group of people fought to have the format changed from 16 total teams to a much bigger, 32 team draw. It seemed to work out for the best. However, the 8 automatic entries remained the same, but now they had 24 teams work their way in from the qualifier.

Holly and I finished 5th in San Francisco which automatically qualified us for Manhattan Beach. We were the 5th seed of the tournament. Unfortunately, we were not playing our best volleyball and ended our season together with a very disappointing 9th place finish. We played a very long day of volleyball on Friday.

Our first match was against MacArthur/Lehman at 9AM. We took care of business and won easily, 21-13, 21-10. Next, we played the Lindquists and had another all out battle. They played great, digging everything we sent at them. We lost a tough one, 20-22, 22-20, 13-15. That loss was very disappointing, but we had to bounce back. We would have to play 3 more matches that day.

Next, we faced Straton/Wing. We struggled through the first game, but won 21-19, 21-16. We were not playing our best volleyball, but we got by. I was not playing confident and aggressively. I was sort of in my own head. After the match, I went down to the ocean to recharge. I swam for a bit and tried to relax. It helped tremendously.

Our next match was against Lewis/Lima in the stadium. Things came together for us and we played our best volleyball of the tournament. We won 21-8, 21-9! Nothing dropped on Holly and we played together, near flawlessly. It was a great match which helped get my confidence back.

Our 5th match of the day was against Roca/Fendrick at 5:30PM. We went back to playing poor volleyball and lost. We were in it all the way, but never took over and controlled the match. We lost 19-21, 24-26. We were down in the second set, 12-16 and went on a run to tie it up at 19-19. We battled point after point, getting the advantage and serving game point several times, but never closed it out. The game ended when the referee made a very questionable call for a lift after Holly covered herself off the block. It was an unbelievable way to end a close match. In my opinion, it was a terrible call, but referees make mistakes too. We had several other chances and should have taken care of it then. So that ended our season together as a team.

Saturday, despite my feelings of disappointment, I went down to the tournament and hung out all day. I signed autographs with Holly at the PNY tent. Then I hung out in the Level 10 Fitness tent with my trainer, Meredith Miller. I signed a few autographs and took pictures with some of the kids stopping by.

Sunday, Meredith held a "Workout on the Beach with the Pros" to promote Level 10. I was there to workout with everyone and have some fun. She kicked our butts, but we all had a great time. Then before the men's final, I played in a celebrity charity match for Stand Up to Cancer which will be aired on Best Damn Sports Show. My team consisted of Coach Kurt Rambis, Laker Sasha Vujacic, The Bachelorette Deanna Pappas and her fiance, pro snow boarder Jesse Csincsak, Bob Marley's son Rohan Marley, actor Johnny Messner, Suzanne Stonebarger, and me. We played a game to 15 points and my team won! It was fun to meet new people and teach them a little about beach volleyball while raising money for a great cause.

This coming weekend is the Gods and Goddesses of the Beach Challenge in Glendale, Arizona for the top 12 players on tour. Holly and I will be competing there in the Goddess of the Beach Challenge. The pools were announced and I will be playing with Annett Davis, Tyra Turner, and Barbra Fontana. This is a very fun event where we play round robin style (one match with every person in your pool.) The top two players from each pool will then advance to the next round. This event will complete the AVP 2008 season. It has come and gone incredibly fast. I have enjoyed it every step of the way.

I want to give a HUGE shout out to my wonderful sponsors, REAL WATER, CUERVO, PNY, and FUBAR for all their support and encouragement! They help to make my life on the beach much easier!

Thanks for reading!

Angie

Santa Barbara and San Francisco

2008-09-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry I did not post after the Santa Barbara event. Things got very busy and my blog was pushed to the back burner. But I am back to give you full details of the last two events. They were good ones filled with excitement and upsets.

Santa Barbara was really nice. The weather was great. We stayed right across the street from the site, which was fantastically convenient. It was a two day tournament with a 16 team draw size. Only the teams that finished 9th or better would move on to San Francisco.

We won our first match against Romias/Rutledge. We played great at times, but were a little streaky in this match. We had big leads in both games but gave up several points in a row making the match tighter than it should have been.

Next we played Davis/Jordan and lost a heart-breaker. We won the first set 34-32. It was very exciting all around. There were several long, dramatic rallies. The second set, we trailed from the beginning. We lost 17-21. We were neck and neck throughout the third set until the last few points. Davis/Jordan jumped ahead when it counted and got the victory. It was frustrating, but we fought so hard and knew we had to bounce back quickly.

We then played Ivy/Lowe in the contenders bracket. The first set was really close. We led the whole match, but could not break away. We won 24-22. The next set, we made some adjustments and were able to score some points and get a little cushion. We won 21-17.

Our next match was against Mason/Kropp in the stadium. The entire beach is pretty hard-packed, but the stadium was just like playing indoors again. I felt so good during this match. I was jumping and seeing the court really well. We took care of all our opportunities and won 21-13, 21-15. It was a great match for us.

We were finished for the day, sitting in 5th place. We had to come back the next morning and play Boss/Ross to get to the semi-finals.

We finished on the later side so I went back to my hotel to shower quickly before heading to dinner. I was exhausted from the day so I climbed in bed early and fell right to sleep.

The next morning I felt great physically. I was ready to go. We started off pretty well against Boss/Ross, but then they got some confidence in their jump serves and started bombing them. They went after me because I got into some passing trouble. If I passed the ball I would side out, but I was getting eaten alive by their serves. I got aced more than a few times. It was not pretty. We lost 26-28, 18-21. That was the end of our tournament. We finished in 5th place.

I felt better after seeing how well Davis/Jordan and Boss/Ross played against all their opponents. Both teams are playing exceptionally well right now. I was really excited for Davis/Jordan to win the whole tournament. They are wonderful girls and amazing volleyball players.

Next stop, San Francisco -

I left on Tuesday for San Francisco for Cuervo appearances. The Wednesday visits were cancelled so I had a full day in the city with my husband. We used to live there, 7 years ago, so it is really fun for us to go back and visit friends and some of our favorite stomping grounds. It was really cold in the city and I did not pack anything warm so it was a good excuse to go shopping.

Holly arrived on Thursday, so we trained at 5PM. It was incredibly windy. At least the sun was out because when the cloud cover came in, the temperature dropped drastically. We had a short practice and then made our way to dinner.

The next morning, we played at 11:30 against Ivy/Lowe. It was cloudy and very cold. We played in long pants and long sleeve tops. The cold did not get to us. We came out very strong and won 21-14, 21-16.

Next, we played Davis/Jordan again. (For about the 9th time this season!) We played very streaky throughout the weekend. We were either really good or really bad. The first set of this match, we could not buy a side out. Davis/Jordan made one exceptional play after another. It was super frustrating for us. We lost the first set 10-21. We played better in the next set, but not good enough. We lost 18-21. People always ask what is the most embarrassing thing to happen while playing. Well, my most embarrassing moment happened in this match. I jumped up to hit a ball on two just as a gust of wind came up. I swung as hard as I could and completely missed the ball! To add insult to injury, the ball then hit me in the face! I could not believe that it happened. I just wanted to laugh at myself, but no one was laughing! So I just walked back to my spot feeling really stupid and embarrassed. Oh well... Win or lose, that match was the last we would play on Friday. We had to come back Saturday and fight our way back.

We were sitting in 9th place on Friday and needed to win our next match in order to automatically qualify for Manhattan. We faced Roca/Fendrick at 8:30AM Saturday morning.

We arrived at the site around 7:15AM freezing our butts off. We had another battle with this team. We played just okay in this match, but were able to get the victory in 3 tight sets, 23-21, 17-21, 15-12. We survived the "death match" and won our place in the top 8 for Manhattan Beach.

Now with the pressure off, we played the winner of Turner/Wacholder versus Dodd/Minello. Dodd/Minello came out on top after a gruelling three set match. We had some time before the match. We were scheduled at 12:30, but in actuality, we played around 2PM. The sun had come out, but it was still quite chilly.

We started out very strong against Dodd/Minello. We jumped to an early lead and maintained it until the end when we gave up a few points in a row. We won the first set 21-17. The next set was much closer, but we did a good job of staying calm and coming up with big plays when we needed them. We won 23-21. It was a great victory for us. That win put us into 5th place.

We would then have to face Boss/Ross again. We started this match at 5:30PM. The long spacing between matches was difficult on me. The cold weather did not help. We were at the site from 7:15 in the morning and were still playing at 5:30PM. My shoulder was bothering me and I had a hard time warming up. The wind was swirling at this time and was a little unpredictable. We had some serious ball control problems. I was having a hard time giving Holly a good, consistent set that she could put away. We ended up getting smashed by this team. It was frustrating, embarrassing, and disappointing. We lost 11-21, 14-21. Not even close. UGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

We are back home now preparing for Manhattan Beach. It is warm and sunny and we have finally thawed out from San Francisco! I am so excited for this tournament. It is a huge tournament with the winners taking home $100,000! This is what we have trained for! It all comes down to this weekend! Wish us luck!

Angie

Cincinnati

2008-09-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

Before I recap the Cincinnati event, I thought I would share with you a video that was made at K-Town in Germany. Check it out...

Cincinnati...

There was a major upset this weekend of our Gold Medallists by our other Olympians, EY and Nicole Branagh. I did not see it, but from the scores it must have been an incredible match. Misty and Kerri had an extremely long win streak and I think it is good for the sport to show that they are not invincible.

All four athletes must be emotionally exhausted after spending three weeks in Beijing. Misty and Kerri have not stopped since winning the gold. They have managed extremely busy schedules since returning. Misty is rehearsing for Dancing with the Stars in addition to everything else. Their stardom has done so much for our sport. Thanks to our "Golden Athletes," the Cincinnati tournament was sold out on Saturday evening and Sunday! That is very exciting news for our sport! Hopefully we can capitalize on this and get all of America excited about beach volleyball and gain some popularity.

Here is how the tournament went for me and Holly:
Coming back from a long three week break is a bit harder than it seems. Instead of the rest and recovery I expected, I battled a nasty bout of food poisoning. We practiced through it but I was a bit of a waste of space. It lasted 5 days and I eventually had to take an antibiotic to get rid of it.
I did not feel my usual self going into the tournament. I had lost 10 pounds and did not have my strength back yet. It is times like this that really make me appreciate my partner. Holly did a great job of helping me through it with good communication and great defense. I found myself struggling through play on Friday, feeling really weak and affected by the extreme heat and humidity.

We won our first match against the Lindquists. Of course, we had a battle with them and won in three sets. We lost the first set after blowing a huge 13-8 lead and giving up 7 points on one side. It was a bit of a wake up call. We played much better after that.

Our next match was in the evening against Boss/Ross. We played under the lights at a near capacity stadium filled with an awesome crowd.

They played really well and took us out of our game. They served tough and got us in a little passing trouble which, in turn, led to siding out problems. We gave up too many points and could not make up any ground. We sort of took a beating.

The next day we had to battle back through the contenders bracket. We played in the afternoon against Roca/Fendrick. We played pretty well. We were able to get points off our defense which is something we are working on. The match went three sets but we controlled the third and won 15-8.

Our next match was an hour later against Fontana/DeNecochea. We played really well and took care of our side whenever we got the chance. We started out 7-0 and eventually got a 10 point lead before giving up a string of points. Thank goodness for that cushion. We won 21-14. The next set was a battle back and forth. We took care of our opportunities and did not give up any points which helped us get the win 21-19. That win secured us in 5th place.

We were finished for Saturday and could rest. We would face the loser of the 9:30 evening match of May-Treanor/Walsh versus Davis/Jordan at 8:30 Sunday morning. Davis/Jordan lost so we faced them for the 5th time this season. Despite getting little sleep, they played us extremely well and won in two sets 21-19, 21-19, ending our Cincinnati tournament run. We finished in 5th place.

Cincinnati was the last qualifying tournament for the Glendale event. We were in a very close race with Fontana/DeNecochea and Dodd/Minello. We actually were trailing both teams going into the tournament, but only by a few points. With our 5th place finish and a win over Fontana/DeNecochea, we moved ahead of both teams and grabbed the final slots for Glendale! I am really excited about that!

We leave tomorrow for Santa Barbara. It will be a 16 team main draw tournament. Only those that finish 9th or higher will continue on to San Francisco where it will be a 12 team main draw. Our goal is to finish the season strong. We want to make a good push now while some people might be feeling the effects of a long season. I am happy to be back in good health and am ready for a great weekend!

Angie

Film City and Camp Bondsteel

2008-08-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

Our last days of the trip were spent in Kosovo at the NATO base Film City and at Camp Bondsteel. To pick up where I left off:

The next day, we woke up early to get in a gym workout and get breakfast before we had to meet to get our IDs for the base. During this time, we tried our hardest to get a ride in the Blackhawks down to Film City where our performance was that evening. Our hopes were high, but it did not work out. We left in vans for Film City in the early afternoon.

Upon arriving at Film City, we grabbed some food and hung out a little bit before things got going. At 1900 we were scheduled to play against the international Film City beach volleyballers. Since Film City is a NATO base, there are soldiers there from all the NATO countries. We played against a team with players from the US, France, Italy, Poland, and Germany. We played several teams. It was a really fun night.

Afterwards, we met at SAMs, the US bar on the base, for a celebration. Camp Bondsteel is under General Order Number One which means there is a no tolerance policy regarding alcohol. Since Film City is a NATO base, General Order Number One is not in effect. We had a few drinks with the soldiers and had a fantastic time hanging out and chatting. Film City seemed to us like an Olympic Village. There were soldiers from so many different countries that all come together to hang out with each other and have a good time. It is a very unique place. I had an incredible time there. We had to be dragged away because we did not want to leave.

The drive home was really fun. We reminisced about our favorite parts of the night before getting into a discussion about how the four of us would rank out in our next days shooting simulator expedition.

Before heading to the simulator, we decided to head to the softball diamond to go cheer on the teams that were playing. Immediately Brooke and I were talked into playing on a team that was missing a few players. If we did not play, they had to forfeit because they did not have enough players. Somehow I ended up playing First Base and Brooke ended up in Left Field! We saw way more action than we had anticipated. We are much better volleyball players than softball players and it really showed. I couldn't catch a ball that was thrown to me to save my life.

We did hit the ball though. I actually hit an in-field home run. However, I was made fun of for the way I ran the bases. Apparently it was very girly! We had a good laugh about it. Our team lost by A LOT, but we had so much fun.

After the softball game, Jeff, Brooke, and I visited the Medevac team and took a tour of their Blackhawk. We sat inside the bird and took a few pictures. It was fun to visit with them and learn about what they do. They have a tough job, but thank God they are willing and able to do it.

Next we went to the indoor shooting simulator where we would partake in weapons training. Who would have thought that Jeff Nygaard would be an expert marksman? He was incredible! We were all impressed with his accuracy. We all did pretty good, but Jeff scored extremely high. However, the tides changed when we moved from the target practice to the scenario playouts.

Apparently Brooke and I had great teamwork because we kicked major butt when we were shooting the machine guns. We all got a good laugh out of it because it played out exactly how our Tour Manager called it the night before. Apparently personality has a lot to do with how your react in the simulator. It was really fun for us.

After shooting, we grabbed a snack and went back to our containers (our rooms on base) to get ready for the evening’s performance.

We went to the courts at 18:00 to start warming it up. There were already quite a few people down there. We chatted for awhile before the big crowd came. Then it was show time! A few brave soldiers came out for the first challenge. We played 4 versus 6 and gave them an absolute smashing! They were such good sports and the crowd that had gathered seemed to love it.
We played several games to 15 against many different teams. Once the score started to get out of hand, Brooke and I would run to the other side and play with the other team to try and give them a little help.

General Kay joined us at one point, but we could not talk him into playing with us. He thanked us for coming over and we presented him with an autographed Official AVP ball. We took a few pictures and then got back to playing.

