Dallas - Tornados and Roller Coasters

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

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