AVP Hot Winter Nights 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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