We played for a few hours until it got too dark outside and we could not see anymore. We gave away tons of T-shirts, caps, visors, lanyards, sunglasses, and Fubar stickers. I had such a fantastic time. We took tons of pictures and signed autographs to soldiers and their family members back home.

Then the Karaoke machine started! Who knew that Jeff Nygaard is the Johnny Cash Ring of Fire Karaoke King? It was fantastic! There were several soldiers that joined him, all with great voices. We were highly entertained. We did not leave the site until 23:00 and we loved every minute of it!

We were sad to leave the next day. We were picked up at 3:30AM to head to the Pristina Airport for a 7AM flight. It was brutal. I decided to stay up and repack, email, call home, blog, etc. It worked out well.

We had three flights to get home. The first was from Pristina to Vienna. We had an hour in Vienna before our flight to Munich. Then we had a three hour layover in Munich before a direct flight to LAX. I ate my last 2 pretzels of the trip at the airport. I have to say that they were disappointing pretzels compared to the ones we found in the little town bakeries. I certainly had my fill on this trip. I will be good now until next year.

I got a very pleasant surprise on the way back. I was upgraded to Business Class. I could not have been happier. I had not slept yet so was completely exhausted. When we took off from Munich, I laid my chair flat into a bed and slept soundly for the first 4 hours. It was so nice. I forced myself to stay awake the rest of the flight so that I could sleep when I got home. I watched three movies on the plane and enjoyed lounging in my spacious seat. What a great way to end an amazing trip.

I have had a lot of time to reflect on our trip. I must say that I have never felt so proud to be an American Pro Beach Volleyball player in my life. Seeing the smiles that we brought to so many faces makes this the most rewarding “work” I have ever been a part of. I am so anxious to plan our next trip.

I cannot thank every American soldier enough for their sacrifice, dedication, and hard work that they do for our country. Troops - You are not forgotten back home. We love you and support you.

Go USA!
Angie

The Last Stops in Germany

2008-08-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I detailed our stop in Heidelberg, Germany. I have a lot of catching up to do. After Heidelberg, we stopped in Baumholder, Germany. Baumholder is a very small community. We stayed at a small hotel a few minutes from the base. It was quaint and cozy. We check into the hotel and walked around the town, which took a whole 15 minutes. We had to stop for pretzels since the town bakery had them.

A little later we hopped back in the bus and made our way to the base. We were greeted by Tony Ramsey, our MWR host. He was so sweet and accommodating. We prepped for the clinic and waited a bit for more people to show up. At first we had only 8 girls, but eventually there were about 30 people, mostly high school aged. We split up into groups and worked on skills for the first 2 hours. Then they played 4 on 4 King/Queen of the Court. It was fun to see their vast improvements over such a short time.

Afterwards we had dinner with Tony and our other MWR hosts at our hotel restaurant. We really enjoyed their company and had fun sharing stories. We called it a night around 11PM since we had another early morning bus ride the next day.

The next morning, we woke at 5:30AM to bus to our last stop in Germany, the Kaiserslaughtern Military Community including (I may have screwed up these names, but I think I am close) Ramstein Army Base, Darmstadt Army Base, and Vogelweh Air Force Base.

We arrived early with the intention of visiting the hospital. However, this was something that required clearance, so we were not able to actually make the visit. We ended up waiting around most of the morning until our scheduled radio and television program visits. We went on the local AFN radio and had a great time chatting with the DJ.

After that, we went to the gym and did an AFN television interview before the evening clinic and exhibition. We had a great turnout for the events. There were a lot of kids in attendance at the clinic. I took the youngest ones and we had fun learning the very basics of volleyball. My kids were so cute. I had such a fun time running them around and playing with them. They seemed to have fun with their first ever volleyball experience.

After the clinic, Jeff, Brooke, Ty, and I played against the Air Force team. They were pretty good. It was a fun match. They ran a decent offense and scored the most points against us of anyone we played. We played several games and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Afterward, we were treated to a fantastic Hawaiian BBQ indoors. We had traditional red rice and some Teriyaki steak. It was so good! We visited with them for awhile before we had to leave. Once again, it was a terrific stop. We had to cut the night short because we had a very early morning wake up call to get to the airport for our flights to Kosovo.

5AM came quickly and we boarded our bus for the 90 minute drive to the Frankfurt airport. I slept on the way there since I only got 4 hours of sleep in the hotel. We made it to the airport and had to say goodbye to our new friend, Bus Driver Mike. Mike made our time on the bus really fun and relaxing. He is such a genuinely nice, gentle human being that we all really enjoyed spending time with. We were sad to say goodbye.

Once in the airport, we immediately checked our bags and went through security. We still had 2 hours before our flight so we took our time and hung out talking at the gate. We flew from Frankfurt to Vienna. Once in Vienna, we had a 3 hour layover. We got some food, hung out at a table in the Starbucks section and people watched. There was an Austrian clown walking around from table to table trying to earn a little money. He was dressed in a clown suit, but carried a giant foam camera around his neck as if he were a tourist and had a giant foam banana on a stick that he carried around as if it were his knapsack. I did not get a picture, but I wish I had. He definitely looked interesting.

Our next flight was only 2 hours and we landed in Pristina, Kosovo. We were greeted by a US Army escort to take us to Camp Bondsteel. No Hum-vee's this time. We were picked up in vans. That was fine because it was a really long ride because of the traffic and road conditions. We were stuck behind a cement truck for almost the entire way which really slowed things up. It is an interesting drive because the land is so incredibly beautiful but there is no sanitation services so there is literally garbage everywhere. The sky is constantly hazed over because in order to get rid of trash, the households just burn it in their yards. We saw small fires with burning trash the whole ride.

We arrived at Bondsteel in the evening in time for dinner. We had our first of many great meals in the DFAC (Dining Facility) on base. After letting loose with my diet in Germany and eating far too many pretzels, I was happy to get back on track and eat a lot of vegetables. We still wanted to work out, so after dinner, we went down to the sand court and started to move around. After a little while, some soldiers stopped by to see what was going on. We invited them to play with us and before long we had a solid group playing with us. We played around for about an hour, but didn't last too long because we it got dark quickly.

I am going to save the rest for tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed reading!

Angie

Heidelberg Castle and Clinic

2008-08-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

We had another terrific day. We woke early to get in a workout before heading into downtown Heidelberg to visit the Castle. It was pouring rain when we woke up and continued for much of the day. We did not mind.

The castle was interesting. It is more a ruin than what you would think a castle would look like. It dates back to the 1300s, so there was a lot of very interesting facts and sights to learn about. Each King of the castle took his turn adding to and/or destroying parts of the castle. What remains today is extraordinary.

After our tour, we walked down to the town to get lunch. We found a great place called the Bier Bretzel and had terrific salads. I must say, the food has been fantastic. We have had one great meal after another. I have relaxed my diet more than a bit since being over here, so I will have to get back on track very soon.

After lunch we went back to our hotel to get ready for the evening clinic. I relaxed a bit and watched a little of the Olympics.

We had a great turnout for the clinic. There were even a few soldiers who joined in with the high school girls to play. We taught a little bit of technique before jumping in to play 4 on 4 King of the Court. They had a great time and the energy was high. Once again, a great experience!

Afterward, we took pictures and signed autographs with everyone. We really enjoyed our time there. It was another great group of kids! I do not imagine our next two stops in Germany will be any different.

When we walked outside, there was a big rainbow in the sky. I tried to take a picture of it, but it was dusk so the lighting was not quite right. It was beautiful anyway.

We leave tomorrow afternoon after we get in our morning workout and eat lunch. Hopefully there will be internet at the next base. I will find out tomorrow!

More later!

Angie

Germany - Days 3, 4, and 5

2008-08-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

Our first day in Germany, we visited the Army Base, Katterbach in Ansbach. We stayed in the Army Lodging hotel, Franconian Inn, on base. We put on a clinic for the sons and daughters of the soldiers in the afternoon at a nice beach court near a little lake just off base. It was a beautiful day and the kids were once again, so polite and excited to be there. After the clinic, we put on a short exhibition. Jeff, Ty, Brooke, and I played a King of the Beach format with games to 11. Then Brooke and I partnered up with soldiers to play a game. All in all, there were about 30 people in attendance. Everyone had a great time and we enjoyed their wonderful hospitality.

After it was over, we had a great dinner at a German restaurant in downtown Ansbach with Mark, our Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) host and his family. We were all excited to try authentic German food. I tried a bite of schnitzel and strudel, had a hefeweisen and ate a roast chicken with bulgur as my meal. It was great visiting with Mark and his family and hearing all about what goes on year round at the Germany base. His wife and two daughters were with us and shared what life is like for them living overseas.

The next morning, we woke early to get in a workout before heading to the next base in Bamberg. We did not know what the day had in store for us, so we wanted to get in a good workout while we had a chance. I did a cardio session and then went back to the hotel to pack. We had a two hour bus ride to the next base. Once we got there and checked in, we were told that no one was signed up for the clinic. We were on our own to do what we would like.

We took a tour of the facility and were amazed with its enormity. It was bigger and much nicer than your typical gym. Everything was very clean and well taken care of. I got in a great footwork and agilities workout before heading into the weight room. Then we took a little break to see if anyone would show up for the exhibition. When no one arrived, we went out to the sand courts and got in a great practice.

After our day of working out, we went into downtown Bamberg. We toured around a bit and did some sight seeing. It is a gorgeous city with lots of old churches and beautiful buildings. We had dinner at an outdoor café, and then went back to the hotel. I had trouble sleeping for the first time. I fell asleep right away, but woke in the middle of the night for a few hours and could not fall back asleep. Hopefully that is the only time that will happen.

We just arrived at Patrick Henry Village in Heidelberg. It is the US Army Europe Headquarters. We checked into our rooms and now we have a little time to ourselves. We are going into the downtown area to check it out.

Tomorrow is up in the air. We are trying to pull together a clinic and exhibition, but not sure if it will happen or not. If we do not have the performances, we will still practice and maybe people will drop by to check us out. Then we can at least talk to some military families and bring a little out of the ordinary into their day.

The timing of our trip in Germany has not been conducive to visiting the soldiers. All the bases we have visited so far have been on leave. Most have recently returned from or are about to leave on a 15-month deployment in Afghanistan or Iraq and are off base on vacation. We have encountered a few soldiers, but the participation has been mostly by their families. It is difficult on the family members to say goodbye to a parent, husband, or wife for 15 months and not see them the entire time. The communities pull together to get jobs done and help each other out. They develop close relationships and have a tight community. It is clear how much love and respect these families have for one another. It is wonderful and comforting to see.

I am so happy to be here and hope that we can positively affect as many lives as possible.

More later!

Angie

First Stop - Venice/Vicenza, Italy

2008-08-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

After a really long day of travel, we made it to Vicenza, Italy. We arrived in the afternoon, so had some free time to visit Venice which is one hour away. We jumped on a train to get there. We had dinner then toured around the city until the last train of the night. I had been up for 41 straight hours so was quite ready for a good nights sleep.

The next day, we gave a clinic to the families of the troops living on the base. We had about 20 kids get involved. They had a great time and we got our eyes opened to just how well these kids are raised. They all were extremely polite and very respectful. It was really great to see.

After the clinic, we got in our own workout at the gym. Then we wondered around the base and found the commissary (grocery store) and stocked up on some snacks.

Later that evening, we played against the Vicenza volleyball team. They were really great sports. They wanted us to play hard, so we played pros versus Army. We unleashed on them and won 21-3, 21-3, 21-2. They were a little shocked, but then we mixed the teams up and played with them to form more competitive teams. We played a few more games before wrapping it up and visiting with them for a bit.

It was a great evening getting to know these wonderful people. The soldiers had just returned from an 18 month deployment in Afghanistan, so they were happy to be "home" at Vicenza. We were thrilled for the opportunity to hang out with them and thank them for their commitment to our country.

Immediately after the exhibition, we went to dinner at a great little Italian restaurant, just as a massive lightning and hail storm blew threw. It was pretty spectacular. After dinner, we had an hour to pack up, shower, and get on the bus.

We took the bus from Vicenza to Ansbach, Germany which was a 12 hour ride by bus. I slept 10 hours of the trip, so it flew by for me. Our bus is great. We have beds, a television and dvd player, fridge, food, etc. We are having a great time!

We are in Germany now and will be here for the next week. We have a clinic and exhibition scheduled for today. We are off to eat, so I will write more later!

Angie

San Diego and a Great Big Trip!

2008-08-05T08:38:00.001-07:00

I have so much going on right now this is going to be straight to the point. San Diego was a single elimination tournament. There is definite pressure in that format. There is no room for a bad match because you will be eliminated. Holly and I had a great tournament, but I do admit I was disappointed.

Our first match on Friday, we played against a young San Diego team and won in two sets. We were the 6th seed of the tournament, so we played pretty late in the afternoon. I just stopped taping my ankle from my injury in Hermosa and was a little nervous to play without it wrapped. I did not have my calf wrapped either. Many people commented on how they did not recognize me because I did not have my "mummy" costume on! It was bizarre! After many many weeks of all that tape I did feel a bit naked. Regardless, I made it through. In a single elimination tournament, that first win automatically puts you in a 9th place position. We won that match and were finished playing for Friday.

Saturday we faced Lewis/Lima to get into the 5th place position. We played patiently and aggressively to beat them. I have talked about this team before, but they are a great team and have the ability to pull off upsets. They beat Davis/Jordan several times over the past two seasons. I am really curious as to how they do it, because I have had no luck beating Davis/Jordan! We won in two sets advancing to the next round.

Our next match was against Fontana/DeNecochea. We beat them the first time we played them in Atlanta, then lost to them in a heart-breaker in Boulder. We were determined not to lose to them again. This was the match of the tournament. We got killed in the first set 14-21. We were inconsistent and did not take care of our opportunities. We made a few adjustments and bounced back to win the second set. The third set was incredible. There was one spectacular play after another. We were neck and neck the whole way. The intensity was incredible. Not one of us four athletes was going to give in. We all fought with everything we had. Holly and I dug deep and found a determination that we had been looking for all season. We served 9 or 10 times for the match before we actually won it! We stayed patient and aggressive and found a way. It was exhilarating to fight so hard and come out with the victory. I was so happy! The win got us to the semi-finals!

That night, I was exhausted. We only played two matches, but the emotional intensity of that second match really wore me out. I slept well.

Sunday we played Davis/Jordan to get to the Finals. The first set, Nettie served five aces. Four of the five were tricklers over the net. There is absolutely nothing you can do to defend against it. It is a lucky play that you rarely see. Four times in one game is unheard of. We lost the first set 16-21. Give us back those aces and I think it's a different story. We fought back to win the second set 21-19. Unfortunately, we fell behind in the third and could not stop them. Jenny was on fire. I did not do enough at the net to affect her and she just bombed away. We lost 11-15.

I am disappointed that we did not make the Final. This was a tournament that I truly believed we would/could win. Although we played great, I wanted more. I am not satisfied.

Now we have three weekends off before Cincinnati. I have a huge trip planned which I am so excited about. I leave tomorrow for Italy, Germany, and Kosovo. I am traveling with Jeff Nygaard, Brooke Hanson, and Ty Loomis. We are going to visit US Army bases and give exhibitions, clinics, and hang out with our Troops. I have been working on this trip all year with our production company, AKA Productions. Now it is finally here and I could not be more excited!

So many people have been wonderfully generous by giving us all sorts of give-aways for the Troops. Crocs, Bud Light, FUBAR, Cuervo, Oakley, The AVP, Martha Gibbings, Steve Owen, and Matt Gage gave me wonderful gifts to leave at the bases. I know the Troops will be excited and very appreciative.

I will be blogging from the road, so be sure to check back often. We are scheduled to visit around 8-10 different bases across Germany, Italy, and Kosovo for the next 2 weeks. It will be an incredible trip!

