Jumpstarting the Blog!

I apologize for the delay in updates. It has been an whirlwind of a semester, wrapping up my academic career and getting a taste of what the real world (which is extremely dark and scary) has to offer. I suppose the easiest way to do this is to do an interview... with myself! Feel free to shoot me any additional questions, and I will answer them in future blogs. I am going to do my best to start posting more frequently now that things are stabilizing.

Where have you been???

Well, the last 3 months I've been wrapping up my bachelor's degree in Sports Management, and although the workload has not been too hectic, a few personal issues have ended up taking up A LOT of my time. On top of that, planning for life after graduation has certainly taken up a lot of time as well.

Have you been playing volleyball?

Yes and no. I've played once to twice a week. I helped out the women's volleyball team here at the school once a week, and played in a Wednesday night league. I did a few adult tournaments as well, and when the weather was warmer I'd play grass with the guys here. I didn't play as much as I'd like to, but I suppose I could have used a bit of a break.

So what's the plan after graduation - are you Europe-bound?

Sadly, with the economy being as it is I will not be attempting to go overseas right away. My student loans simply amount to too much, and although the majority of people that go overseas get paid, stories like all-time digs leader Tony Ker getting screwed over is enough to keep me from going until I at least take care of all my private loans. Regardless of whether or not I get paid, the loan companies will still expect to collect, and as I have people who graciously co-signed my loans I owe it to them to take the safe route and make sure I'm able to re-pay my debt.

That being said, there are two routes: Graduate school and work. I consider myself very well networked in the Chicago area, but find that most job opportunities through these measures have only pulled up jobs that I probably could have gotten without the degree - at wages that will not cover all the bills, or at best make the minimum payments for my loans. One or two interviews this Thanksgiving break may prove to be different, but nothing's etched in stone. With any luck, I'll get a call or two next week, and begin work immediately once arriving home.

Although I hadn't thought too much about it previously, I decided to e-mail every Division I women's volleyball coach that had a graduate assistant on their staff, simply asking for information on applying for the position. I was pleased to hear back from four coaches in the span of 48 hours, which is a nice change of pace from getting very little feedback while looking for jobs. Although the locations aren't exactly ideal ( I would like to be closer to home to be with family, specifically the 5-year old brother ), I really liked what a few of the coaches had to say, and feel that unless a really good job opportunity comes up, I will be enrolling in graduate school in the fall, working towards my MBA and hopefully helping a Division I program to become better than it was when I first got there!

Does this mean that you're giving up on playing overseas?

I have come to terms that I will be going overseas for the experience and not the pay. If I can stay in shape, continue to work hard, work my debt down and get a small nest-egg to cover my loan payments for x amount of months that I could play overseas, I would love to go over there and break even once in the next year or two. In the meantime, I will play A/AA USAV indoor ball, and continue to work towards playing 'professionally' (although if you read Hans Stolfus' blog, you realize there are only about 8-10 males that actually make a living playing sand full-time).

So what should we expect from this blog now that your collegiate career is over?

There are plenty of things I want to cover:

- Interviews with professional players

- In-season updates from various D-III players

- Personal updates

- Any news in the volleyball community and my thoughts on them

I still take requests. Despite heading back to Chicago, I do want to keep tabs on the Newbury program, and intend to keep in touch with the players to get the latest on what's going on. So if you have any suggestions, let me know and I'll see what I can do!

It's been a long break, but looking forward to writing on a regular basis again!

One Year Later.

Tough day today.

There are some memories that just linger in your head like it was yesterday, regardless of how long ago they actually occurred. One year ago today (from tomorrow actually), I was sitting in a co-workers kitchen doing some cold calls when I got a call from the former SID of our college. Her voice was trembling, and I could tell something was wrong. "They can't find Dave" she said, and as we got farther into the conversation I began to see the writing on the wall. I left work, went home, and immediately started hitting the internet looking for updates, calling teammates, and trying to obtain more information. I was like a zombie at that computer at times, simply finding the most recent story to be published, and clicking refresh every minute.

Towards the end of the day, I began to realize I had to simply let time take its toll as the search party scoured the river, well above its normal level due to 2 weeks worth of rain, looking for any sign that perhaps he climbed out and was wandering around the area. Unfortunately, the worst-case scenario unfolded, and the next day it was confirmed that we lost him.

Coach Dave Hildebrandt changed my life in ways I probably didn't appreciate until it was too late to tell him. When he first got in contact with me, I was working while going to community college, settling for B's, not really heading in any specific direction, pretty much putting my life on cruise control and doing what was needed to get by. He said he was going to be in town to visit friends, and we ended up meeting and discussing the possibility of me transferring to Newbury to play for his team. A few months later I visited and knew that it was the place for me.

