WAC Tournament Semifinal Recap: SFA 3, Grand Canyon 1

 Edinburg, TX - A scrappy floor defensive effort from the SFA Ladyjacks propelled the club into the 2022 WAC Tournament Finals with a four set semifinal win over Grand Canyon on Friday night.  SFA saw four players post double-figures in digs with senior Ariana Pagan leading the way with 22 scoops.  The second four set win of the season over the 'Lopes runs the 'Jacks overall season mark to 25-4.  In addition to the fierce back row play, SFA out-blocked Grand Canyon 10-7 and also won the battle in totals kills tallying 65 to the 'Lopes 53.

The 'Jacks played from behind in the majority of the first set as GCU's Ashley Lifgren got hot early and caused problems for SFA from the left side.  Behind four early kills from Lifgren and two from fellow outsider hitter Tatum Parrott, GCU built an early 10-7 lead.  SFA would play from two or three behind for several more rallies until an ace by the 'Jacks Jayden Flynn and a kill by teammate freshman Izabella Ortiz would knot the score at 15-15. But then Flynn errored on a serve and Ortiz errored on attack to give the 'Lopes the lead right back.  SFA answered and tied the score at 18 and then at that point a side-out game ensued seeing the set scores tied at each of 19, 20 and 21.   Parrott then errored for GCU and SFA senior middle blocker Kelsey Harrington knocked down a key kill to get the score in favor of the 'Jacks at 23-21.  Grand Canyon answered once more getting a termination from right side hitter Melanie Brecka before tying the score on a Parrott ace. Ielan Bradley and Camryn Hill would get the final two kills of the set however, as SFA survived the first set with a minimum two point advantage winning 25-23.

The second set again saw Grand Canyon build and maintain a small lead early on. Midway through the set a GCU kill by middle blocker Hannah Eskes gave the 'Lopes a four point lead at 13-9. The 'Jacks would cut it to two several times during the middle of the set but then a Pagan service error was followed by an attack that couldn't find the rectangle and that gave GCU their four point advantage back at 18-14. Camryn Hill got a kill that allowed Haley Hoang to go on one of her many service runs in the match including an ace that got the Ladyjacks the lead back with the score 19-18. The teams then traded mini-runs ending with GCU rattling off three straight to regain the lead by a score of 21-19. After a Brecka error was followed up by a kill, the 'Jacks then ran off four straight points of their own to earn the first set point in the second frame getting up 24-22. GCU forced extras with a Lifgren kill being followed up by an Ortiz error.  Then, Ortiz redeemed herself getting SFA their second set point of Set 2 by thundering down a kill that made the score 25-24.  Tatum Parrott then kicked in two straight winners to give GCU a set point that was denied by a Pagan kill that tied the score once again at 26-26.  The final two points of the long second set would go to the 'Lopes as Parrott again rattled a kill down and then an Ielan Bradley shot was too long allowing GCU to even the set score at 1-1.

Set 3 began with Grand Canyon getting off to a 4-2 lead before SFA went on a 9-4 run that contained five straight points off the serving of Hoang once again. During the run, SFA got five right side kills - three coming from Bradley and two from senior Payton Cerny. The set see-sawed back and forth and included 11 tied scores overall to go along with five lead changes.  Hill held serve while Cerny added two more kills to get the 'Jacks first to 20 with the score 20-17.  After GCU got kills from Brecka and Parrott the third set ended with SFA finishing on a 5-1 run that saw the set come to a close with a Maddy Bourque ace to give SFA a 2-1 set advantage.

Much like she did in the first set, Ashley Lifgren started off the fourth set hot for GCU.  Lifgren finished with a season high 20 kills on 58 swings while hitting .241.  Her three early kills gave GCU the 5-3 advantage, but then Camryn Hill served SFA on a 5-0 run to take the lead 8-5.  The rest of the way, SFA would never again trail, but a tandem block by the 'Lopes Annabelle Kubinki and Hope Hanak-Harper, who had been inserted for the error prone Brecka got GCU within one with score 11-10 in favor of the 'Jacks. Another run by SFA followed, with Hoang leading the service line charge once again and the Ladyjacks lead build to 16-11.  Down the stretch, Payton Cerny was in on two blocks on Parrott to get SFA first to 20 and then the 'Jacks polished off the set and the match on a 4-0 run started by a Bradley kill and ended with a Hoang ace - her fifth of the contest.

Overall in the four set (25-23, 26-28, 25-20, 25-18) win, Pagan posted a double-double with 11 kills to go along with the aforementioned 22 digs.  Setter Maddy Bourque also posted a double-double dishing out 27 assists while scooping 10 balls.  Freshman Camryn Hill posted a career and season high 20 digs and the 'Jacks season scoring leader Bradley hit .310 while throwing down 18 kills.  Cerny was errorless posting 11 kills in her 29 swings (.379).  Izabella Ortiz went over 100 blocks for the year with her five rejections paired up with 12 kills while hitting .333.  Overall, SFA hit .240 and held the 'Lopes to .192.  

