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Getting a taste of American volleyball
(PHOTOS)
by Jessica Zéroual, with photos by Cathy O'Doherty
October 2, 2006 - On Friday
afternoon, Katee Luecke, Stephanie McGuinty and I,
Jessica Zéroual, got into Luke's car with Coach Cathy O'Doherty
to head out to Hamilton, New York for the first stop on our version of
the NCVC NCAA weekend. On the way down, all three of us
were anxious to see the level of volleyball that would be played at
the three matches we planned to attend. With our coach close by
telling us it would be great, the three of us were really excited.
As we stopped at the border, Luke bought a hat that he wore all
weekend. It brought us all great laughs. We would check
out games from three of the major east coast NCAA conferences,
the America East,
the Big East and
the Patriot League. I have to say that seeing those New York
license plates got me very excited for the weekend ahead.
Our first stop was at Colgate University in
Hamilton, New York. We saw a great match from the Patriot
League, the Colgate University Raiders versus the American University
Eagles, which American won three
straight. The first thing we saw coming into the gym, was the
libero serving, so we quickly knew that American volleyball was going
to be a little different from Canadian ball. It was an exciting
match to see, especially the two 6'8" Recht twins from the winning team.
But this was only the first stop on our journey.
On Saturday, we skipped west to Syracuse,
NY, where we saw our friends from the summer Annabelle Pellerin
and Kacie MacTavish, as well as two other Canadians,
Cheryl Cobbina and Samantha Ainsworth, playing for
the Syracuse University Orangemen against Kim Todd and the Marquette University Golden
Eagles. These two teams
were in the Big East Conference. The girls were very tall and
strong and they sure showed us some fantastic volleyball.
Marquette defeated Syracuse 3-0, but it was still a very good game.
All three of us were quite intrigued by this conference. It was
the fastest pace of volleyball we were going to see all weekend.
We all enjoyed the level of competition and play. It was
certainly the talk at supper before we headed down Interstate 81 to
Binghamton for our last match of the weekend.
Sunday morning, as Steph and Katee brought
me breakfast in bed, it was already on our minds that we were going to
see some more great volleyball that day. The America East
conference showed us a high level of volleyball in a game featuring
the Binghamton University Bearcats versus the UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore
Campus) Retrievers. It
was a very well presented match, and the level of play was good and
intense. Both teams seemed very into it, showing us a great
match, ending up 3-1 for Binghamton.
All the coaches we met this weekend were
interesting in their own ways. They all seemed very dedicated to
the sport and their athletes, which is very important for us CAPS.
And they were all really interested to see what we Canadians might
have to offer.
On this trip, it was great to learn about
all the great teams in each division. It was encouraging to see
that, in every game we attended, a Canadian girl took to the court and
did really well. Those girls gave us some great advice about
playing and studying in the states. I am glad I got the
opportunity to go down with two great friends, Katee and Steph, as
well as with Coach Cathy and the Lukester, to get a taste of what NCAA
Division 1 volleyball was all about. We had some great times
down there. Dipping our toes in some of the American ways of
life proved interesting to all three of us. As we saw the girls
getting intense throughout their matches, Katee, Steph and I were
inspired to practice harder in Ottawa to achieve all our own team
goals for this season. Yes, this was truly an unforgettable trip
- one that I am sure will be on our minds all year long.
GO CAPS GO!
You can find more intersting reading on the NCVC's first
NCAA Weekend here.
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