Now I have to get back to packing, so the next you will hear from me will be from the road!

Peace!
Angie

Going Strong in the LBC!

2008-07-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

It was a fantastic weekend in Long Beach for me and Holly. We had a great week of training and played some of our best ball of the year. I was a bit scared after our match on Friday because I strained my calf, but the medical staff worked extremely hard to keep me together.

The tournament was a 24 team draw. We were the 8th seed, so we had a first round bye. We played the 9th seed, Mason/Kropp, after they won their first match of the tournament. We started out very shaky in the first set. We lost but stayed confident that we knew what we had to do to win. We turned it around in the second and third set and won the match, getting us to 9th place. I did not know my calf was going to be an issue going into the match, but half way through it started acting funny. I was so relieved that we won the match and were finished playing for Friday.

I spent the next few hours in the medical tent getting worked on. After that, I went home and relaxed on the couch, did my usual Whole Foods run, and watched a movie.

We had May/Walsh next round Saturday morning. I got to the site early and had my calf worked on again. We figured out a tape job that helped to support it. It felt much better with the tape on. However, the tape did not stick, so I had to take most of it off halfway through the match. We battled with them at the beginning, but eventually fell behind 9-12 in both sets. We found ways to score points, but so did they. We lost the match and were sent to the Contenders bracket.

Our next match was against the Lindquists. We lost to them the last time we played them, so we were excited to get our revenge. We played well. We were aggressive and patient, which is the key to beating that team. We won in two sets. That win guaranteed us in 7th place.

Next we faced Turner/Wacholder. We played extremely well, staying consistent and aggressive throughout the match. Holly was a digging and siding out machine! We served tough and got them into a bit of trouble. We won in two sets getting us into 5th place. That was our last match on Saturday. My calf was feeling okay. It got really tight toward the end of each match. I was happy that I could go home and rest it for the night. But first, I had to spend more time in the medical tent.

That evening, instead of making my usual Whole Foods run, I had dinner with my friends from Real Water and HIRO energy drinks. We had a fantastic dinner which was exactly what I needed after a long day at the beach.

The next morning, my calf feeling better than the day before, we faced Lewis/Lima. They were on a roll, having upset Davis/Jordan and then taking Branagh/Youngs to three sets, losing 13-15 in the third. We were ready. We stayed patient and aggressive, took care of our opportunities, and won in two sets! We made the semi-finals! I was very excited! However, we had to face May/Walsh again in order to make it to the Finals.

We played them in the stadium in front of a great crowd. We gave it everything we had, but it was not quite enough. There were many long, exciting rallies, but we just could not take them down. We were the closest we have been to them all year, losing 17-21, 18-21. I guess if you have a great tournament and lose to a team twice, it feels better that it is the best team the world has ever seen.

Our run stopped there, in 3rd place. It felt great and was a lot of fun. I am excited for next weekend! Today is devoted to rest, recovery, and getting this calf in good shape. Tomorrow we are back to work!

I want to say a special thanks to all my sponsors for their awesome support this year! Also, if you enjoy my website and are looking for a designer of your own, contact Max at Trimax Solutions. Trimax does a great job and can help you with all your IT needs.

More next week!

Angie

Brooklyn

2008-07-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

We just returned from the hot and humid east coast. Holly and I had a strong showing in Brooklyn, but still did not manage to pull off any upsets. We played much better individually and as a team in Brooklyn. It was a good rebound from a sketchy, disappointing Chicago.

Brooklyn was great with the exception of the sand. We were constantly pulling up sharp pieces of glass and debris. Within the first 10 minutes of practicing, I had already cut my toe for the first of several times.

I spent the week leading up to the tournament in New Jersey visiting with my friends at Aurora Fitness Centers. As always, Vito and the crew welcomed me and my traveling companions, Jeff Nygaard and John Mayer. Vito served as our taxi service as well. It was fun spending time with such genuinely nice people.

The crew then became my most loyal fans sporting "Angie Akers" T-shirts and all! It was great. I also had some family members there that thoroughly enjoyed all the action.

Our first match on Friday was against the 25th seeds, Guerra/Ruen. We came out strong, played well, and won in 2 sets. Our next match was against the 24th seed who upset the 9th seed. I had the blocking game of my life! I started the match out with 4 blocks in the first 7 points of the match. I rounded out the day with 10 blocks in 2 matches. That was a huge improvement from the previous tournaments. The 2 wins secured us in 9th place and we were done for the day.

Saturday morning we faced May/Walsh. We fared much better this time than the last time we played them. We lost 17-21, 16-21, but we did some very good things in that match. That was our first loss, so we still had a chance to fight our way back.

In the contenders bracket, we faced Pavley/Polzin to get to 7th. We were leading most of the first set and had a 19-17 lead before I completely blew it. I admit I got nervous for some reason and tightened up. It was stupid and we ended up losing the first set. I pulled it together and relaxed and we were much better in the next 2 sets. We pulled away at the beginning and never looked back. We won 19-21, 21-14, 15-9.

Our next match was against Mason/Kropp to get to 5th. By this time of the day, it was super windy. We were on an outer court where the wind was very gusty. Serving and ball control were a huge factor in this match. We did a good job of controlling our side and we won in 2 sets, 21-17, 21-16. That was it for Saturday.

Sunday morning, we faced Turner/Wacholder to get to the semis. Although we played pretty well at times, we gave up too many streaks of points. Still there was a lot to learn from the match and we were happy that we bounced back from the disappointments of Chicago.

We had a great week of practice back in California and now we are all set to go in Long Beach starting this Friday. I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

All my best,

Angie

Chicago

2008-07-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

We are in the heart of our season right now with several back to back tournaments. After leaving Boulder, I went home for 2 days before leaving for Chicago. I went out early because I had the opportunity to coach a few clinics at Montrose Beach.

I had an interesting trip out there. First, I was running late, as usual. My friend, Jamie, picked me up to take me to the airport. We got to the freeway when I realized I forgot my phone. I knew I couldn't live without it for 12 days on the road, so we turned back to get it. I got to the airport 45 minutes before my flight, but by the time it was my turn to check my bag, I had missed the cutoff by 2 minutes. My bags were small, so I decided to take them with me on board. I got through security and only had to throw out a few things like toothpaste and hair spray. Once I got to the gate, just in time to board, I was told that I could not bring two carry-ons on the plane with me. I had to check one of my bags. I was thinking, "Make up your mind!" So I checked the bigger of the two, the same bag that was lost coming home from Boulder which was returned to me just in the nick of time. Frustrated that I had to throw out my toothpaste and hair products for nothing, I boarded that plane and got comfy.

I arrived around the time the Cubs were finishing their game. I stayed in Wrigleyville with some good friends, Billy and Kathy, from the Ixtapa trip. My cab driver could not get me to their house because of the blocked roads, so I got out with all my luggage and walked. I got some interesting looks as I walked, luggage in tow, along the busy streets past the bars filled with Cubs fans.

The next day, I had some free time to sleep in and get everything together that I would need for the weekend. I found a Whole Foods (which I think should sponsor me for as much money and time as I spend in their stores across the country!) I did three newspaper interviews, one radio show interview, and then got in a light workout before I coached a clinic that evening. It was fun to meet some new people and get them excited about the tournament coming to town.

Thursday, I got up early for a CBS morning news show appearance at the site of the tournament. After that, I stayed to help "coach/cheer" on my friends in the qualifier. Tony Akers, my long lost brother who is no relation at all, played with Jim Sias (team Cuervo leader extraordinaire). They met for the first time an hour before their match and pulled out a very entertaining and competitive performance. It was really fun to watch.

After that, I went to X-Sport Fitness Club for an appearance with Real Water. We did our best to promote the water and inform people of why Real Water is not JUST water. It was a nice visit and then we went to Whole Foods, of course.

Holly arrived in the later afternoon, so we planned to practice at the site around 5pm. I had made the trip to the site a few times that week, each time taking 10-15 minutes. I did not realize that the Cubs game let out at 4:30 right when I was trying to catch a cab. I walked around trying to get someone to stop, but by 4:45 no luck. My friends called and just happened to be driving by so they picked me up and offered to drive me down there. Not only was the game letting out, but a huge storm was getting closer. Traffic was inching along and the rain was getting harder and harder. We made it to Lake Shore Drive and went about a mile in 20 minutes. We started seeing enormous lightning bolts. I knew we should not be practicing in the storm, but we still tried to get there. After an hour and still not there yet, I got a text from Holly saying turn around. I did not get to practice, but that was okay.

Jeremy and I stopped in to say hello to a few friends and then made our way to, you guessed it, Whole Foods. We grilled out at Billy and Kathy's and then went to bed early.

Friday, we played our first round match at 9:45 versus Guerra/Ruen. We played terrible. Everything was out of sync. We won in 3 sets, but it was not pretty.

Our next match, we played Mason/Kropp. We played much better in that match. We served tough, we passed and set well, we controlled our side of the net. That was the key for us. That was our last match on Friday. We would come back on Saturday morning to play May-Treanor/Walsh.

Our next match versus Misty/Kerri started out really well. We traded sideouts with them for awhile before they turned it up a notch. They do not make mistakes.... EVER. In my opinion, in order to beat them, you have to be willing to take chances. Sometimes those chances pay off and sometimes they result in errors. That day, our chances resulted in errors. We lost in 2 sets.

That was our first loss, but we were still alive. We had to wait a few hours before our next match because of the men's final. We played Fendrick/Roca later in the day. Unfortunately for us, we did not play well and they did. We had trouble in our sideout game and did not convert some crucial plays. We lost 19-17 in the third set. Talk about a heart-breaker.

Two weeks in a row, our tournaments have ended in heart-breaking losses to teams that we know we can and should beat. That wears on you. I know we can bounce back and I plan to do that this weekend in Brooklyn.

Sunday after the tournament, I could not bring myself to go to the site to watch. Instead, I went to the Cubs game with my family and several friends. We had a great time! It was a much needed escape from volleyball.

I stayed in Chicago until Tuesday. Jeff Nygaard, John Mayer, and I coached another clinic on Monday at Montrose Beach. It was a great turnout. We plan to do it again next year.

Now I am in New Jersey at Aurora Fitness Centers with my friend, Vito. He always spoils me when I come to town, so of course I love to visit! We are riding in his RPM cycling class tonight and will probably get our butts kicked! Then we head to Brooklyn tomorrow to get ready for the tournament.

After Brooklyn, we have two California events back-to-back. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed again.

That's all for now... more after this weekend. Thanks for reading!

Angie

Magnificent Boulder

2008-07-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

First I would like to start with the announement of some exciting news: FUBAR, an all-organic energy bar that is a big supporter of the US military, has joined my team of sponsors! I am so excited to work with FUBAR not only because they make a great tasting, all-natural organic energy bar, but also because of their stong military support. "Fueled Up Beyond All Recognition" is the name. Check out their site at www.getfubar.com.

Now for an update on my trip...last Tuesday evening, I flew to Denver because early Wednesday morning I would be making appearances for my sponsor, Cuervo. It gave me and Jeremy the opportunity to visit with some great friends in the area. We stayed with Tom, Joelle, and Selby Davenport for the night before things got crazy.

The next day, Cuervo sponsored a sand court to be built in downtown Denver as a promotion for our Boulder tournament. It was a huge hit. A street was closed off and there was tons of pedestrian traffic stopping by to play or watch. We were on a morning news program and then hung out to sign autographs and take pictures. The people stopping by just loved it.

That evening, I made my way to Broomfield with fellow AVP pros Jeff Nygaard, John Mayer, and Alicia Polzin for a clinic at the indoor beach volleyball center, The Oasis. We had a great turnout and had some fun teaching an adult clinic to about 40 players from the Denver/Boulder area.

After the clinic, Jeremy and I made our way to Boulder to the Miller's residence where we would be staying for the weekend. Our good friends, Doug and Patti Miller were gracious enough to host several of us players. It was a big slumber party. They hosted a BBQ on Thursday where we got to see several of our good friends from the Ixtapa vacation. Earlier in the day, Holly and I practiced at the beautiful sand court at Ron Snyder's house. We played against Ron and Leonard and had fun getting used to the altitude and dry weather.

Friday was the start of the tournament. We played later in the afternoon so we slept in and arrived at the site mid-morning. The site was Fulsom Field. It is the football stadium where the University of Colorado's team plays. The setup was incredible. There were 5 courts spread across the field. As a player, I thought the site was fantastic. We were provided with awesome facilities including a top of the line training room with an incredible staff. I worked with Valerie who gave me acupuncture on my ankle and helped me get the swelling out. Then Leila taped me up and got me ready to play. The entire staff was so friendly and ready to help in any way.

Holly and I cruised through our first match winning 21-5, 21-8. Because of the single elimination format spread across a three day tournament for the ladies, that was our only match on Friday.
Saturday late morning, we played Keao Burdine and Jen Snyder to jump from 9th place into 5th. We played pretty well and won in 2 sets, 21-15, 21-17.

The women were then put on hold until after the men's final. We rested up and got ready to play DeNecochea/Fontana. We were in the stadium immediately following the final. We started slow in the first set, struggling in all areas. We lost 19-21, but could have won. We pulled it together in the second to win 22-20. The third set, we gave up some early points and dug a hole for ourselves. We fought back from a 6-9 deficit and were tied 12-12. We lost 13-15 and were absolutely heart-broken. We gave a good fight, but missed too many opportunities. I am super bummed about the loss, but we have to rebound and get ready for Chicago. All of the teams will be back so it will be a full field again.

I must say, the Boulder crowd was incredible! I especially appreciate all the awesome people there cheering for me. I love Boulder/Denver and can't wait to come back next year! What a great place full of great people!

Thanks for following!

Angie

Disappointment in Belmar

2008-06-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

I am flying home from Belmar now cramped with my husband on a small plane because of a connection in St. Louis.

I will say it was a disappointing finish considering the top 4 teams were gone competing overseas. We finished 5th place but I had my mind and heart set on winning the tournament. We had made significant gains in our game leading up to Hermosa and I think I fell back into the bad old habits. My blocking was horrendous. It is embarrassing when a blocker comes away from an entire tournament with only 3 blocks. That is my job. If we are going to do well and win, I have to start blocking balls.

We won our first match versus Snyder/Davis but then lost to the Lindquists. They dug like crazy and won the points that made the difference. We did not take care of our opportunities and we lost.

Next we had to battle back against Pavley/Polzin. We jumped to an early lead but quickly gave it up and had to battle point for point till the end. We won in two close sets.

Next we faced Lewis/Lima. We were not playing our best volleyball. I wish I could say we had a turning point here, but we didn't. We battled with them for two close sets and won, but it wasn't pretty.

We were done for the day and we were sitting in 5th with a great road ahead of us to the finals. We had 2 teams in front of us that we had beaten before. We had Fontana/DeNecochea first thing in the morning. We had an opportunity to close out game one and let it slip. The second set was just as close but we lost.

It is very frustrating because we did not play good volleyball. We have lots to work on and I cannot wait to get back home and start working.

We have another week off and then we go to Boulder for the first single elimination tournament of the year. We must be on our game there. Its do or die! The top teams will still be out of the country so it is a great opportunity to take it while they are gone.

This is our last weekend off before the August break for the Olympics. We have six back-to-back tournaments then three weekends off while our top two teams compete in Beijing. This week is important for making improvements in our game.

That is all for now. Still 2 hours left in the flight so I am going to try and get a little sleep.

I hope all is well and thanks for reading.

Angie

Hermosa Beach

2008-06-11T20:56:00.001-07:00

It was really nice to have a home tournament after so many weeks on the road. It makes a big difference to me to sleep in my own bed and cook in my own kitchen. Plus, it is nice to be back in the deep sand. There are very few tournaments now that are on actual beaches and Hermosa is one of those.