SFA will face off with #4 seeded Utah Valley who swept host and #1 seed UTRGV in the other semifinal match.  First serve on Saturday between the 'Jacks and Wolverines is slated for 7:00 PM with a radio broadcast available at this blog starting at the top of the hour.  The winner of the SFA/Utah Valley match will earn the WAC automatic bid into the 2022 NCAA Volleyball Championship Tournament.

WAC Tournament Quarterfinal Recap: SFA 3, CBU 0

 Edinburg, TX - After a slow start in the opening moments of the first set, SFA Volleyball found their stride and never looked back en route to a three set sweep over #7 seed California Baptist University.  Junior right-side hitter and first-team WAC All-Conference selection Ielan Bradley led the way with eleven kills on 18 swings against only two errors posting an even .500 attack percentage for the match.  At times, especially in the final two sets, the Ladyjack front line was smothering of the Lancer attack posting a total of 10 team blocks for match, seven of which were assisted by senior Kelsey Harrington. Fellow middle blocker Izabella Ortiz showed why she was an All-WAC Freshman selection by downing six balls on seven swings while also rejecting three Lancer attacks.  But the highlight of Ortiz' evening was a service run in the middle of the second set that saw her attempt nine serves before CBU could finally side her and the 'Jacks out.  From that point forward, SFA was on cruise control and posted a .293 attack percentage overall while holding the Lancers to just .075.

SFA found themselves behind by five in the first set with score 10-5 in favor of CBU. Bradley and freshman Camryn Hill committed two errors a piece within the matches first eight rallies.  Slowly throughout the middle of the first set the SFA offense found its stride. Behind a kill and then block by Ortiz, two Harrington kills and one each from Bradley and senior Ariana Pagan, the 'Jacks got to within one with the score 11-10 in favor of CBU.

The Ladyjacks took their first lead of the match at 15-14 signaling the media time out and from that point on, CBU never led again in the match.  The Lancers committed a whopping seven service errors in the first set - their grand total on the night - to aid in the 'Jacks comeback.  Leading up the media timeout, Ortiz posted three more kills and a block.  The service game for CBU got particularly bad at that point in Set 1 and amidst it,  junior setter Maddy Bourque dropped in one of her three aces on the night and the 'Jacks built a four point lead at 21-17.  The set ended with SFA getting a kill each from a trio of pin hitters - Pagan, Hill and Bradley and went up one set to none after Pagan's ace ended the first frame with the score 25-17.

The second set was a complete runaway as SFA committed only one attack error and hit .455. After a Payton Cerny kill gave SFA a sizeable lead at 11-5, Ortiz stepped back to serve for the first time in the set. Ortiz proceeded to serve nine straight times to build the lead to 19-5 before CBU's Laura Walewska and Anna Jackson finally stopped the bleeding with a block on Pagan.  Cerny put down another kill and SFA had scored 20 points in its first full six rotations around the floor.  Soon after, a Pagan ace made it 22-9 and the 'Jacks polished off the set with a kill by Bradley and a CBU bad set to make the final score 25-10 giving SFA a 2-0 set lead at the intermission.

The 'Jacks onslaught wasn't done as they scored the first four points of Set 3 on three Lancer attack errors.  A Jayden Flynn ace - her 43rd of the season - ran the score to 8-2 and the rest of the way CBU would get no closer than four as the 'Jacks cashed in on 16 kills in the set while hitting .310.  Bradley came alive in the final frame terminating seven of her 11 match kills in the third with several of them down the stretch in the matches' final rallies.

Overall, behind Bradley's 11, SFA was led by Ariana Pagan with eight winners and Ortiz and Cerny finished with six each.  Five Ladyjacks hit over .300 in the offensive takedown and SFA out-slugged CBU 40-26 in the match kill tally.  The defense for SFA was also strong with WAC Libero of the Year Haley Hoang scooping a match high 13 digs to up her season tally to 513.  Maddy Bourque finished with 17 assists and moved into 9th place all-time at SFA in career assists with her total now standing at 1559.  Jayden Flynn finished one dig shy of a double-double posting 11 assists and nine digs.

SFA returns to action in the WAC Volleyball Tournament semifinals on Friday at 4:00 PM CT against #3 seed Grand Canyon.  The Lopes are one of the hottest teams in the nation having swept their last seven matches including their semifinal win against #6 seeded New Mexico State.  Earlier this season, SFA defeated GCU in Nacogdoches by a set score of 3-1.  The winner of the SFA/GCU match will take on the victor in the other semifinal which pits #4 Utah Valley against host and #1 seed UTRGV.  Radio for the Ladyjacks match against the Lopes kicks off just a few minutes before 4:00 PM Friday.

