Conference Begins on the Road
Week of Oct. 1

Last week, we got home from Louisiana late Sunday night (11:00) and left for Buies Creek, North Carolina 59 hours later. Monday, we watched video and worked on set plays. Tuesday, we continued piecing together our attack. We left Wednesday morning at 10:30. The girls have missed a lot of school in a short period of time. We will not miss anymore classes until October 25th, so I hope they can get caught up. Actually, they are able to do much of their work on line when we are on the road, so it is easier now than it used to be. I hope their grades look as good as our record.

Luckily, our trip went much better than it began. About 1 1/2 hours into the ride, we got a flat tire. It took less than an hour to get it replaced. Then, less than 50 miles later, our bus broke down. Our driver was able to get us to an exit where we were safe and waited over 2 hours for a new bus to come and get us. Some of us went for a hike on a trail that went up a hill and into the woods. It was a good way to pass the time. Surprisingly, it was the first time in 14 years I had a bus break down on a trip.

Thursday morning, we watched the USA vs. Brazil semi-final game. It was, to say the least, disappointing. We usually go to the field during the day before our night game, but we know Campbell has a beautiful 120x80 field, so we went bowling instead. Although I had one of the lowest scores (79), I still had fun watching all the different levels and styles of bowling. Jenn Rix threw her ball half way down the lane, Anna Walsh used two hands, and Sarah & Charlotte had the perfect back leg sweep like the pros. Danielle, our trainer, had the best score (165). Kari Lennon had the highest score of all the players (133).

Kari followed her bowling performance with her first goal of the season against Campbell that night. Although she leads our team in assists, Kari had not scored a goal this season. The monkey on her back was turning into the size of a gorilla. She was really tight in front of the goal and was just shooting the ball as hard as she could instead of shooting on target. Kari, in great goal scorer fashion, knocked in a cross from Bublis in a crowd at the near post. It was a well timed run and perfect first touch, and I saw the monkey disappear.

Kassidy Brown, who celebrated her birthday on Saturday, scored the game winner against Gardner Webb. She headed in a corner kick that was served in by Kari. Nine different players have scored goals for us this season. Seven different players have contributed assists. This is an amazing statistic! I am scared that it makes us sound inconsistent, and we are. It also sounds like we can score in many different ways from a variety of people and positions. Our opponents cannot stop us by focusing on 1 or 2 individuals. We are halfway through our schedule, and I still strongly believe we will continue to improve offensively. Other amazing statistics are our 8 shutouts and .19 goals against average and 8-1-1 record.

Something I must mention is our ride on the bus after the game against Campbell. Our players are not allowed to use their cell phones after a game until after we eat. There are so many different raw emotions after a game, and I want them to talk about them with each other before they talk to their families and friends. I believe cell phones can keep college athletes from immersing themselves in their team. Well, Thursday night, as we made the 20 minute drive from the field to the hotel, the players immersed themselves in a dance party. It was spontaneous, fun, joyous, celebratory, relieving, and smelly. It was one of the greatest post-game celebrations I have ever been a part of, and we are better dancers than Germany’s women’s national team!

It started with “Proud,” which is a song that our team finds motivational. Our girls look like a gospel choir singing that song, so Wendy got out the video camera to film them. Once the camera was out, the dancing was on! We danced to “Breakin’ Dishes,” “Don’t Stop the Music,” and “Dontcha.” I will remember that bus ride for a long time.

We have a busy weekend with conference games against ETSU and USC-Upstate. For Friday’s game, we are hosting 4 unofficial visits. For Sunday’s game, we are entertaining 7 official visits. I will tell you all about it next week.