The first match of the tournament I felt really out of sorts. I ate something different for breakfast and I think it really affected me. I am a creature of habit so I think it really threw me off. Anyway, Holly played great and carried us through that match. I was able to work out whatever was going on without too much pressure.

Our next match, we played really well. Leading up to Atlanta, we were having troubles with our sideout game and our point scoring. We worked out a few kinks and made some big improvements. We were really starting to play well together. We cruised through the first game and were up 18-13 in the second when I came down on the attacker's foot and sprained my ankle. It was not really painful, but I felt it really stretch so I knew it needed taped. We called the medical timeout and I got it wrapped up. We finished the match fairly quickly and then had about 2 hours before our next match.

I sat for the entire time in between matches and did a minimal warm up for our next match versus Davis/Jordan. That was a mistake. I did not know what to expect so I thought it would be better to stay off of it. It seemed to stiffen up pretty good by not moving it around. I had a lot of trouble in that match. We were downright terrible. Holly tried to compensate for me and I could not move. My focus was completely lost.

Thankfully, the ibuprofen kicked in for our next match and I was still warm from our loss against Davis/Jordan. We faced the Lindquists and decided to split the blocking duties so that I would not have to run up to the net. It worked out very well. We had some of the longest rallies I have ever witnessed in beach volleyball. The ball must have crossed the net at least 30 times in one rally. My ankle felt great in that match. We won in two games and were finished for the day.

I went home and iced like crazy. When I woke up the next day, I had a little swelling and bruising. I got taped up and got in a good warm up. We played Roca/Fendrick to get to 5th place. I could move pretty well, but the pain was starting to become significant. We won in two games and then faced Dodd/Minello.

In the time between matches, my ankle must have started to swell because the tape job became excruciating. I took more ibuprofen and tried to ignore it, but was having big troubles moving. After getting whooped in game one, I finally got smart and called a medical time out to have it re-taped. The new tape job felt 100% better and I could move again. We were neck and neck the entire game. We had 3 game winning opportunities, but did not convert any of them. That was frustrating. So our run stopped there. We finished 5th place.

That was Holly's last Hermosa Beach Tournament. I wanted to make it really special for her by getting to the finals, but it was not in the cards for us.

I went to the doctor on Monday and got an X-Ray taken. I tore a ligament from the bone which caused an avulsion fracture. That is when the torn ligament takes a piece of the bone with it. Although it sounds sort of bad, my case is not serious. I have spent the last 5 days doing little but icing and elevating on the hour. It is extremely boring, but I know that a week off will help tremendously in the long run. It was a hard decision for me to go along with because I am one of those stubborn people who do not respect ankle injuries. I have always thought, "tape it up and go!" I am in physical therapy and diligently doing all of my rehabilitation exercises so that when I get back in the sand next week it will feel great.

I am catching up on movies, television, and reading some books. It is painful for me to not exercise right now, but I know I have to do it.

I am really looking forward to Belmar in 10 days! New Jersey is the home of my newest sponsor, PNY. Check them out at http://www.pny.com/. It is also a great opportunity to get the East Coast excited about Real Water. I am confident that once people learn about all the amazing benefits of drinking Real Water, it will spread like wildfire. Read about the benefits at http://www.drinkrealwater.com/. It was a pleasure to have the Real Water team out at the Hermosa Beach event. The crew is new to beach volleyball and I think the Hermosa event is a great one for an introduction. I know we all are pleased to have Real Water be the official water of the AVP Tour. I also want to thank Jose Cuervo for being such supportive sponsors. I am so excited and feel very fortunate to have such a great team this year. PNY, Real Water, and Cuervo have helped me tremendously in the pursuit of my dreams. Thank you all!

Have a great week and if you are of age and enjoy Cuervo, please do so responsibly! VIVE Cuervo, VIVE Real Water, and VIVE PNY!

Angie

A Few Weeks On The Road

2008-06-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I last wrote and so much has happened. We had tournaments in Charleston, Louisville, and Atlanta. We are a day away from the Hermosa Event. I will go through the highlights to catch you up to speed.

Charleston - What a beautiful city! The tournament is held at the Family Circle Tennis Center. I love playing there because we are spoiled with really nice facilities. There is a players' lounge with couches, television, showers and real bathrooms as opposed to a tent and port-a-potties that we usually have at tournaments.

Besides the nice facilities, the landscape is gorgeous. There are tons of trees and green grass and the air is so fresh.

I am not going to go into much detail about the tournament because if I do, this posting would be way too long to read. I am only going to write about the highlights.

We lost a close match to Boss/Ross in the third round. We played pretty well parts of the match, but could not close it. After that match, we did not play well the rest of our tournament and finished 7th place.

After Charleston, we had two weeks off. We took a few days and went on a mini-vacation. We worked hard all of January, February, March, and April so a few days off was much needed. I ignored all of my dietary restrictions and really enjoyed myself. It took me a few days to detox my body from the sugar, wine, and heavy foods, but it was well worth it!

Our next trip was to Louisville. Jeremy traveled with me on this trip. While the volleyball part of the trip did not go so well, we had a fantastic weekend with some new friends that we met. That is the wonderful thing about beach volleyball. We travel all over the country and get the chance to meet some really wonderful people. On this occasion, we met Mr. Paul Perconti. We stayed at his residence while in Louisville. We shared some wonderful meals with him and some other new friends. It was really enjoyable and made up for the disappointment of a 9th place finish.

After Louisville, I drove straight to Atlanta with John Hyden and Brad Keenan. We arrived on Tuesday evening. I got in a workout at the gym along with a few practices in the sand. I also did some promos for Cuervo. We got into a wreck coming home from our last promo. Thankfully it was not serious and no one got hurt. The poor Cuervo Escalade got its front bumper torn off and the other van had a few dents in it, but that was the extent of the wreck.

The next day, we played one match against Lewis/Lima. We lost in three games and were very disappointed, angry, frustrated, and generally pissed off! We were in a rut of poor play and did not break it there. We had all night to stew in it. We came out the next day on a war-path. We got better and better as the day went on. We won our three matches and felt much better about our play. The next morning, we faced DeNechochea/Fontana. We played really well and won in two games. The win put us into the semi-finals.

Our next match where the winner would go to the final, we faced Jordan/Davis. We all fought so hard in this match. We split the first two games. In the third, we were tied at 10-10 when they pulled away. It was disappointing to be that close and not be able to finish it, but at the same time, it was encouraging because we were so close.

Overall, I am extremely pleased that we fought our way back from our first round loss. We turned what could have been a disasterous weekend into a very successful one. We still have so much to improve on, but it was a good confidence boost. Besides, we want to be peaking around Manhattan Beach time! That is the big one for us!

Tomorrow is the first day of Hermosa. It is a two day tournament for the women so we will get in more matches than normal.

I am pleased to announce a new sponsorship! PNY joins the AVP and is also sponsoring me and Holly for the season. PNY is a leading manufacturer and supplier of memory upgrade modules, high capacity flash memory cards, USB flash drives, portable hard drives as well as consumer and professional workstation graphics cards. The company's photography, mobility, 3D gaming and business solutions are widely available from major retail, e-tail and wholesale outlets internationally.

I again want to thank Real Water, Cuervo, and PNY for all their support! These wonderful companies make living my dream a realistic and successful adventure!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

All my best,

Angie

Huntington Beach - Week 3

2008-05-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend's tournament did not go according to our plans. It was a rough weekend and I am happy it is behind us. Our entire week was out of sorts and I was sick so we were not able to get in our usual practice.

On Tuesday, we flew to Louisville to promote the AVP Louisville Open. What a great volleyball community! It was Derby week, so there were all sorts of events going on around town. We went to Baxter Jack's where a sand volleyball tournament was being held. We played two exhibition games and talked to the media promoting our event Memorial Day weekend at Waterfront Park in downtown Louisville. It was a very quick trip. We arrived at 4PM on Tuesday evening and flew back to LA first thing Wednesday morning. It was really fun, but it was hard to fly all that way for such a short period of time. I have no idea how Misty, Kerri, and our other top players in Olympic contention manage doing stuff like that all season long. I definitely have a new found respect for their ability to manage it all.

We were seeded 7th in the tournament. We had a first round bye, then we played Mason/Kropp again in the second round. We blew it. We were really off and did not take care of our side of the net. By the time we got our kinks worked out, we were chasing from behind. It was not an ideal situation to be in. We lost and had to battle our way back in the contenders' bracket.

We then faced the 9th seeds, Ivy/Lowe. They were upset first round of play. It is not good when the 7th and 9th seeds are playing off and the loser takes a 17th place. I did not feel great in this match, but Holly was on fire! She was serving really tough and digging everything! She carried us to a victory. The win put us in 13th place.

Next we played Smith/Knopf to get to 9th place. The wind started picking up and becoming a real factor. We did not play well, but we won.

Our next match was against the Lindquists. It was 6PM by this time and the wind was howling. Huntington Beach is their home and they always do well at this tournament. This year would be no exception. They played like it was their home turf and controlled the match from the very start. We could not find a way to put the ball away against them and we lost. It was extremely frustrating. We finished 9th place.

That is all behind us. We are optimistic and moving forward from here. We certainly learned a lot and will be better because of it.

Saturday after the tournament, I did a celebrity bartending stint at the Sharky's in Huntington Beach. It was an absolute blast! I had no prior bartending experience, but loved the fast-paced, friendly atmosphere. What a great time! My friends from Cuervo and Real Water were all there to ensure that I had lots of people to serve! I had so much fun!

Now we are preparing for the Charleston Open. I leave on Tuesday and will have a day to adjust before we play on Thursday. My fingers are crossed that the weather is nicer to us this year than last year. It was fine while we played, but a huge storm flooded the courts the day before the tournament. I am sure it will all work out.

I am really excited to announce that Real Water is now the official water of the AVP Tour! How exciting! Once you try it, you will be hooked! It should be available nationwide soon! Keep an eye out for it!

Thanks for reading!

Angie

Dallas - Tornados and Roller Coasters

2008-04-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

This latest trip to Dallas was very interesting on many levels. First, we arrived on Thursday afternoon with thunderstorms in the forecast. Holly and I went to the tournament site to practice around 5PM. The qualifier was over and many of the main draw teams were getting ready to practice. The sand was so incredibly hard packed that we decided not to do much. We did a little passing and setting, but that was about it.

Later that evening, just as a tornado was about to hit, we went with about 10 other players in a stretch Hummer limo to a nearby club volleyball facility. Before we knew it, we were caught in a downpour and it started to hail. We stopped underneath an overpass on the freeway for a few minutes until it let up a bit. Being a Midwest girl, I was excited to see an intense storm with lots of lightning and loud thunder booms. Once the storm moved passed us, we made our way to the facility.

We met with hundreds of volleyball girls that were patiently waiting for us to arrive. We visited with them and signed autographs then ventured out in the storm again back to our hotel.

We woke up Friday morning to a beautiful day, however, the sand was too hard to play on. In order to protect the players from injury, the AVP cancelled play on Friday and ordered in new sand. The crew guys who work to put our sites together pulled 2 all nighters in a row. They worked non-stop until the site was playable. Our hard working crew members saved the Dallas Open!

Since we would not compete on Friday, I went to Six Flags over Texas with coach Mike Rangel, Misty, and some other friends and rode a few roller coasters. I stayed about 2 hours and then went back to my hotel.

Saturday Play: Because a full day of play was cancelled, the tournament had to be cut short. The decision was made to make the first round single elimination. That would cut out about 16 matches between the men and women which would save at least 3 hours.

Play started at 7AM. We were scheduled at 10AM, but our court was running behind because every match went to 3 games. We started our 10AM match at 12 noon. We played Katie and Tracy Lindquist. We were out of rhythm to start this match and had a difficult time pulling it together. We lost the first set and were down 20-17 in the second. We won the side out for 18, then I went back to serve and we fought our way back. I had a block, they had a hitting error, Holly got a dig and put it away, then another block and we won the second! It was really exciting. That was a huge boost for us going into the third set. We controlled the third and won the match! I was really happy with our composure under that sort of pressure.

Our next match was against EY and Nicole Branagh. This team is playing exceptionally well right now. Unfortunately for us, we could not stop them. They won the match in two sets.

The loss dropped us into the contenders bracket. We faced Nancy Mason and Jenny Kropp. We played really well in this match, finally pulling everything together. We had a great rhythm going with our side out and we were scoring points with our defense. It was a really fun match for us. We won in two sets which put us into 7th place and finished for the day.

Sunday morning, we faced Carrie Dodd and Tati Minello. We picked up right where we left off on Saturday evening. We battled back and forth in the first set until the end when we made a push and pulled away. We kept that momentum in the second set and pulled away early. We won the match in two games and secured a 5th place finish.

We felt great and were ready to go. We faced Jen Boss and April Ross to make it to the semi-finals. We jumped to an early lead, but did not keep it. We lost the first set, but stayed right with them all the way through the second set until the very end. It was very frustrating not to take that second set and push a third. The loss knocked us out of the tournament. We finished in 5th place.

I missed the semi-final matches, but watched the finals. It was the most exciting final I have ever seen. It was filled with hard hitting, incredible digs, and just one spectacular play after another. EY and Nicole looked like they were going to win this one, but Misty and Kerri's confidence in making big plays when it matters most is what won them the match. It was really fun to watch, but my goal is to be playing out there, not watching.

After the final, we went straight to the airport to fly home. We are back in California and training again in the deep sands of Manhattan Beach. We are getting ready for Huntington Beach where we hope to improve on our last two 5th place finishes.

Remember to drink your Real Water and support Team Cuervo!

All my best,
Angie

AVP Season Opener in South Beach - Miami, Florida

2008-04-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

After months of preseason training and conditioning, we finally kicked off the season in South Beach this past weekend. The tournament overall was fantastic. We were on the beach this year which makes for a much better atmosphere at a beach volleyball tournament in Florida!

Holly and I arrived in Florida on Tuesday evening in order to acclimate to the weather. California had been on the colder side and we wanted to be prepared for the heat and humidity. It also gave us the opportunity to make appearances for our sponsors.

I have 2 major new sponsors this year, which I am really fired up about. I am now a member of Team Cuervo. You can identify Team Cuervo by our Black and Gold suits, bordies, and cover-ups. Cuervo is fantastic enough to sponsor several of us players and help support us as we do our best to train hard and focus on winning tournaments! Also, I will be the face of Affinity's REAL WATER. You might not be familiar with REAL WATER just yet. This is an exciting, new company that is bringing the best, most pure, healthiest water to you. It is my secret for ultra hydration in any weather condition and I recommend it to everyone! Find out why it is so special and more at http://www.drinkrealwater.com/.

Now for the tournament recap: It was a 24 team draw. We entered the tournament as the #6 seed. The top 8 teams have a first round bye then play in the next round. Our first match of the tournament was against Jen Pavley and Jen Fopma. I definitely had the first tournament of the year jitters, but once we got going I felt pretty good. It was really comforting for me to look over at my partner and know that there is over 18 years of experience there. And not just "experience," but top level experience.

This was a great learning match for us. We were faced with some different situations that we had not seen previously. It was great to see those different scenarios and work out a game plan to overcome those situations. We won the first set 21-16, but the second set was much closer. We were down 2 or 3 times for set point, but fought back and won the match in 2 sets 21-16, 29-27. It was a good test to our patience and determination. The win put us in 9th place and done for the day. We could rest up and get ready for the next day.

We were scheduled to play at noon on Saturday, but with close matches going into over-time, we did not actually start until around 1PM. We faced Rachel Wacholder and Tyra Turner. They played really great against us and won the match 21-19, 21-17. They were making really great hustle plays and things were definitely going their way. After the loss, we dropped into the contenders bracket and had to battle back.