Honoring Players is Always Good: A Look at 2022 WAC All-Conference Teams

I'm a big fan of the concept that what other people do well never takes away from your own strengths.  Giving other people recognition that they deserve never diminishes any contribution you might make.  Said another way, it's rarely - if ever - about you.

For 11 years in this space - and while Stephen F. Austin was in the Southland Conference - I created my own version of the Southland All-Conference Teams and released them before the official lists were published.  These posts were often my most read of the year and they almost always led to conversations among people both here at SFA and around the league.  My musings about HOW all-conference teams can, should, and might be constructed is well chronicled in the archives of this site.  You can click the "2019" link in the right sidebar and easily find the post to the 11th and final rendition of my Southland All-Conference picks.  I'll make you click instead of linking because the point is that those days are done and new days and new conferences are upon us.  But, the concept of conferences publishing "all-conference" lists remains.

In the WAC, coaches are asked for nominations. Then, those players that are nominated are voted upon by these same coaches and from the rankings submitted, the all-conference lists are formed.  I've long frowned on the "nomination" phase of this process, but I understand why it is done.  This years' WAC All-Conference teams were announced yesterday and in case you missed it, Stephen F. Austin was well represented.  Our own Haley Hoang won Libero of the Year and was listed as a second team all-conference selection along with Ariana Pagan.  Ielan Bradley was named to the first team and our young guns Izabella Ortiz and Jayden Flynn made the All-Freshman team.  All, of course, were excited and I've already posted reactions with Ielan and Haley earlier today.  See the sidebar for the list of recent interviews.

Honoring players is always good.  But, there's more than one way to do it and I'm not sure it can be proven that one way is superior to another.  Oh, I've tried to make that argument.  Again, search through the pages of the blog if you dare. I've tried to construct logic for how I always made all of those old Southland lists in this space.  My main observation has always been this: the lists are not teams - not teams in the truest sense of the word.  I'm not the only one that this bothers, but again, I understand the way that many conferences do this and I'm done trying to convince others that one way is better than another.  Instead, the spirit of this and all future posts like it is simply to champion the idea that honoring players is always good and that there is more than one way to do that.

Here's some tallies for you:  Of the 11 athletes recognized on the official WAC First Team All-Conference list there were five outside hitters, four right-side hitters and two setters.  Were they really good choices?  Yes, of course.  There are 11 great volleyball players on that list.  But, it isn't a "team".  There were no middle blockers and no liberos on the official first team.  To some (my phone actually semi-blew up to be honest) this seems to slight these other positions.  The second team fit the bill a little better: four outside hitters, one right side, three middle blockers, a setter and two liberos.

So, our grand tally among the 22 official honorees:  nine outside hitters, five right side hitters, three middle blockers, three setters and two liberos.

Of the 13 WAC Volleyball programs, eight predominantly ran a 6-2 offense and five used one setter in most matches.  So, the majority of our league used two setters and six hitters alongside a libero.  Suppose that we stick with 11 players honored as "First Team All Conference" and another 11 honored as "Second Team All-Conference", but required there to be two outside hitters, two right side hitters, two middle blockers, two setters and a libero on EACH team.  The final two slots on each team could be any position, because at that point you'd have the typical usage of a team running a 6-2 covered.  Get the idea? So, what I am trying to do here is to create an all-conference team that is actually a "team" - actually a team that could play in a collegiate volleyball match in their natural positions and run the offense most popular in our conference at present.

Now, the lists below are not simply a rearrangement of the official conference lists.  They are my personal choices for first and second team honors but under the restrictions mentioned in the paragraph above.  Last year, I didn't go through this exercise primarily because I didn't actually see each team in our new league live (because of divisional play).  This year, I called a match that involved each team in the WAC at least once - sometimes more than once.  

So, I guess this is my "1st Annual SFA VolleyBlog All-WAC Teams" the way that I did this for 11 years in the Southland.  Next year, maybe I'll title the post with "2nd Annual", but if I do it again, I'll definitely publish it before the official lists.  I had already done all the research for this post before the official lists were posted, but it just gives added reduction of bias to my picks if I publish them the day before the official lists appear.  Believe it or not, but in the Southland I got accused once or twice of actually influencing the voters because I would publish the lists before the coaches turned their rankings in.  I found that claim absurd, but started publishing the list the day before the league announced the real winners so that the voting would clearly be over.

You probably can tell from reading this:  I have a lot of thoughts on lists like this and one theory I squarely adhere to is that these are NOT team awards.  Just because a team does well does NOT imply it should have a certain number or even necessarily more representation than other schools.  Great players from teams with poor records should still be recognized if worthy.  This is one shortcoming I notice on basically every conference's lists - the teams down in the standings too often get completely shut out.  Now, there isn't room for every school usually, but again, I see no need to shut players out just because they play for a team down in the standings.