Fast forward a bit, and during my two years at Newbury with him I really developed both on and off the court. He constantly pushed his players to excel in the classroom, which was evident with the team GPA earning our team All-Academic awards. A lot of people would critique him for his lack of knowledge of the game, and I would be lying if I wasn't in that group at times. However, Dave more than made up for that with his ability to constantly challenge his players to continue raising the bar, never settling for where they were at.

I won't name the player, and for some readers I probably won't have to. A teammate of mine played for him one year, and was not a big fan of him to say the least. Dave was probably harder on him than the rest of us, sometimes to the point where the teammate felt it was unfair. However, his progression as the season went on couldn't be denied, and that was a key part in our run to the conference championship match, finishing a school-best 6th in the Nation that season. When the coaching switch happened last season, the same discipline that brought us success previously simply wasn't there (a testament to Dave moreso than a knock to the current regime), and it showed with our mid-season collapse.

When word spread that Dave applied for the Elms position, most of us were enraged. We just finished our best season ever, most of the core was returning, and he was going to leave us? There was even a meeting for the returning players discussing going to the A.D to say if he didn't get the job at Elms, we wouldn't want to play for him due to a lack of trust.

I cannot think of a time I was being more selfish.

It is no secret that Newbury does not pay well compared to other schools. The gym is rented from off-campus. Dave had to work admissions in order to obtain full-time status. That being said. Elms offered him a full-time position strictly coaching, with 2 gyms to practice in. How could he not take that job? Any of us would have done the same thing in his situation.

I stopped talking to Dave for awhile once he accepted the Elms position. However, I was in town for business later that summer, and stopped into the office to chat with him a bit, as I heard it was coincidentally his last day at Newbury. He told me about his upcoming camping trip, we talked some sports, and had a really nice conversation for an hour. At one point, he said he wished I would have told him I was coming, he had about 14 Newbury warmups that he could have gave me. I jokingly said he'd need to keep them, as he'd probably want to wear them and look at himself in the mirror when he was at home, missing being around us.

Little did I know it was going to be the other way around. One week later, he was gone.

I look back with fond memories of my time playing for him. So many different stories come to mind:

* Freshman year, Sacred Heart, I play atrociously the first set. We're walking back onto the court and I ask him if there's anything I can do differently. "You better stop playing like shit" what his response. I wasn't too pleased at the time, and although we lost in a 5-set heartbreaker, I took his advice.

* Playing at Lasell. I'm cheating out of base for defense because their middles are tipping into the seams, and I pick up 3 digs quickly. The 4th one they adjust and hit into my normal position. Dave gets off the bench and begins SCREAMING at me about it. Rather than nod my head and take it, I go over to explain why I'm doing it, and it gets ugly. I hop back on the court and proceed to play out of my mind. Dave tries to cheer me on, but I want nothing to do with him at the time.

The teammates loved this. I was given the tag of "Golden Boy" as most of them felt I could do no wrong with Dave. The irony in that is Dave and I were VERY different in our philosophies, and I would spend hours in his office doing work-study, arguing with him back and forth about volleyball, our team, and other teams. Dave and I didn't get in each other's faces at practice because we were able to agree to disagree, and therefore didn't bring any of those debates into practice. Teammates never saw these arguments. I think they got a kick out of seeing us go at it for a change.

One year later, Dave and I still would argue about that game. He's gone, but I guarantee you neither of us have changed our stances. I'd still cheat in the seam if we replayed that match, and he'd still give me hell for it.

I could go on and on. This post is getting long though, so I'll get to my last and favorite memory of Dave. We were in the second round of the NECVA tournament in 2008, 5th set against former #1 in the nation Nazareth. Down 13-10, we mount a comeback off some great serves by Jay Neveu, capped by opposite Josh Aberly HOUSING 2-time All-American Tom Maving to seal the match.

I have video of this, and the angle is perfect: You can see everyone's reaction. The teammates and I would watch it, laugh at someone's reaction, rewind and find someone else to watch. Everyone goes berserk. Coach Dave jumps off the bench, starts running towards us, and drops all his papers from his clipboard/binder. He proceeds to scrape them all up, then run back to Coach Bob with them pumping his fist.

