Being Thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I am writing from Wilbraham, MA, as I have been welcomed in to my teammate's family for the weekend, and so far it has been the rest I desperately needed. Although I'm homesick and miss family/friends back in Chicago, I have felt at home here. His parents are funny (his dad is an AMAZING cook - it's going to be hard to go back to cafeteria food upon my return), his siblings are polite, and the 4 year-old twins are just adorable - shy the first day, always laughing and playful ever since. It makes me miss my little brother that much more, but I know I'll get to see him in a couple of weeks!

Our last two practices were a bit unorthodox - due to people's tests, as well as out-of-state players traveling home early to beat the rush, we only had 4 players both days! Both coaches hopped in, and we played some backrow triples both days. Funny thing is, I felt the level of intensity was higher these practices than the previous one where we were full force!

A couple thoughts have crossed my mind regarding pre-season so far. I will start with as a team. We are definitely searching for an identity at the moment, and I had a good talk with coach Tuesday that confirmed my initial feelings regarding the first couple weeks of practice. She admitted that she isn't coaching now how she will coach in January, and supposively a couple of guys were not happy with how difficult the first week of practices were. Looking at it from an outside perspective, I believe we need something in the middle.

The first week of practices were high-intensity, hard conditioning, and relentless. I had worked out 5-6 days a week for a good 2 months before pre-season to prepare, and it was taking its toll on me as well. However, I didn't mind any of it. What I think wore people down was the fact that we had 4 days of practice, a day off, then the toughest tournament we've played during my time at Newbury, as well as the fact that we did it with split-squads.

It is easy to get discouraged going a combined 2-10 your first pre-season tournament, especially coming in on your high horse after finishing last season ranked 6th in the nation. I think the frustration for some was that practices were being conducted in a manner that dealt with the big picture, which didn't necessarily prepare us for the upcoming tournament. Since then, practices have not had the conditioning, and when we're in a scrimmage-type drill, if one team starts pulling away, it seems that the other side mails in the remainder of the drill, instead of pushing back as they did the first week of practice.

I hope that the second half of pre-season finds a happy medium. I do feel that more emphasis can be on volleyball than conditioning, but not at the risk of the crispness of the drill, if that makes sense. I'm very optimistic for this, I feel like this semester has been heavy on many of us, and the break will recharge the batteries so we can hit the ground running come Monday.

Yesterday Mark and I hit the YMCA, did some exercises/stretching in the heat pool, hit the sauna, showered and headed back. We talked about the team and this season more than we have previously, and it was a pretty good conversation. He's got a great head on his shoulders, and match that with his physical ability, he has a great shot of getting All-American this year.

Time to shower up, call family back at home, then enjoy the festivities of the day. I hope everyone has a good holiday, and will update in the next couple of days!