We faced Nancy Mason and Jenny Kropp to get to 7th. Things really came together for us in this match. We served really tough, set each other great, dug a lot of balls, and even blocked a few. It was a really fun match for us. We won 21-13, 21-18. The win put us in 7th place.

Our next match was against Heather Lowe and Ashley Ivy. We started really strong in the first set and won 21-15. We gave up a few points in the second set and could not make up the ground, so we lost 19-21. We regathered ourselves and took a quick lead in the 3rd set and kept rolling from there. We won 15-10 which put us in 5th place and finished for the day.

Sunday morning, we faced the 4th seeded team of Jen Boss and April Ross. We came alive too late in this match. We lost 13-21, 19-21.

Overall, it was a good start for us. I definitely had my expectations set higher, but 5th is a good starting point. Both of our losses came against teams ranked above us that have been together for awhile and have a lot of team experience. This was our very first tournament together. The exciting thing is that we can see the potential and we are both anxious to get to work making improvements.

We just got home from Florida and have a gym workout coming up. We are off to Dallas on Thursday for another tournament. We have 2 days to work and then we play.

That is all for now! Thanks for reading and be sure to check out and support my sponsors! (Cuervo ONLY if you are of age, of course! And please do so responsibly! But EVERYONE can enjoy REAL WATER!)

All my best,
Angie

2008 AVP Schedule Announced!

2008-03-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here it is! We have waited a long time for this and now we have it! It is going to be an exciting year. I hope you can make it to a few events. Holly and I are training hard and making big improvements in preparation for the kickoff in Miami. I am so excited to start competing. Holly made an official announcement yesterday that this season will indeed be her last. Of course, nothing is set in stone. She is in phenomenal shape and is healthy and working hard.

So we have waited long enough... here it is!

April 11-13 - Miami, Fla.
April 18-20 - Dallas, Texas
May 2-4 - Huntington Beach, Calif.
May 8-10 - Charleston, S.C.
May 24-26 - Louisville, Ky.
May 30-Jun. 1 - Atlanta, Ga.
June 6-8 - Hermosa Beach, Calif.
June 20-22 - Belmar, N.J.
July 4-6 - Boulder, Colo.
TBA - Chicago, Ill.
July 18-20 - Brooklyn, N.Y.
July 25-27 - Long Beach, Calif.
Aug. 1-3 - San Diego, Calif.
Aug. 29-31 - Cincinnati, Ohio
Sept. 6-7 - Santa Barbara, Calif.
Sept. 12-14 - San Francisco, Calif.
Sept. 19-21 - Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Sept. 26-28 - Glendale, Ariz.

I hope to see you at the beach!

Angie

Hot Winter Nights

2008-02-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a whirlwind of fun, freezing cold temperatures, and beach volleyball! Who would have guessed?!

We started out in Omaha, Nebraska in front of a great crowd of about 3500. They were very enthusiastic and really happy to be inside the Quest Center where we brought the beach to the snow laden area.

The format for the HWN is King of the Beach with 3 quick games to 15 points, rally score. There is a 1 minute break in between games and that is the time you switch partners and make a quick game plan. After the men and women go through this part of the competition, there is a Final where the first place finisher and second place finisher face off. The first place finisher gets to choose their partner from the third and fourth place finishers. Then the Final is one game to 15, rally score. The night goes really fast. It is a 3 hour show filled with all the same summer fun you find at the beach, only it is in a big arena and there is lots of snow on the ground outside.

Jenny Kropp won the Omaha event which was fitting, since she is from Nebraska. That night, I did not win a single game! I was really disappointed, but still had fun.

After the event, we took a bus to Rosemont, Illinois. It was an 8 hour bus ride of which I slept most of the way. Some of the other players watched movies and played poker. The bus was really nice. We called it the Rockstar bus. There are two lounging areas with flat screen TVs and 9 bunks which were very comfortable to sleep in.

We arrived into Rosemont at 8:30AM on Friday. I did media throughout the day to promote the event and my newest sponsor, Jose Cuervo! Cuervo has a great presence at our events. I am really excited to be on Team Cuervo this year.

After all the media, we played at 7:30PM. Unfortunately, the attendance for this event was only 935. It was a disappointment. The fans had fun, but the word did not get around to the avid volleyball players and fans in the Chicago area. Those that were there seemed to have a great time.

Jenny won her second night in a row. I did much better this time though. I finished second place.

After we finished playing, I was able to spend time with the Chicago Ixtapa crew. It was great to see them there and have some people cheering for me.

We did not leave for Bloomington, Illinois until 1PM on Saturday. I slept in until 11:30 and then grabbed breakfast before jumping on the bus. It took 2 and a half hours to get there. We watched Anchorman on the way.

Once there, we checked out the site and then dropped the boys off at a gym while all of us girls went to a nice dinner.

Before playing in our match, I was asked to do the Color Commentary for the 3rd game of the men's play. It was my first ever experience doing television. I am not sure how it came out, but I definitely had fun doing it. I thought I would be really nervous, but I was not at all. It is going to air on Comcast Cable in the Chicago area in about a month.

After finishing up with the TV, I had to run down to the court and warmup to play. I actually came out of the pool play as the first seed and had my choice of partners for the final. Holly came in second, so we had to play against each other. I chose Jenny Kropp since she was on a roll, winning two nights in a row. We got off to a slow start and could not catch up. So I finished 2nd place again!

It was a great time. The crowd was really excited and happy to be there. It was really great to see all the young aspiring collegiate and beach volleyball athletes there. Several clubs brought their whole teams.

After we finished up, we hopped back on the bus and traveled back to Rosemont. We left around midnight, which got back around 2:30AM. We all had decided to fly back home on the earliest flight of the day requiring us to leave for the airport at 6:30AM. Upon arrival at the airport, we learned that the first flight out was cancelled. Up that early for nothing! We were not happy, but remained optomistic that we would get on the next flight, which we did. We got home a few hours earlier than scheduled, so we were very happy.

Now I am completely exhausted and need to catch up on some sleep. Now that my travels are over until the season starts, Holly and I can start getting down to business with our training. I am excited to start putting in a lot of hard work. It is going to be a fantastic year!

The schedule is still not out yet, but should be soon! Keep checking in!

All my best,
Angie

Ixtapa, Mexico - South of the Border

2008-02-04T17:06:00.000-08:00

It was another great week in paradise. I just returned from my 3rd trip down to Ixtapa, Mexico for the South of the Border Volleyball Vacation. Jeremy and I look forward to this trip all winter. It is a chance to meet up with old friends, make new friends, play volleyball, get a tan, and have some fun. I will be posting pictures on my website soon.

I am leaving this Wednesday for the Hot Winter Nights Tour. I will be playing in Omaha, Nebraska at the Qwest Center on Thursday night along with Holly McPeak, Jenny Kropp, and Angela Lewis. The men's competition will consist of Sean Rosenthal, Jake Gibb, Casey Jennings, and Matt Fuerbringer. We then travel to Rosemont, Illinois to play at the AllState Arena on Friday night. The last stop is in Bloomington, Illinois at the US Cellular Arena on Saturday night.

I am really looking forward to playing in the Hot Winter Nights. All the players that have participated so far have raved about how well this mini-tour is going. I am sure it will be great fun. I will tell you all about it when I return.

Holly and I started practicing a few weeks ago, but with all the traveling, we have yet to get into our routine. After this trip to the midwest, we will be home for awhile and then really start working. We are so anxious to get things going. We do not have a 2008 schedule yet, but hopefully we will get it soon. I will be sure to post it on my site when it is released.

I hope you all are getting excited for the 2008 season! I sure am! It is going to be a great year. The Olympic race will be heating up and the competition will be tougher than ever. Get ready!

I hope to see you at a beach somewhere along the way!

Angie

January Changes

2008-01-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome back, everyone. I hope you are staying warm in this cold weather. Even LA is cold right now, by our standards. It is currently raining and gloomy, but thankfully I do not have to go anywhere.

I have news to report before the rumor mill starts turning. Late December, Brooke had surgery to repair her shoulder. It was worse than her doctor thought and a longer recovery period than initially anticipated. She told me that she would be out for a good amount of time. Although she will be out and recovering, I have every confidence in her that she will recover to better than 100% and be stronger and more eager than ever.

Injuries sometimes can be a blessing in disguise. It was for me when I injured my knee 12 years ago. Being forced on the sidelines to painfully watch builds up a hunger in you. It helped me to play smarter rather than harder. Plus, all the painful rehab that is necessary makes you feel tough. Practices no longer felt hard. I had been through serious pain and practice was certainly nothing compared to that pain. I appreciated my health more. People handle situations differently, and it is all in how you perceive what is going on around you. You cannot change what has happened, so it makes more sense to accept it and move forward. I know Brooke will make the most of it. Her best years are still in front of her.

This leads me to announcing my new partner for 2008. I am really excited to partner up and play this season with Holly McPeak. Holly needs no introductions. You all know what a great player she is. I am so excited to learn from her. If you have not noticed, she elevates her partner's game to a level they have not previously reached. I am looking forward to working hard, learning heaps, and having fun kicking butt. It is no secret that Holly is nearing the end of her career. I want to ensure that she has a great season consisting of fun and results. It has always been my dream to play with Holly and now I am. It is going to be a great year.

As soon as the 2008 schedule is released, I will be posting it on my website. I will continue to give you updates from our training. Hopefully this rain passes quickly so we can get back in the dry sand.

Next week I am off to Ixtapa for the South of the Border Volleyball Vacation. I am really looking forward to it and will tell you about it when I return.

All my best... Stay warm,

Angie

Happy New Year - 2008

2008-01-07T15:39:00.001-08:00

I hope you all had a very happy holiday season. I just returned from a long road trip. My husband and I were scheduled to visit our families in Indiana and Miami over the holidays. About 10 days before our scheduled departure, I got a phone call with an invitation to play in Mr. Peter Nygard's Bahamas weekend get-a-way tournament at Nygard Cay. I had never been to the Bahamas before, so I jumped at the opportunity. Before we knew it, Jeremy and I were on our way to the Bahamas to jump start our Christmas vacation.

Mr. Nygard is an avid beach volleyball fan. He started playing the sport 3 years ago and, like so many others, has fallen in love with it. He decided to invite several of his friends that play recreational volleyball as well as 5 men and 3 women Pros to travel down to his private island and play volleyball for 4 days. (Yes, I did say "his private island!")

It was absolutely amazing. The "house" or resort is enormous. It reminded me of an ancient Mayan, Robinson Caruso house. In case that doesn't make any sense to you, I will be posting pictures from my trip in my galleries very soon so that you can check it out for yourself.

While we were there, the Travel Channel was also there filming. They will air an episode sometime soon featuring Nygard Cay and you can bet you will see us playing volleyball and hanging around.

I will let the photos speak for themselves. We had a wonderful time, but were anxious to continue on our travels to see our families and spend Christmas in the cold again.

We left the warmth of the Bahamas for Indiana where we were welcomed by 8 inches of snow on the ground. Our time there was very fun and relaxing. We watched movies, played games, ate my mom's home cooked meals, and spent time with my family. It was really nice for me to be back home with no particular agenda, except to torture my parents with my workouts everyday. They were very admirable in their efforts! In fact, I think they are continuing to do the workouts even now! Good for them!

After 10 great days in Indiana, we packed up and continued with our travels to Miami, our last stop. We were relieved to get off the plane and feel the warmth of the South Florida air. We spent 6 days with Jeremy's family, celebrating our second Christmas of the year and New Years. We had a terrific time there enjoying the warm weather. We ate meals outside, swam in the warm ocean, laid on the beach, met up with friends, ate some great meals, and were introduced to Joe's Stone Crabs. We spent a quiet New Years Eve with some family and friends and watched the fireworks from a rooftop deck.

Every stop of our holiday travels was really nice. We are finally back at home in California after the 3 weeks of travel. I started my workouts again and will be hitting the beach for the first time this week. We are home for 3 weeks and then we travel again. This time to Ixtapa, Mexico for the South of the Border Volleyball Vacation. If you are interested in finding out more about this trip, check out www.sobvolleyballvacations.com. I hope to see you there!

All my best for 2008!
Peace, Health, and Happiness!
Angie

Itaparica, Brazil

2007-12-04T16:54:00.000-08:00

I just returned from an amazingly wonderful, short trip to Itaparica, Brazil. It is a very small island off Salvadore. I was there with Holly McPeak to play in an exhibition match against the Brazilian team of Ana Paula and Leila.

From the moment we landed, we were treated wonderfully. We were brought to the island by helicopter and greeted at the Club Med where we stayed with coconuts with straws in them. It was heavenly. We were to play an exhibition match the next day, so we had about 24 hours to acclimate. We practiced for a bit to get our legs moving and blood pumping.

Then we played 4 on 4 and 6 on 6 with some of the other patrons of the Club Med. It was great fun. We taught the models that were there for a fashion show how to play. They were great sports and we had a good time with them.

The exhibition match was great. Neither side of the court was all that sharp, so it was a very close match. Each game was decided by just 2 points. We won the first game, lost the second, and then came back to win the third game. The crowd was really into it. Several people told us afterward that they were not sure if beach volleyball was like tennis where you have to be quiet. So after each point, there would be cheering and then you would hear the crowd go "shhhhhhh!!!" just as someone was about to serve.

After we won, we had the rest of the time to enjoy ourselves and mingle with the guests. They were so nice and treated us so well. We were spoiled. We got complimentary hair conditioning treatments, excellent authentic Brazilian food, several coconuts, and lots of great people to converse with. I even took my chances on the trapeze swing! It was great fun, but boy was I nervous.

All in all, it was the perfect little volleyball excursion in early December. Now that I am home, I start my workouts in the gym with Brooke. She is 3 weeks ahead of me, so I have some catching up to do. Thank goodness I love hard work!

FYI - I posted a few pictures from my recent trip to Hong Kong on my website. There are a few in the main Gallery and even more in the Members Only Gallery. Check them out.

Happy Holidays to you all!

Angie

No More Volleyball, but Lots of Fun

2007-11-09T17:03:00.000-08:00

By pure luck of the draw, we had to play the other American team in the qualifier. It was very unfortunate because the level of play is not quite equivalent to the AVP. I strongly feel that both teams would have made a strong run of it if we did not have to face each other. As it turned out, we lost in a tight match, 18-21, 23-25.

So instead of sulking around, we decided to make the most of this trip and see all of Hong Kong. We still have 2 days left, but we have already seen many of the famous places. We went to the giant Buddha, which is 39 meters high sitting on the top of a mountain. It is a stunning sight. Then we shopped at the famous "Ladies' Market" in Mong Kok finding all sorts of great things. We also took the tram to the top of the Victoria Peak and took in the beautiful night scenery of Hong Kong. It is breath taking.

We have not yet decided what we will do today, but it is bound to be fun and exciting. I am really enjoying Hong Kong and all it has to offer.

It is so exciting to see another part of the world and experience their culture. This is definitely a place I would like to come back to.

That's all for now.

Angie

Hong Kong

2007-11-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

I arrived last night in Hong Kong after a 14 hour direct flight from LAX. The flight was uneventful, but very long. I stayed awake the entire time so that I would not have troubles sleeping when I arrived. Hong Kong is 16 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time. We left LAX at noon on Sunday and arrived into Hong Kong at 7:30PM on Monday.

I was exhausted upon arrival, but forged through until we got to our hotel at 9:15PM. I went to bed right away and had no problem sleeping the night through. We woke up early and had breakfast, then went to the site and practiced for an hour.

The accommodations here are great. The people are very friendly, our hotel is very nice, the food is excellent with a large range of choices, and the site is a 2 minute walk away. We are not playing on a beach, but in a park with 2 courts set up. The sand is great, the stadium is nice, and all is good.

After we practiced, Chrissy and I decided to check out the famous Hong Kong shopping. We went to a high rise department store and walked around a bit. Next we plan to find the open air markets and shop for the "touristy" stuff.