Today, we see coaches too often focused on their self-image, reacting how they want people to see them rather than how they really feel. There was a great article on ESPN about this, and I completely agree that it takes away from the integrity of the game. Dave had many qualities, but his best was that he was the most genuine, passionate coach you'll ever meet. That moment where he ran onto the court and spilled his papers was a perfect example: He knew how coaches are supposed to act, but his excitement simply was too much to hold it in. There were coaches that were more experienced, more talented, and more successful, but Dave squeezed out every bit of his potential, building the worst team in the nation (losing 56 games in a row at one point) into a nationally-ranked contender.

He also used his passion to continually try to expand Division III Men's Volleyball, and although he may not be the main factor, he certainly did everything he could to help us get a National Championship, which will be effective in 2011.

I respected Dave as a coach and friend well before his death, but I didn't get the full picture of what he did for me until I went back to Newbury and he wasn't there. His door was ALWAYS open, and although I took advantage of it, I never realized how lucky I was to have those opportunities.

Rest in peace. Your impact on my life is not forgotten.

A Rough Day, With a Rougher Day to Come...

The irony about me is with one leg longer than the other, standing in a place for an extended period of time can really mess with my body. I played 24 games this weekend and felt pretty good afterwards: The last two days, work has required me to stand looking down at small objects for 8 hours each day, and I feel like I've been hit by a train!

This did not bode well for me in my co-ed doubles league, as I played TERRIBLE as we dropped a set, which would be our third loss on the season. I may sound like a snob complaining about "dropping" to 25-3, but when you're tied at 12 and proceed to have four hitting errors in a row, it's disappointing knowing that playing even average for yourself most likely would have secured the win. I suppose I shouldn't complain going 5-1 on the day. Next week is the last one for the regular season, and going 3-1 will secure 1st, although being greedy I want/expect the 4-0. I am lucky to be able to click with the significant other on the court as well as we do off of it!

That being said, August 3rd is beginning to creep up on me, and I can't help but feel depressed knowing we're so close to the one-year anniversary of Coach Dave's passing. I will be helping Bob Vilsoet at the opening practice for the Harper Women's Volleyball team, and although I hope that it'll be a distraction from the pain I'll feel, I'm sure doing some coaching myself will only remind me more of him. Time will tell I suppose.

Anyways, I should shower and head to bed, just felt like posting as I'm trying to get back on track updating this thing. I will try to write something tomorrow as well.

A Typically-Overdue Update - The Ups and Downs.

As usual, I find myself flying all over the place this summer and by the time I get to sit down at the computer and have the ability to blog, I find myself wanting to check my mail and go to bed.

However, tonight I find myself still flying high after a wonderful weekend of volleyball and spending time with friends. The 20th annual Spike for Kids tournament was Saturday and Sunday, and this was the 5th year I had participated.

I look back on the first year I played it with my friends Kevin and Juan. We got on the court, looked at the other team, and started muttering to ourselves how easy it was going to be. Funny thing was, they had won it before (other than the Luau, this is the probably the most competitive grass 3's tournament of the year for IL), and proceeded to annihilate us. We made it out of pool play, but was bounced out of the playoffs the first round. The next year I didn't make it out of pool play, the only time I've been sent packing before playoffs since I started playing grass touranments.

Fast forward to this weekend, and things have changed a bit. Last year we made it to the semis, but ran out of steam and ended up settling for 3rd. Josh and I picked up a new setter who played on the Cameroon National Team, and he did not disappoint. We faced the defending champions in the semi-finals, and games were to 21. Two of their players were on the team that beat us in the USAV BB National Championship in May, as well as the team that beat Josh's team in the Waupaca Semis, so redemption was necessary. One of the closest matches I've ever played, we won in straight sets, 24-22 28-26.

We advance to the finals, where we face a team we split with in pool play. They had a hammer of an outside, as well as a strong setter and big opposite, so it was going to be a tough one. They came out very strong, taking the first set 21-14. We re-grouped for the second and edged out a 21-19 victory to force it to a 3rd game.

Although my defense felt great all tournament, my hitting was definitely our weak point, as I hadn't played much rightside this summer and was struggling to get my timing down. Luckily, Set 3 starts off well, as I put down 2 straight kills down the line, then make a diving left-handed pop-up to Josh who set Patrick on the rightside for a 3-0 lead. We never looked back, and after two HUGE digs in a row by Josh to give us match point, we took a 15-11 victory to win the tournament.

This was by far the biggest victory of my career. It seems like just yesterday I was at the Luau (the actual year was 2005) and watching the Open Division in complete awe. My friend Orest, a veteran of the local tournaments, was sitting beside me as I basically admitted that these guys killed any trace of an ego I had. He said that he remembered how they played at my age and that I just needed to be patient.

Sure enough, 4 years later and the work seems to be paying off.

