The last day of Camp Hopewell was definitely the best. Not only the activities were awesome, but the growth in our team was amazing. We started off with a game that included blindfolds and noodles. How the game works is you have to blindfold one member of your team and without touching her, lead her to a noodle, have her pick it up and hit the other blindfolded person. If you hit them first, you get a point. May the best team win!
In the first round, we have Allegra v. Kellie.
And yes, Kellie attacked her own team. So Allegra's team has 1 and Kellie's team has 0. Now the next group was Amanda and Whitney.
So now it is Allegra's team 2, Kellie's team 0. Next match-up is Lara and Kiley.
This now makes it Allegra's team 3 and Kellie's team 0. Next up, our captains, Regina and Morgan.
Yeah, Regina gets a point for her team!!! Do you see the defensive posture she moves with, very nice for a middle blocker! Did she swing the momentum to her team? Next up Kara and Rachael with Kara's team in a 2 point hole to Rachael's team.
Go Kara! Another point for her team. We had to use some subs because of injuries so Kara's team felt comfortable to throw her back in! This time with the championship on the line. If Kara wins, they are tied and go to a tie-breaker, if Ruby wins, her team wins the championship. Check it out...
Kara's team comes through with another victory so we are tied up. The rules for the tie-breaker are pick your best competitor to win you the championship. It is Ashley Anderson against Kara!
With the huge comeback victory, Kara's team takes the win!
The team had 48 hours off from the court and what better to do than get to learn more about each other. The team head to Camp Hopewell, about 15 minutes from campus, for a Team Building session on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, the team arrived at about 3:30 and the activities immediately began. The constant distractions were the bugs. Lara Ontko describes herself as being deathly afraid of bugs and that's exactly what we saw. At some point a bug flew past her and she screamed at ran. Another part of the day, Kara Morgan threw a caterpillar at her and she almost busted into tears. City girl in the country:) The other "bug" to worry about was The Tick. The Tick was a clothespin that could be put on you at any time without you knowing. If one of the instructors yelled "Tick Check" and it was found on you, you had to do something. For example, Kiley found it and had to break out into song with Regina and Allegra helping her out, you can see the video above. Kiley also had it the 2nd time and she had to eat a bag of skittles in 10 secs and the third tick was found on Coach Sean Burdette who had to ride around the dining hall on a broom while the girls beat the rhythm to "We Will Rock You."
The team in their cabin
We did a couple more things and then it was time to hit the beds. The girls stayed in a cabin that had 12 beds on each side, but they decided to move all the mattresses in one room so they could hang out.
Ruby and Morgan at the fire
To finish the night we had a campfire where we did some Role Playing about rules and communication and had smores! Whitney Craven had never had a smore before and watching figure out the perfect way to roast a marshmallow was very entertaining. She decided that the all-black burnt marshmallow was indeed the best.
The team went to bed early because the next day started at 7:30AM.
Segment I was August 9-August 12th of our preseason and consisted of a total of 8 practices, one weight session, one swimming activity, and one meeting time. Practice was focused on individual skill breakdown and implementation of our Red and Purple defense. We did alot of eye sequencing from the defensive side of the ball as well. We really feel defense can be a big strength of our program this year with blockers such as Regina Thomas and Allegra Wells and our libero Morgan Springer. These three will be counted on heavily to be our defensive leaders and we are pretty excited about their progress over the summer.
As a program, the level of play is much higher than in the spring. Whitney, Courtney (a.k.a Ruby), and Regina are all coming off knee surgeries and to see them all back on the court with the rest of the team who got tons of playing time in the spring is very exciting!
We leave for Camp Hopewell to work on our team togetherness and breaking through the uncomfortables. It is a pretty exciting time to be a REBEL!
The first practice of the day is in the books!!! The team was rewarded for all their hard work this summer by getting a first practice day of play! After about an hour of ball control, serving and passing, and attacking warm-ups, the team took part in 6 on 6 play for the next hour and a half! The coaching staff is VERY, VERY excited about the work the team put in this summer. We feel we are already better than where we left off in April! Next practice is from 3-6PM where the focus is getting back to technique in passing, serving, and attacking.
The preseason is broke into 4 segments for the team, the first one taking place today until Friday morning with a focus on technique. The staff wants the team to have tons of reps and make sure everyone is on the same page with technique and key words.
Very excited to get back in the gym with our team!
Another first is happening in Ole Miss history, this time it involves sophomore RS Allegra Wells. Allegra was named to the USA A2 National Program and took part in the National Open Championships in her hometown, Dallas, TX on May 23-June 1st. Her team took 2nd place after a grueling week of practices and matches! A very humbling experience that showcased the best players in the nation! It was a great learning experience for Allegra. She biggest thing she learned was the intensity and focus it takes to train day in and day out to play at a high level. We can't wait to get Allegra back in our gym and show us everything she learned!
For the first time in school history, the Ole Miss Volleyball program has its first AVCA All-American!!! Regina was named an AVCA Division I Third-Team All-American, pretty impressive considering she missed the last 7 matches of the season with a torn ACL!!! She was honored at the Final Four at the 2010 AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet and was announced in between sets during the match. The coaching staff was present at the banquet and was able to watch Regina crutch up to stage to take the honor! What a great accomplishment for our program and for our team! An honor very well deserved and a showcase for our program! Congrats Regina!!!
We have had 2 practices under our belt and the team feels good. We left Oxford on Wednesday after having our best two practices of the year on Tuesday and Wednesday morning and the momentum has continued this week in Berkeley, CA!! We take the court in 3 hours for warm-ups before we take on a very scrappy UNC team! Excitement continues around our program!