We have meetings tonight and then the qualifier is tomorrow. I am looking forward to playing! It feels like its been so long since the season ended. We just have to remember to be patient because we are not in "in season" shape. In fact, I am in "out of season" shape. Oh well. More than anything, we want to have a good time and do the best we can.

I am excited to be here in Hong Kong and feel so thankful that I am blessed with my abilities to play beach volleyball and have these amazing opportunities to see different parts of the world. Life is good.

All my best,

Angie

AVP Awards Banquet

2007-10-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last night was the AVP Awards Banquet. It was a great night for the players as we celebrated the end of another season and recognized those athletes that stood out in their categories.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh were recognized as the Team of the Year, (NO SURPRISES THERE!) Misty swept the house for the second straight year in the categories of Best Offense, Best Defense, and MVP. Jenny Kropp won the Rookie of the Year Award and April Ross won the Most Improved Award.

I don't think there were any surprises, however, I really wish that the MVP Award could have gone to both Misty and Kerri. Players are allowed to vote for one person, so voting for the both of them was not an option for anyone.

Obviously, Misty deserves every award she gets, but I was really pulling for Brooke to get the Best Defense Award. Because I play with her, I get to see all of her amazing defensive plays up close and personal. I cannot tell you how many times this year I was just dumbfounded at the amazing plays that she would make over and over. The scary thing is that she had a bad knee all year. She just had it fixed and I am so excited to see how much better she can get when she is all healthy! It could be scary.

Another tournament popped up on my radar. I decided to make plans to go to Hong Kong for the FIVB Satellite Event. Brooke and I had planned on going together, but with her knee surgery, she decided it probably was not in her best interest to push it after just 7 weeks recovery. I think that was the right decision. I see no need rushing back in the off season, risking a re injury. I decided to still go and will be playing with Chrissy Zartman. I think Chrissy is a great player and I know we will have a lot of fun. We will not be training much for the event, as it is supposed to be our off season and rest time. However I have been playing once or twice a week, just for fun, helping out Rachel and Tyra as they get ready for the last FIVB event in Thailand. The weather has been so fantastic that I just cannot pass up the opportunity!

Speaking of weather, a heat wave is heading our way for next week! It is the middle of October and the temperatures are predicted to be 85 at the beach and 102 inland! I cannot believe it. I will have to schedule a lot of outdoor activities at the beach next week!

That is all for now. Have a great weekend!

Angie

I'm BACK!

2007-10-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been great. I was able to spend some time with family and friends in Indiana, catch up on some rest and relaxation, as well as start tackling some chores around the house.

Going back to the Midwest was nice. We watched the Cubs beat the Pirates 13-8 at Wrigley Field, watched Michigan State beat up on our Irish at Notre Dame (BOO- that was not so nice!), and had lots of fun at my parents' lake house riding jet skis and tubing. The weather was fantastic! I got to eat my mom's cooking and had no dietary restrictions (which means YES, I ATE THE TURTLE BROWNIES!) Now I am back home and getting used to life in the off-season.

October is so beautiful here in LA. The skies are blue, the days are warm, and the nights are crisp. It is my favorite time of year here. I try to wake up around 7 every morning to start my day. I like to go to the beach for a run and swim in the ocean. Then I come home and start working.

For now, most of my work is all catch up. I have accumulated several piles around my house that are in need of organization. I intend to tackle each one and get organized. Besides that, I am on a committee with USA Volleyball where we are working to put a new Board of Directors in place. Lastly, I am trying to put together some new things for angieakers.com. There are lots of things to keep me busy this off season. I do not think I will get bored.

As for my workouts, I am taking time away from volleyball. I have not played since San Francisco. I do not plan to start playing again until the middle of November. My workouts are pretty relaxed right now. I am doing cardio, lots of stretching, some light lifting, and that is about it!

I will not be writing as much in the next few weeks, simply because there will not be much to write about. If something momentous happens, I will be sure to let you know. A few people have emailed me asking about the AVP Winter Tour. As soon as I know anything, I will be sure to write a post and let you know.

Thank you for continuing to read! I wish you all the best and hope you are enjoying life!

Angie

PS - Check out my sister's commercial debut! http://www.nike.com/g1/eu/index.jhtml?lang=1,1 She is the fast female runner!

San Franciso - Best of the Beach

2007-09-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

This last tournament in San Francisco marked the end of the 2007 AVP season. It was great being in San Francisco where I lived just before making the decision to play Professional Beach Volleyball. Brooke and I started out extremely strong, winning our first 2 matches of the tournament, securing us in the Final Four.

The tournament consisted of the top 8 teams on the AVP tour with a double elimination format. We were the 7th seed coming in so our first round was against the 2nd seeds, Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh.

This was a really fun match. We always have a battle with this team. There was a great crowd, exciting rallies, and close games. We lost the first game 25-27. But we bounced back strong. We took game two 21-19. Game 3 was back and forth the whole way. We were down 13-11, but fought hard to stay in it. We fought off match point and came away with a 17-15 win. It was really exciting!

We then played Barbra Fontana and Dianne DeNecochea. We had lost to this team the previous 3 times we played them. We came out strong and dominated game one, winning 21-15. We had a slow start in game two and had to dig ourselves out of the hole. We were down by 6 or 7 points at the beginning, but really got the momentum toward the end of that game. We lost 18-21, but all the momentum was on our side. We came out firing in game three and won 15-9.

That was it for Friday. We were on a roll and really excited. We did not have to play until 5PM on Saturday night. We went to the site to watch all the matches that played into us. We saw EY/Nicole take down Wacholder/Turner in 2 games. Then they played Boss/Ross and won a hard fought match in 3 games. So we had to face EY/Nicole again!

The fans were crazy during this match. There were lots of hecklers. I had trouble siding out in this match and they let me know it. We lost the first game 21-11. EY was serving really tough which put us under a lot of pressure.

Game two, we came out and dominated. We served tough and got them into trouble. We got a big lead early in the game and had to fight them off. We won 21-16, but they had the momentum at the end. They took that straight into game three and won the match 15-8.

It is really hard to beat great teams two times in a row. Especially in the same tournament. They get really fired up and feel that they must get revenge, meanwhile you are doing everything you can to beat them again.

So our loss to EY/Nicole put us into the Bronze Medal match. We had to play Fontana/DeNecochea again! So we play 4 matches in a tournament, but only play against 2 teams. In a way, it was really frustrating. We came out really strong in this match. Brooke played really great defense. We battled back and forth, but could not hold steady throughout the match. We gave up stretches of points which killed us in the end. We lost 19-21, 17-21. I was really disappointed in my own play. My ball control was not very good. It was not the way I wanted to end the season. It would have been really great to end with a win.

I am going to choose to remember Friday as our end of the season. We beat two teams ranked above us. Besides May/Walsh, those two teams are the only ones that finished ahead of us... and we beat them on Friday! We finished 4th place out of the top 8 teams. I am proud of that.

There is so much this year that I am very proud of. Brooke and I went through so many ups and downs with each other this year. We stuck it out through thick and thin and ended up having a great season. In fact, it was the best season in both of our careers.

We are both sad that the year is over, but we are really excited to continue building our partnership for the years to come. We will take some time to rest, but then work really hard this off season to come back next year and pick up right where we left off.

We are considering playing in Hong Kong this November in an FIVB satellite event. I will keep you posted.

Jeremy and I are leaving this Thursday for Chicago. We are going to a Cubs game on Friday and then we are going to Notre Dame for the Michigan State football game. ND is struggling more so than ever, but we are still looking forward to seeing campus and visiting with friends. After that, we will visit with my family for a while before coming back to California.

Early October I will pick back up with my workouts and start building for next year. I won't touch a volleyball until November though. That will be the longest break from volleyball in my 6 year career! I think it will do me good.

Thanks for reading.

All my best,
Angie

Vegas Baby!

2007-09-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

I just returned from 4 days in Las Vegas for the Gods and Goddesses of the Beach event. I was the alternate for day 1 of competition in case there were any injuries. Brooke and I finished the year tied for the ranking of 13th place. The top 12 go to the tournament, while number 13 is brought in to be the alternate. Misty May-Treanor pulled out of the tournament, leaving an extra spot in the main event. A similar situation occurred on the men's side. To determine which player would be in the main event and which would be the alternate, it came down to a coin flip. Brooke and Fred Souza won the coin flip, putting them in the main draw. Anthony Medel and I were the alternates. Being the alternate means that you must be at all the matches ready to play in the case that any player needs to pull out.

The tournament is a lot of fun. Players are put into pools where they play one match with each of the other players in their pool. At the end of the first day, the top 2 players from each pool advance into another pool. They play another round of matches with each player and from that, the top player advances to the Final.

Brooke did really well in her pool, winning 2 of her matches. However, she did not advance because her loss was in 2 games as opposed to the other girls' losses coming in 3 games. But, she was the top player to not advance (meaning she had the best record) so she became the alternate for day 2 of competition.

Kerri Walsh and Elaine Youngs came out of their respective pools advancing to the Finals. Kerri chose to play with April Ross, while EY chose Jenny Jordan. It was an exciting 3 game match which EY and Jenny won. EY has won many tournaments, but this was her first Goddess of the Beach title.

John Hyden and Phil Dalhauser advanced from the men's side. Phil chose Sean Rosenthal while John chose Mike Lambert for another really exciting 3 game match. John and Mike won making it John's 2nd ever beach victory and first time God of the Beach title.

The crowds were great for the competition. The energy at the Finals was really exciting. Geeter was amazing on the mic, as always. It was a really great event marking the near end of another fantastic year.

We leave on Thursday for San Francisco for the last event. Then it is officially the off season.

More later. Thanks for reading.

Angie

Cincinnati Recap

2007-09-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

This has been the fastest season on record to me. We have played 16 events since April with never more than 2 weeks off. I cannot believe that the regular season is over.

We had our chance to make the Vegas tournament, as part of the top 12, this past weekend, but came up short by a mere 20 points. We were vying for the spot against Fontana/DeNecochea. We finished 3rd place and they finished 2nd place. All in all, a great tournament for us, but we did not play well against them which makes it a little bit harder to swallow.

Our path to 3rd place was interesting. It was a 24 team draw tournament, which meant that the top 8 teams had a first round bye. The men's final was on Saturday. There were only 6 courts, so the men started play at 8AM on Friday morning. The first women's matches were played at 11AM. We were scheduled to play at 2PM, but in reality, we started our match at 3:30PM.

It was a long, slow moving day. We were seeded 3rd coming into the tournament. Our first match was against Chara Harris and Brooke Langston. We won 21-13, 21-10. That was our only match on Friday. The win secured us in 9th place.

Saturday morning at 11AM, we faced Logan Tom and Nancy Mason. This was a back and forth battle. The match started with both teams trading sideouts. Then we took turns scoring runs of points. The other team would fight back to tie it up. We traded sideouts for awhile again, then we finally scored a point to take the first game win 28-26.

We jumped to an early lead in game 2, but could not hold on to it. We were up 10-4, but quickly gave up several points. They fought back to win the game 21-17, pushing game 3.

There was a distinct good side/bad side, which makes scoring points and siding out crucial when you have the good side. We were able to get the lead 11-9 when we took a side change going to the good side. They got the sideout to make the score 11-10 (still our lead). We took care of the next ball and went up 12-10. We got an ace for 13-10, then earned another point for 14-10. They got another sideout for 14-11 and we switched sides going back to the bad side. Fortunately we had a cushion, which made us a bit more relaxed. We got the sideout on the first serve and won the match 28-26, 17-21, 15-11. Well fought by both teams. The win put us into 5th place.

We had until 6PM before we would play our next match, so we went back to our hotel and relaxed for a bit. We were to face Holly McPeak and Jen Fopma. They beat Jenny and Annett earlier in the day.

It was a bit strange to sit for so long between matches, but thankfully I had an air-conditioned room to rest in. I watched a bit of football. Season openers are always fun and exciting, except when the Irish do not do well. I saw the first few drives of the game and then had to turn it off. My husband said that Lou Holtz always told the guys if on your game day, you play later in the day, go ahead and watch the other games, but do not get emotionally involved in them. Doing so will take more out of you than you think. I could feel myself getting excited and anxious after only a few minutes, so I decided to turn it off. I picked up my book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and read.

After a few hours, I went back to the site to get ready for our match. I felt great. It was only our 3rd match of the tournament, so we were fresh and excited to play. We came out strong and ready to have some fun. It was an exciting match from a defensive standpoint. Holly and Brooke were digging machines. They both made spectacular play after spectacular play. We came out on top 21-17 in game one. We had the momentum and ran with it in game 2. We won 21-9 and made our second final-four appearance of the year.

We were feeling really good, only playing 3 matches in 2 days. Our next match was at 12:30PM on Sunday. We were to play the winner of Tom/Mason and Fontana/DeNecochea. That match was intense. I sat and watched the whole thing, which was probably not the best idea. I spent a lot of energy getting involved with the match. I knew it meant a lot. If Tom/Mason won, we were in for Vegas, but if Fontana/DeNecochea won, we would have to knock them off ourselves in order to earn the spot. Tom/Mason had match point in game 3, but ran out of steam. Each game was decided by only 2 points with the third game ending 21-19 in favor of Fontana/DeNecochea. We then had 30 minutes until our match.

We came out flat while they came out on fire. We had a lot of trouble putting the ball away against the big block of DeNocochea. It felt like we got killed, but the scores were somewhat close. We lost 18-21, 17-21. I am really bummed that we did not play our best. I believed that we would make another final at this tournament. Anything less was a bit disappointing.

On a much brighter note, our seed going into next season is going to be great! We finished the season strong, which was our goal. We made the San Francisco tournament and we are tied for the alternate spot at the Goddess of the Beach tournament in Las Vegas. Both tournaments will be a lot of fun. I am excited to go back to the Bay Area. I lived there for 2 years before moving to Southern California to play on the beach. I have not been back since and cannot wait to visit our old favorite spots.

Two more weeks remain on the AVP schedule and then its officially the "off season". I think I will keep busy with some new books, some experimental cooking, some football, and of course, lots of working out. I will most likely take about 2 months off of volleyball (which I have not done since I began playing!) If you have any great book recommendations, let me know. I just finished The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, for the second time and loved it. Now I am onto Harry Potter.

Have a great Labor Day weekend and enjoy the last bits of summer. I am off to the beach, not for work, but to relax and enjoy the day.

All my best,

Angie

Wise Words From Friends

2007-08-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready to leave for Cincinnati, which is the last regular season event of the year. I have had a few days to sit and reflect on the season so far. All in all, this has been the fastest year of volleyball for me to date. I cannot believe that it is the end of summer and we are getting ready to wrap it all up.

This year has been filled with many ups and downs. I have experienced some of the highest of highs and even some of the lowest of lows. But through it all, I have had some of the most amazing people offer me their friendship, support, love, and kind words which have made it all an unbelievable ride.

I really appreciate the time that so many of you take to send me well-wishes and nice emails. Thank you so much. I wanted to share with you one of the really special messages that my new Brazilian friend, Cassius, sent to me after the Chicago Final.

"In the finals of high level championships, there practically does not exist a difference in the technique between the adversaries, all players have their bodies very well trained and all the necessary information kept in the subconscious mind. Who wins is who dominates their emotions and lets the body work for itself...So nervous in the match? Why? There are many more important things than a volleyball championship, Angie. Because of this, relax in the match, think about good things, think about... Açai! Hmmm!... and let your body work for itself."

How right is he! Sometimes we get so caught up in what we are doing that we forget that we are playing a game. It is supposed to be fun, otherwise it would not be called a 'game', right? The last 2 years of competition have made things much clearer for me. I realize that I play my best when I am having fun.