The next day, Juan and I teamed up with the girlfriends for the co-ed 4's, really just playing for fun and not really having expectations. Although we rotated and had everyone hit, our defense was very strong, and we ended up winning the 2nd highest division, despite the fact that most teams didn't rotate and had the guys blasting away everytime. So I ended up 2-for-2 on the weekend, thanks to some great play by some incredible teammates!

Aside from that, I've played a few pro sand tournaments, taking home a 9th and a 17th. Not the best finishes, but I'm winning matches at each tournament, so it's nice to know I can at least hang in there with the big guns. On top of that, it's been another eye-opening season as to what I need to work on the most, and although I'm having a blast and don't want the sand season to end, I can't WAIT to hit the weight room and start the P90X workout this fall.

With one month to go before heading back to school, I look forward to cramming in as much volleyball as possible before REALLY taking an off-season and staying of the court for a few months. It's literally been about 5 years since I've stayed away from any sort of competition, and although at Newbury I used to play a lot of grass/do the fall season with the teammates, I plan on really disciplining myself short-term so that I can reap the benefits next summer. I'm in talks with a few potential sponsors, and if all goes well, I should be traveling around the country in 2010 competing in AVP/EVP events. A lot can happen before that though, so for now I'll take it one step at a time and enjoy the last few weekends in Chicago.

More to come at another time.

Italy vs. USA Recap

Brief observations, as my better half is waiting patiently for me. Italy came back from losing the first set 25-20 to winning the next 3 20-25, 21-25, 24-26.

observations:

* 2nd OH is definitely a liability. Salmon wasn't necessarily a go-to guy, but you never felt like he was killing your team the way I felt watching Jablonsky struggle tonight against Italy. Couldn't block, most kills were tools that could have gone either way, backrow was par at best. Touzinsky was put back in the game late in the 3rd, but the momentum had shifted by that point. I really hope that Anderson/Rooney stay healthy/motivated, because I just don't feel comfortable with anyone else from the newer generation of National Team pipeliners.

* What I'm surprised no one touched on is the 2nd middle. Kudos to the setter that came in for Italy late in the 1st set (#5) for running a FAST offense. Middles were unstoppable, and were getting solos all day for the pin hitters. Savani (#11) was a monster for Italy, and the lefty opp (#7) was a workhorse as well, going over triple blocks a time or two. The pace of the sets were near unstoppable, and by the 4th set the U.S had no answer. Hein/Smith both show a lot of potential, and Hein seems to already be there on the offensive end. However, until they can close a block on the regular basis, it won't matter how much height we have on the sides.

* Stanley looks TIRED. I feel like Priddy mentioned previously that he was worried about Clay not taking a break, and my thoughts are the same. His serves were all over the place, he was hitting into blocks, and just never seemed to hit his stride. Patak is one of the brightest prospects we have, why not give him more time? Billings also has a ton of experience from the 04 games.

* Rooney has grown A LOT as a player since last year. Very impressed with his confidence compared to last year when they played Bulgaria. His bic's were unstoppable, and I look forward to watching him continue to progress. However...One of the things that stuck out about last year's team (perhaps even moreso now after watching tonight's match) was the mental toughness and poise they showed. No matter how bad of a run they were on, they came to the middle. Every player. Every time. This year? Rooney shows some fire when things go well (Had a FANTASTIC pancake, sprung up, and fired a cross-court bomb to the corner), but when things went wrong, he was always going away from the team, obviously pissed off, even kicking the side panel once in frustration. I understand the age, and I realize he'll get better with time, but if he wants to be a go-to player NOW, then he's gotta grow up a bit faster, because it seemed like the overall camaraderie wasn't there.

* Crucial play that I'd like others' opinion on: 21-23, 3rd set, Patak bombs a shot to my corner (I was in reserved seating) that I'm pretty sure went in. Line judge called it in, but up ref over-ruled it. No replay on the jumbotron. Am I crazy or was that an ace? HUGE momentum shift from being down only 1 coming off an ace compared to missing a serve giving the other team set point.

* Hansen seemed to set well, although his block is a liability. I realize people on the board were never fans of Ball's blocking, but Hansen looked lost on there for some stretches (He did have some great solos from time to time). I liked his leadership, I think if he continues to develop his game he could definitely become something special. Suxho came in late in game 4, had a great serving run to get them back in the game, but I felt his sets had no tempo (granted, it's hard to warm up in that type of scenario).

* Lee looked great. It's nice to know we have one staple in the middle. If Hein continues to work on his defense we could have a nice 1-2 combo, with Holt ready to jump in as well.

* Anyone have any insight to Anderson's absense from the roster? I hadn't checked their final roster and didn't know until watching warm-ups he wasn't there, what a huge disappointment. Hopefully it's for strategic purposes only.

* Italy's offense/serve receive looked fantastic. #11 (Savani) was a monster, the lefty opp was consistent, and 15 and 17 were great in the middle (15's back 1 was killer). The times USA were doing well always seemed to be in sync with getting them out of sync regarding serve receive. If they want to get the split, we'll need to take their passing out of system so they can't continue to create solo blocks.


That's it for now. Looking forward to match 2!

Italy vs. USA Tonight!

We are less than two hours away from the first serve of Italy vs. USA tonight! Tonight I'll be in the reserved seating, then tomorrow back in general admission. The Sears Centre is a pretty nice facility and viewing will be good from virtually every seat.

I am a bit upset with how I dropped the ball on obtaining a press pass for the event as I could have with some work, but unfortunately my schedule has been unbelievably hectic since my return to Chicago this summer. This has been a true eye-opener to the real world, and although I'm rising to the occasion it sure does make it difficult to fit everything into my schedule. Regardless, I do plan on beginning to write more frequently from this point on, starting with a recap of tonight's match, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

Prediction: USA in 4. I have heard nothing but good things about the EXTREMELY tall line-up with Rooney/Anderson/Hein/Patak. Talk about stealing Russia's style! Last year vs. Bulgaria, the first night was composed of the starting line-up, with the second having more reserves get playing time. It will certainly be a different look than last year, but I look forward to seeing the future of USA Volleyball, with a lot of guys in their mid-20's starting to hit their stride!

USAV Nationals - 5-27-09

How it took me 4 days to find the complimentary computer at our hotel is as mind-boggling to you as it is to me. Regardless, plenty of things are worth discussing as we're at the half-way point of Nationals!

First, let's discuss the venue:

* The stadium itself is fantastic. The convention center has 3 domes which makes for a cool interior. As a spectator, this has been the best in regards to set-up out of the 3 I've been to now (Austin and Atlanta being the others). Ample seating at each court, with the stands for the Open courts being much more spectator friendly, as you can view all four courts from any of the "grandstands". Last year, the open courts were cut off from each other, making viewing all the games somewhat difficult.

* As a player, it is not the friendliest of setups. First off, the netting in between courts is 9 feet at best, so players are constantly bouncing balls over them in warmups, causing for an overwhelming amount of replays. Courts seem to have more deadspots than in previous years, and although it doesn't get much better at most big centers, the lack of padding underneath the sport court causes for aches and pains. Even with a two day rest between co-ed and Men's ball, my body is needing more and more care before/after matches.

* The city itself is interesting... I will try to not hold a grudge that virtually every food vendor was shut down on Sunday/Monday. Construction right now is BRUTAL. I never thought I'd see more construction than I do in Chicago, but Minneapolis is certainly trying to one-up us. The nightlife isn't nearly as entertaining as it was in Austin, but there are some nice hotspots like Brit's and Bootleggers, and the homeless population obviously is a bit less aggressive compared to Atlanta. I'd put it behind Austin but ahead of Atlanta.

As for volleyball, I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the Open level. I realize that some of these players are professionals (the women's A2 teams being there/a few men on the National Training Team Roster included), and maybe they use this for socializing more than competing, but watching players with physical ability mail it in is depressing. One match you'd see some absolutely fantastic ball, an example being the Paul Mitchell/Creole 5-setter where Paul Mitchell overcame a 2-0 deficit, winning the 5th 21-19. Later in the day, Creole's players are goofing around, half-assing their swings and getting smoked by a much weaker squad that simply wants it more. Too many matches lacked passion from both teams, and I honestly enjoyed watching AA/A ball much more. Although the physical ability wasn't as good, these players wanted it, leading to much more exciting volleys.

Individually, I had fun playing co-ed with friends, we weren't the most competitive team, but we gave it our all and most importantly we had a lot of fun. We took 5th, losing to a team that lost in the finals. The people that organized the team hadn't won a set in the previous two years they had competed, so they couldn't be happier with how we played! I don't get to play with them too much, so I'm glad that we had a chance to hang out both on and off the court.

Today was the first day of our men's team competition, and despite our best efforts we went 2-0. Still working out the kinks, but I'm confident that we'll come out strong tomorrow now that we've gotten our nerves in order. Great comeback in the 2nd match from being down 7-3 in the third set, so hopefully we use that momentum to continue our success tomorrow!

8 AM games, so I'm watching the Lakers/Nuggets game then getting to bed early. More updates tomorrow!