I watch other teams play and observe the dynamic between the two players. The people I enjoy watching the most are those that look like they are having fun playing. So why would it be any different for the fans? I love to watch Lewis and Lima play when they are loose, dancing, laughing, and obviously having fun. Jenny and Nettie are fun to watch. They are not afraid to laugh at themselves and have a good time. Rosie and Jake look like they have fun playing together. To me, that is what the game is all about... not taking yourself so seriously that you can't laugh at the quirky plays that happen. We can't play this game at the highest level forever. Why not enjoy it while we can?

More wise words came from my workout coach, Erich. He tells me to play like I am a kid again out on the playground, free and having fun. All the hard work is done by the time we get to the tournament. Tournament time is when we just play. He wrote a great article in the latest issue of Volleyball about this very thing. I hope you get a chance to read it.

Well, I am not sure why I felt the need to write about this, but I did. I am really looking forward to Cincinnati where we will have our final shot at trying to crack into the Vegas tournament. Brooke and I are currently tied at #13 ranking and only the top 12 go to Vegas. I am not going to think about that this weekend. I am going to go out, have fun, and play my best. Whatever happens after that, happens. I plan to listen to all my wise friends and play the game.

Have a great week.

Angie

PS - Check out my article in the September issue of Volleyball about my trip to Kosovo. You can also see it on my website. Click here to read.

East Coast Road Trip - Boston to Brooklyn

2007-08-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ok. So just as someone thanks me for being so diligent about writing consistently, I slack off big time and go missing in action for a few weeks. I apologize for my absence and hope that you didn't miss me too much! Lol.

First things first, here is a quick recap of the last 10 days. I decided to pull out of the Boston event last Tuesday because I had sprained my Sacroiliac Joint in my back during the Manhattan Beach tournament. I wasn't sure how I would feel, so I tried to practice on Tuesday morning and I knew right away that I needed at least a week to let it calm down and heal. I had the same injury almost 2 years ago while I was in Australia. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, so I kept trying to play and ended up hurting myself worse and worse. It was an extremely difficult decision to make, but I knew it was the right one. Brooke was left scrambling, but partnered with Jen Fopma.

I ended up flying to Boston anyway. I had a cheap flight and was planning to stay on the east coast through Brooklyn. I figured I would get the flight out of the way, watch the tournament, get treatment in the medical tent, and visit with my friends. It was really hard to watch the tournament and not play, but it was really good for me to watch other players and learn.

I lived in the medical tent. We are provided with access to some of the best doctors, massage therapists, and physical therapists around. I kept them busy. I am so appreciative to all those people that give so much of their time to us. They help keep us all together behind the scenes.

I didn't practice for about 10 days because I wanted to make sure that my back was 100% healthy before I did anything. It was mentally gruelling not to workout! So instead of freaking out like I would have done in past years, I decided to have mental practices. While I was doing my rehab, I would close my eyes and visualize myself healthy again and playing well. I did this quite a bit until I completely convinced myself that I really had only taken off one long day, which my body needed, and was ready to pick up right where I left off. It helped tremendously because I never felt like I missed a beat. The only thing I noticed was that my legs got fatigued.

After Boston, I took a visit to my favorite Women's Health and Fitness Club in Ridgefield, NJ, Aurora Fitness Center. I spent the day there on Wednesday hanging out with my friend, Vito, who runs the club. Every time I go there, he spoils me and will not let me pay for a single thing! I challenged him to an arm-wrestling contest, but he said he is afraid he will lose, so its a no-go. I will get him one of these times! I got to hang out with the girls that work there, as well, and laugh with them as they prepared for the launch of a new class. It was a great visit and I always enjoy stopping in there.

Then on Thursday morning, 8 of us AVP girls rang in the morning bell on the NYMEX floor. I really goofed this one up. I told everyone that it was the NYSE, but I was wrong! Sorry about that! We had breakfast with a few men from NYMEX and then all 8 of us pushed the buzzer at 9AM and then we threw out AVP hats to the traders down on the floor. It was really fun and definitely not something you do very often. Having worked in Finance at Lehman Brothers in San Francisco, it was extra exciting to me.

Normally I would give a recap of each match of the tournament, but I am not going to do that this time. I am just going to tell you who we played and the scores and if you want to know more about the match, please write me to let me know and I will elaborate on it.

First match on Friday was against the 26th seeds, Ratto and Smith. We won 21-12, 21-16. We then played Angela Lewis and Pricilla Lima, my good friends, and won 24-22, 21-19. That was all for Friday.

When we finished playing Friday, Brooke and I were asked to throw out the first pitch at the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game. The Cyclones are a minor league team associated with the New York Mets. Brooke and I were both on the mound and threw our strikes at the same time. It was really fun. Their stadium is great. The stands were packed and everyone looked to be having a great time. We couldn't stay for the game because it was late and we had to get up and play on Saturday morning.

We then played EY and Nicole and lost in 3 games, 18-21, 22-20, 11-15. We were close, but couldn't pull out a second victory against the Boston Champions. After the loss, we dropped to the contenders bracket and had to battle our way back. We played Pavley and Kropp and won 21-13, 21-19. After this match, we had to break for the men's final for about 3 hours.

On a completely separate note, Brooke and I were honored to wear FDNY T-shirts on Saturday that were given to us by the FDNY in memory of 2 men who lost their lives fighting a fire last week. The firefighters were members of Engine 24, Ladder 5. Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia died while fighting a 7-alarm fire in the former Deutsche Bank Building in lower Manhattan. Please keep these men, their families, and their fellow firefighters in your thoughts and prayers.

After Phil and Todd won their 9th tournament of the year, we resumed play. While we were playing Pavley/Kropp, Rachel and Tyra were playing against Michelle and Suzanne in a one hour, 26 minute match. Michelle and Suz pulled out a huge upset and won the match. They were our next opponents. We won in 3 games, 18-21, 21-16, 15-7. I was so tired after this match. We thought that was our last of the day, but we were immediately told that we had one more to play. We had 20 minutes until we played Jenny and Annett in the stadium.

I really wish we could have played that match on Sunday morning, like usual, because it was 5:30PM and there were only about 30 fans left. I don't know about the other girls, but I was so tired. It is amazing to me how fast you can lose fitness. You can work so hard for so long to gain it, but then lose it so fast. I now know what it feels like to play really tired and I don't like it. I would rather work really hard off the court so that tournament time is easy as far as fitness goes.

Anyway, my husband told me to suck it up, so I did. He is good like that! He keeps me in line. I had a burst of energy in that match, and didn't notice fatigue in my legs at all. However, other muscles in my body started to act up and brought my attention elsewhere. Now we have Sunday and Monday off to recover and get ready for Cincinnati. I am so excited for that one. My family will be there, which is always nice.

We are in a really good position for the San Francisco event. We will know if we are in or not after the Cincinnati event. As of now, we are solidly in 7th place and the top 8 teams will go. It looks great, but you never know mathematically what could happen. I will keep you posted.

Thanks for reading!

Angie

Manhattan Beach Open

2007-08-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

The weather could not have been better for the Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball, the Manhattan Beach Open. Sunny skies, a slight breeze, and temperatures in the mid-70s were consistent on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In my opinion....perfect playing conditions.

Brooke and I finished 5th place. We were knocking down that door of the final four, but came up short. We did have the major upset of the weekend when we took down the number 2 seed of the tournament, Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh, in the 3rd round of the winner's bracket. We then got our chance at a rematch of the Chicago Final with Jenny and Annett, but came up short again. We were eliminated from the tournament by Rachel and Tyra, but we did not go down without a fight.

Our tournament started against the 26th seeds of the tournament, Beth Van Fleet and Suzanna Manole. We were really off in game one and barely snuck out the win. We were down 13-8 and had to fight our way back. We ended up winning that game 21-19. Game 2 we were back to our normal selves and won 21-14.

Our next match was against Barbra Fontana and Alicia Polzin. In Chicago, we had a knock down, dragged out battle with them. We came into this match very prepared. We executed our game plan and won 21-12, 21-15.

Then came our big match against EY and Nicole. We played in the stadium which was packed for a Friday. Usually the stands are empty because people are still at work. We got crushed in game one, 13-21. We were down big in game two, 14-18 and the EY/Nicole crowd was cheering "3 more points!" All of a sudden we went on a scoring rampage. I had 2 let serves that just rolled over the net for aces. I know from being on the recipient end of those serves just how frustrating it can be. There just isn't any way to defend it. It goes one of two ways: either into the net for an error by the server, or flips over the net for an ace. I was lucky for 2 aces. We got into a groove and scored points when we needed them. We came from behind to win 24-22 pushing a game 3. We continued aggressively with Brooke making spectacular defensive plays and then frustrating them with her varied shots. I did my best to put up a good block and Brooke took over behind me. Our sideout game was efficient and we were able to score points. We took the final side switch up 14-11. A thought of upsetting the #2 team on tour started to enter my mind, but I pushed it away immediately. I learned something from Chicago! We both focused for that last point and won 15-11. Then we allowed it to sink in.

This win was huge for us. It was validation that Chicago was no fluke. We know we are capable of beating the top teams, but now its a matter of pulling out a few big wins in a single tournament in order to get to the Final Four.

That win secured a 5th place finish and we were so excited to get a rematch with Jenny and Nettie. We would face them at 8AM on Saturday morning.

Things did not go our way in the first game. We had too many unforced errors and couldn't find a way to make up for it. Game 2 was different. We put up a fight, but couldn't make it happen for us. We lost 19-21. That was our first loss of the tournament, so we still had another shot.

Our elimination match was against Rachel and Tyra. We played really well in this match. The difference came down to a point here and a point there. We used up our luck with the let serves and this time a big one went against us. Tyra had a big jump serve that flipped over on our side for a point. Early in the match she got another ace down my sideline. It is hard to say if those made a difference between winning and losing, but they very well could have. I guess to even things up a bit, we won a call from the referee that could have gone either way. Still, we lost 19-21, 22-24, in 5th place.

We are at the time of year where things are winding down. There are only 3 regular season tournament remaining. This year has gone by so incredibly fast. We will be on the road for the rest of the regular season in Boston, Coney Island, and then Cincinnati.

After the Cincinnati event, the top 12 players will be invited to play in Las Vegas for the Gods and Goddesses of the Beach. The players are invited based on their top 6 finishes of the season as pertaining to points. For example, the NBC events are double points which means that a 5th place at an NBC event will beat out a 3rd place finish at a cable television event. This means that the end of the season is very important. All the remaining events are on NBC, so this is the time when we want to peak.

After the Las Vegas event, there will be San Francisco where the top 8 teams will be invited to play. This tournament is a single elimination event. We are currently in 7th place, but will need to continue doing well in order to secure a spot for this event. The tour is more competitive than its ever been. It is exciting to be a part of it and in the middle of the action.

I hope your summer is everything you want it to be. Enjoy it while its here!

See you at the beach!

Angie

Chicago - North Avenue Beach - Part 2

2007-08-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

We started play on Friday morning against Erin Byrd and Paige Davis. Both Brooke and I were feeling a bit of nerves in this match. I think it was because we knew this tournament was going to be a great opportunity for us to do well and get a good finish while the top 4 teams were away competing internationally. Despite our nerves, we came out crisp and on fire. We won a quick match with scores 21-6, 21-8. This set the tone for our weekend.

Our next match was against the defensive whiz team, Katie and Tracy Lindquist. In order to beat this team, you must have crisp ball control and sideout at a very high percentage. They have pretty much beaten every team on tour at some point. We executed our game plan exactly the way we wanted to and came out with the win in two games 21-17, 21-12. The win secured us in 9th place. We were done with play on Friday.

Saturday morning, the first thing Brooke said to me was "I woke up with the flu, but I am fine. Don't baby me." Right then and there, I knew we were going to have a great day. It brought to mind the effort by Michael Jordan in the NBA finals when he was really sick, but managed to pull off one of his most incredible performances. Maybe sickness helps keep the focus on getting the job done efficiently and not worrying about anything external. Who knows. Anyway, we faced Jen Pavley and her rookie partner, Jenny Kropp. Jen Pavley has done a great job of showing Kropp the ropes. At 6'3, Kropp is a great partner for the smaller, defensive whiz, Pavley. We had a first game outright battle and came out with the win, 27-25. We stayed poised and focused throughout the next game and won 21-15. That first game win was huge for us because we got the momentum at the end and kept it through the second game.

Our next match was against Barbra Fontana and Alicia Polzin. This was our tightest match of the tournament. We had to keep switching up our game plan because both players were on fire. We won in 3 games with each game being decided by only 2 points. We won the first 21-19, lost the second 21-23, then won the third 16-14. I was so happy that Brooke and I kept our composure under that sort of pressure and came out with the win. It was a big step for us. That win put us in the semi's and secured a 3rd place finish!

We were finished with doubles play after this match, but still had to compete in the 4's preliminary match. Our team of Dianne DeNecochea, Angela Lewis, Brooke, and myself had to play against the team of Barbra Fontana, Tati Minello, Keao Burdine, and Lauren Fendrick.

The 4's game is very interesting. The ball seems to never drop. It is very hard to put a ball away for a kill. The key is not to make mistakes. The strategy is to set the middle as much as possible. The outsides are secondary, but need to minimize errors.

Without much practice or preparation, all 4 teams put together a very competitive, fun event. We won our first match as did the team of Holly McPeak, Jen Fopma, Jenny Jordan, and Annett Davis. This meant we would face each other in a match just before the women's final.

We were finished with play on Saturday and got to go home and rest up for our big day on Sunday.

We got to the site early to watch the match that played into our bracket of the semi-final. It was between Pavley/Kropp and Dodd/Minello. It was a barn-burner straight down to the wire. It was a very long match with Pavley/Kropp coming out on top. The third game was 26-24! We were set to play 25 minutes later.

Brooke and I felt the pressure to win this match from the start. We had already beaten this team earlier in the tournament. I think I was shaking from the very first serve. We came out really strong and won 21-11. We continued the strong play until we were up 17-11 in the second. I think that is when I started thinking "Oh my gosh... we are almost in the final!" We very quickly gave up 5 points and before we knew it the score was 17-16. We finally got a sideout for 18, but couldn't score. We switched sides up 18-17. We calmed our nerves enough to squeak out the victory 21-19. Winning that was such a relief! We screamed and hugged each other. It was an amazing feeling.

We did not have much time to let it soak in. We had 15 minutes until our 4's competition Final. Brooke told me to take it easy and just pass because she was not going to set me and tire me out for the final. Jenny and Annett were in the same boat as we were, playing the 4's and then having to play right after in the Final. I think the 4's competition really helped to calm our nerves. The stadium was packed and there was no pressure except to just go out, have fun, and put on a show for the crowd. I never heard how the 4's went over as far as the crowd enjoying it. It definitely sounded like they did. They got to see 8 AVP athletes all competing at once. There were incredible rallies and it was very close. Our team snuck out the win in the third game 15-13.

We then had 40 minutes to prepare for the doubles Final. I talked with Karch a bit about how to deal with the nerves. I figured why not ask someone who has been there. He gave me great advice saying, "Just take deep breaths and remember that no matter what happens, you have a wonderful family, husband, and friends that love you no matter what." I really appreciated hearing that advice because it is so true. I was getting so wrapped up in the moment that my head was spinning. I just do not think that there is a way to prepare for that kind of moment. We were live on NBC, playing in front of 5,000 fans. It was incredible. At least next time I will know what to expect and will hopefully be able to control my emotions better.

I did not realize how much the emotion, the heat and humidity, and the 4's competition really took out of me. I was so hyped going into the Final, but soon found my legs shaking. It was very strange because I felt strong, but I felt very much drained. I kept telling myself to just give it everything I have and then I can rest and take a few days off.

We gave it our best shot, but Jenny and Nettie were too much for us. I had trouble getting Brooke a consistent set which made it difficult for her to sideout at the efficiency we needed. Their sideout game was precise and unstoppable. Plus, they came up with huge plays and were very steady. We gave them a scare in the second game, but their 'Big Day' experience really shined through. They played great and it was an honor to compete against them in the Final. It was their first win in 5 years! Their last win was in Chicago in 2002.

The fans were absolutely incredible. During one of the long timeouts, we watched as the entire stadium did the best wave I have ever seen a stadium do! It just felt like everyone there was having a blast. I could hear all my friends and family screaming. I think they took up an entire section. It was so special for me to play so close to home and have my family and friends there for my first ever Final appearance. Everything was perfect. There were thunderstorms earlier in the morning, but all the bad weather cleared out and we had beautiful skies the rest of the day.

Any doubt about the top 4 teams not being there having a negative impact on the tournament was dissolved. Ticket sales were great, the stadium was packed, the fans got to see new teams and seemed to love it. Hopefully the TV ratings will concur. All in all, a fantastic ride of a weekend!

Time to get ready for Manhattan Beach! There are 4 remaining regular season events and they are all back to back. This summer has flown by!

I hope you are enjoying yours!

Angie

Back to the Midwest - Part 1

2007-08-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a family, friends, and volleyball filled trip to the Midwest. All-in-all, it was a great success on many levels. From finishing a career-best 2nd place to surprising my mom with an early visit kept the trip full of excitement. Because there is so much to tell, I am going to write about the first part of the trip in one posting and then later today I will write about the actual tournament in another posting.

My sister and I flew to Indiana last Friday to surprise my mom for the weekend. She thought she was talking to me from the 405 freeway until I told her to turn around. She saw us and burst into tears. We spent a great weekend hanging out with family and friends.

On Tuesday, Jeff Nygaard, John Hyden, and Brooke Hanson arrived for the clinic and exhibition at Spikes Beach Bar and Grill in Warsaw, Indiana. We had a good turnout of middle school aged girls and younger because the Indiana High School rules do not allow camps or clinics for players once the season has started. It was a hot day and the sand was blistering. The kids were great. They tried their hardest and had a lot of fun. When it was over, they were cooked! There were lots of red faces from the sun and from working hard.

We then played a co-ed exhibition match with Brooke and Jeff playing against me and John. Then the four of us played against Spike's best four. It was a great evening for all.

Wednesday morning, I took Brooke and Renee Nygaard (Jeff's wife) out on a Jetski or 'Water Harley', as I like to call it. All three of us were holding on for dear life as I raced us through the lake at speeds reaching 58 miles per hour! We took turns driving and laughed our way to a great Ab workout. We would stop to jump in the lake when we were laughing so hard we couldn't stand it anymore.

That afternoon, Brooke and I took off for Chicago to put on another clinic for some adult friends at Montrose Beach. It was a small, intimate clinic with about 25 people in attendance. We had fun meeting new people and sharing with them the love for the sport of beach volleyball.

Thursday morning, we went to the site for practice and could not find a court. We decided to walk down the beach and found some nice people who let us use their net for a bit. We found Angela Lewis and Pricilla Lima looking for a court as well, so we all joined up and practiced together. The weather was scorching. It was in the mid 90s and very humid. We got in a good sweat and then all went for a swim in Lake Michigan.

That evening, I ran a clinic for Hilton with Jenny Jordan and Annett Davis. There were about 40 kids that participated. We had fun teaching them the fundamentals and then watching them in action.

I was pretty tired after 3 clinics in 3 days, so I went back to the Hilton and crashed immediately after dinner. We were scheduled to play the 10:30 match on Friday morning. I will tell you all about the tournament, including the 4's competition, later today in the next post.

Thanks for reading!
Angie

4 on 4 Beach Volleyball

2007-07-31T06:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend's event in Chicago will have an interesting new addition to the doubles competition. There will be an all-women's 4 vs 4 exhibition/tournament. I am very excited to be a part of this new venture.

There will be 4 teams consisting of 4 players that will compete. If you are in the Chicago area and are planning to come to the tournament, the first round of 4s play will begin on Saturday. We will play one match and the winners will then compete against each other before the women's doubles Final on Sunday.

We are hoping that it will be a great success. This would be very important for our sport. If it succeeds, it will create more opportunity for female volleyball players. Many times great indoor players come out to the beach and get intimidated because it is so different from the indoor game. It takes literally months to get used to all the external factors like the sand, the wind, only having one teammate, and so forth. The 4s game would be an easier transition because it more closely resembles the indoor game.

Chicago will be a test market. If it gets a really good response, hopefully there will be more competitions. It would be fantastic if it led to a rise in the 4s game and brought it back to the popularity that it was at years ago.

Here is a little inside information on my team. Our setter is Brooke Hanson (my doubles partner), our middle blocker is Dianne DeNecochea, and Angela Lewis and I will play the outside positions. I am really looking forward to competing alongside these great players!

The doubles tournament starts Friday at North Avenue Beach in Chicago. Play will continue Saturday and Sunday. Check out http://www.avp.com/ for more info.

I hope to see you at the beach!

Angie

Seaside Heights Recap - JULY 9, 2007

2007-07-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

Seaside Heights turned out to be a great tournament with all things considered. We were back on a real beach with deep sand, had a true on-shore (sometimes off-shore) breeze, and amazing fans that were really excited to have us back.

I noticed a few things about Jersey that are very interesting to me. First, you are charged to do everything from accessing the beach to showering off after leaving the beach. I was cracking up listening to the announcements on the boardwalk while we were playing, "there are showers located at ??? for just $3!" The boardwalk is always a source of entertainment. It is jam-packed with vacationers and a sure-thing to see something interesting. From the arcades to the amusement rides to the bars, there is always something to see.

This year, the tournament was north of all the rides and life of the boardwalk. It was a great location with a steady flow of people coming in and out. The weather was just short of fantastic with a swirly breeze on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were amazing.

We started our play on Friday a little shaky. We did not play our best or even close to it. In fact, we down right stunk on Friday. Thankfully the tournaments are double elimination so we were fortunate enough to have another chance on Saturday. Our first match on Friday was against Chrissy Zartman and Tiffany Rodriguez. For those of you that do not know who Chrissy is, she is a young rookie out of UCLA that is 5'3 and good! She is sweet as can be AND is very talented. It is deceiving to play against her because your first thought is that you do not want to hurt her but then she comes up with some great dig and then you think, "Ok! You asked for it!" We learned that the first time we played her when the first game score was 31-29. This tournament we knew better, so we did not hold back. We won in 2 games 21-13, 21-13.

Our next match was against Ivy/Lowe who have turned out to be our season rivals. It was the 6th time we have played them. We were not present in this match. Not to take anything away from them, as they played great, but we were not there. That was our last match of the day on Friday. We went to dinner and regrouped, getting ready for Saturday.

Our first match on Saturday morning was in the stadium against Angela Knopf and Katie Mintz. They played us tough in the first game. We had a big come-from-behind victory in game 1. We were down 11-15, but then went on a scoring run and finished out the game winning 21-18. I do not remember many details like how we got down that much, but I do remember that once we 'decided' that we were winning, it was over. We played with a different determination and confidence than the first 11 points we earned. That play put us in the groove for the rest of our tournament. We won the next game 21-15 and secured 13th place.

Our next match was against Brittany Hochevar and Kaeo Burdine. We were on an outer court with a bit of wind and took full advantage. We dominated in this match with tough serving and smart defensive plays. We won convincingly 21-14, 21-14 putting us in 9th place.

Because we had lost our second round match, we were in the unfortunate position of matching up against the number 4 seeded team of DeNecochea/Fontana. This was a heart-breaker to lose, especially with the battle we put forth. The scores were 27-29, 24-26 in a 1:06 long match. That is very long for a two set match. We had an early lead, but could not keep it. We traded sideouts for awhile, then each team would get the advantage. We had a few swings for the game, but didn't earn the point. Game two we were down 10-4, but made a quick turn-around and got right back into the game. The disappointing thing is that we could have won. The really exciting thing is that we are neck and neck with the best teams on our tour.

Now we go to Rio where we will compete for a medal in the Pan Ams. That will be a great prepping ground for the rest of the season. The remaining AVP events are all double points and more prize money. We will come back from Brazil ready to play our best ball of the year and finish with the exclamation point!

It's all a journey and I am enjoying every step of it. I am researching the links for the Pan Am Games. When I find them, I will post them on my website. Follow our progress and feel free to send me messages!

All my best and GO USA!

Angie

Back to Civilian Life - THURSDAY - JULY 5, 2007

2007-07-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in a Courtyard by Marriott Hotel business center writing right now. My 4th of July was spent flying from LA to New Jersey. I was picked up from the airport by my good friend, Vito, who runs the awesome, women-only athletic center, Aurora Fitness in Richfield, New Jersey. Vito took me to dinner and today will drive me down to Seaside Heights for our tournament.

We are finally back on a beach after playing so many parking lot events in a row. Our bodies will be happy again!

This has been a tough week for me to mentally get ready for this event. I returned from Kosovo where I had a life-changing experience. The reality of being home after that trip was tough. It was such an emotional time and to be brought back to preparing for an event seemed trivial. I worked through it the best way I know how: focusing on one thing at a time. Now that I am here in Jersey, I am excited to get back on the court and compete. This is a good lead into the Pan Am Games where we hope to bring home a medal. I leave straight from Jersey and will go to Washington for 2 days before leaving for Rio. Three weeks on the road, but the time will fly by.

I am trying to track down the website where you can follow our progress at the games. Once I find it, I will post it here and also on my website. I will make my best attempt at giving you a tournament recap before I leave, as well.

That is all for now. I have to go pack and get ready for the drive down to Seaside. I hope you all had a very happy and safe 4th of July.

Angie

Kosovo - Day 3 - SATURDAY - JUNE 23, 2007

2007-07-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of writing in my blog every day while on the trip, but obviously I failed miserably. I did take notes so that I could write about all the details without missing anything.

First I need to finish my last blog entry. I will do that right now. (The computer was set all in German, so I had no idea what I was doing.) I think the last thing I talked about was the NATO base and Hans and Ty doing most of the playing. Well after we played we wanted to track down more Americans, so we went to the American bar. There were only a few people in the bar until the Irish soldiers got kicked out of their own bar and made way to the American bar! They were CRAZY!!! Not to mention that they told us they just returned from a 4 month long assignment and were going to tear it up. They were showering Jen and me with attention. They were picking us up and swinging us around, flexing their muscles for us... we laughed the whole time. One picked me up and started twirling in circles as fast as he could while my feet were knocking over every glass, beer bottle, and table in sight! That was when we decided it might be a good time for us to leave. We made our way back to Bondsteel for a late night dinner and then bed.

Now for Day 3. Jen and I had been 'hinting' (really I mean down right begging!) for a ride in the Blackhawks. Our request was working its way up to the top to see if it would be allowed so we had set up a tour with all the pilots of the helicopters. We did not get a ride, but we did get the most extensive, hands-on tour of the birds that we ever could have asked for. The pilots were extremely disappointed that they could not take us up, but they gave us an amazing tour of their aircraft. We started at the Blackhawks. I jumped into the pilots seat and was given the full rundown on how to fly it, what all the gadgets do, etc. It was very impressive. The pilots were so nice to us and spent a fair bit of time telling us all about their birds.

We left there and visited the Apaches. Once again, I jumped into the pilot seat and was given an extensive tour of all the components on the Apache. I had the helmet with the night vision on, I was shown how to lock in on targets, fire the guns, and so so much more. It was amazing. After our visits there, we met up with the Med-Evac pilots and crew. They showed us their Blackhawk and all the medical equipment on board. We talked with them for a bit but then had to leave to get ready for our exhibition.

We had a great turn out at Bondsteel. We started with a co-ed exhibition of Hans/Jen versus Ty/me. Unfortunately, Hans and Jen won, but I do believe there will be a rematch in the works. Ty and I just need a little practice together. After that game, Jen and I sided-out versus all the troops that wanted to play. Hans and Ty made rounds visiting with people and also taking over the role of announcer. They gave an amusing play-by-play and kept things moving along. We had a competition to 11 points. If they scored a point on us, they got to stay on the court. If we sided-out, they had to rotate. We played for awhile before we got our winners, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Once that was finished, everyone that still wanted to play jumped on the court with Hans and Ty and got to play along-side them. We had to wrap things up after a few hours in order to get over to the radio station where we recorded some public service announcements. We had a really good time in the recording studio doing these. Jen started quoting a Saturday Night Live skit that had me dying laughing. Of course I went along with it. After that we went back and ordered Thai food with a few of the troops. We had a great time telling and listening to stories.

This trip has had such a profound effect on me. It is really hard to convey my thoughts and feelings so that in reading this you truly understand what this trip has meant to me. It is a huge eye-opener to be on base and see the daily life of what our troops go through. They are not there for 2 and a half days. They are there for 11 months. 11 months without their families, friends, and all the luxuries that we have living here in the States. They are lonely and bored. The thanks that we received was so over-whelming. I had no idea that we would or could make such a positive difference for them. Some of the emails that I got put me in tears. I found it very difficult to leave. Saying goodbye was tough because I wanted to give so much more. I am already trying to organize my next visit overseas.

I ask that you all keep our troops all over the world in your thoughts and prayers. Many people do not know that we still have a presence in Kosovo, but we do. Please do not forget them. I send all my love to Bondsteel in Kosovo and thank every one of them for their service to our great country.
Peace and love,
Angie

KFOR - Kosovo Force - Day 1 - THURSDAY - JUNE 21, 2007

2007-07-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday may have been one of the greatest days in my life. We visited with soldiers all day. I woke up at 7AM for a quick workout before breakfast. After that, we met with troops on base working on the Hum-Vees. We chatted with them for a bit and took some pictures. Then we left for the day to visit the troops that are stationed out for patrol across Kosovo. These guys sleep in tents for weeks at a time. It is mosquito infested, hot, and boring for them. There is not much going on in the region, which is fantastic, but these guys are bored and homesick. Our first stop was at a site close to a small town. It did not take long to get there. Most of the men were sleeping because they had just finished a night shift. We did not stay long here. We signed some autographs, took pictures, and shook hands. They were tired and the day was heating up. We said goodbye and moved on to the next site.

The next one was very interesting. It is located far out in the middle of what seems like nowhere. These guys were a little more alert when we arrived so we stayed a bit longer. I talked sports with a few of the guys and really had a chance to connect with them. Meanwhile, inside the tent the medic was giving Jen an IV. I am not sure if he needed more practice or if he just thought she was a pretty girl in need of some extra electrolytes. We visited and learned more about their life there while this was happening. We signed autographs and then took them out to play a little volleyball game that we call "ASS". Everyone stands in a circle and if the ball comes to you and you screw up the play, you get a letter. The first one out has to stand against the wall while the others get to throw the ball at them. It was really funny playing this with these guys. They were so into it. When we finally had our "ASS", they lined him up against the tent and then they had me spike a ball at his back! Of course, I crept in so I wouldn't miss. We all had a good laugh and then we had to go. The appreciation that they had for us was overwhelming. It is an incredible feeling. I wish we could have stayed longer.

We then drove by a Catholic Church where Mother Teresa got her calling. There is a famous statue of the Black Madonna in the church. The story is that the statue was white, but one day, overnight, she turned black. It is known to be a place of miracles. The views from the church are incredible. The countryside is stunning. We took more pictures then headed to lunch.

Of course no one we were with can read any Albanian, so the menu was pointless. We did the best we could to order something we wanted to eat. I was safe ordering chicken breast, while some of the others ordered steak and were quite positive that it was not cow. I really don't need to know what it was.

After lunch we visited the NATO base for the volleyball exhibition. Unfortunately, the courts were not taken care of and were as hard as concrete. We waited for 45 minutes while they attempted to improve the court. It was good enough, so we started to play around with the troops. There were only about 8 participants. Most were from other countries. We had a good time playing with them. Hans and Ty did most of the playing because they seemed less phased by the hard surface than both Jen and me.