Here's my personal set of "teams" (2 OH, 2 RS, 2 MB, 2 S, one L required, plus 2 extra).  Below the lists are some honorable mentions, because again.. honoring players is always good.

Greg's First Team WAC All-Conference Actual TEAM

OH Sarah Cruz, UTRGV (My pick for Player of Year)

OH Brianna Ford, UTA

RS Ielan Bradley, SFA

RS Christine Graf, CBU

MB Izabella Ortiz, SFA

MB Allie Hair, Tarleton

S Luanna Emiliano, UTRGV (My pick for Setter of Year)

S Klaire Mitchell, GCU

L Haley Hoang (My pick for Libero of Year)

OH Molly Johnson, NM State

OH Tatum Parrott, GCU (My pick for Freshman of Year)

Greg's Second Team WAC All-Conference Actual TEAM

OH Kazna Tanuvasa, Utah Valley

OH Avery Shewell, Utah Valley

RS Tori Dorius, Utah Valley

RS Whittnee Nihipali, Utah Tech

MB Makayla Broadbent, Utah Valley

MB Lia Mosher, NM State

S Taela Laufiso, Utah Tech

S Macy Short, Southern Utah

L Hannah Baker, Sam Houston

MB Luisa Silva Dos Santos, UTRGV

OH Ariana Pagan, SFA

Others that get an "honorable" mention because "honoring" players is always good:

OH: Katie Birtcil (NM State), Grayson Schirpik (Tarleton), Arianna Bilby (Seattle), Makenzie Templeton (Southern Utah)

RS: Payton Cerny (SFA), Breanna McDonough (Tarleton), Melanie Brecka (GCU)

MB: Kate Hardy (Utah Tech), Margherita Giani (UTRGV), Madison Dyer (Sam Houston), Meredith Fisher (UTA)

Setters:  Many 6-2 Setters could be here.  I found them very tough to parse through.

Libero: Mykenna Nelson, Utah Tech

2022 WAC West Coast Travel Diary

This week SFA Volleyball travels to Seattle and Salt Lake City for its first ever true WAC road matches against Seattle University & Utah Valley University.  From the plane to the bus to the hotel to the court, you can read about all of our travels and adventures in this space below.  Be sure and also check out the SFA Athletics (@SFA_Athletics), SFA Volleyball (@SFA_Volleyball) and SFA VolleyBlog (@SFAVolleyBlog) twitter sites.  If for some reason you are not following all three, then go remedy that right now!

Most recent entries at the top.  Scroll down for older updates.

Saturday, October 15

12:22 AM CT (Sun., 10/16).  The bus pulls into the commuter lot and the first WAC volleyball West Coast trip comes to an end.  One up. One down.  Now it’s time for rest and then at the beginning of the work week we’ll begin to look forward to another key match and a chance at redemption at home against Sam Houston.

10:07 PM  CT  A stop at Bucees for snacks.  Brisket sandwich, drink, chocolate pie in a cup.  Don’t ague with me.  I know I’m right.

8:43 PM CT  On the bus and headed out of the airport!

8:22 PM CT  Waiting at baggage claim.  We wound up having to check 20 or so bags  Why some of us that boarded a little sooner were let through is a mystery to us.

7:51 PM CT  On the ground at  DFW airport

7:44 PM CT  City lights below as we are coming in for our landing at DFW

7:14 PM CT  Beginning our initial descent into DFW airport.  We’ll have to make our way to baggage claim to pick up all the bags that we were forced to check in Salt Lake.  All of our flights have been on time though and so that’s a huge positive.   After picking up bags, we’ll find our bus for the evening ride back home to Nacogdoches.

4:27 PM MT  All on.  Nuts.  About to pull away from gate.

4:23 PM MT  Almost all on.  Crazy stuff.  It’s just our last couple that they are making check bags at the last minute before the plane can pull away.

4:18 PM MT Some of the gals starting trickle on.  The plane is waiting for our party to resolve the luggage issue

4:08 PM MT Some of us got on plane, but some of the team was held back by security at the point of boarding and told our duffel bags were too large.  A handful of us are on with our large bags, but some are not and the bags are being checked.  Wow, American Airlines, seriously?  We were all the way at the gate!

3:17 PM MT  Everyone made it to the gate with about a half hour to spare before boarding.  Security line was long but they moved us through fast.  Not quite the same walk this time as when we arrived.  Boarding 3:45 PM MT.

1:51 PM MT  Headed back to Salt Lake City by bus. We’ve got a tight schedule so food was delivered to the bus right before we pulled out of Orem.  Everyone will eat on the bus  and then once we are at the airport we are hoping for a faster security check than when we left Seattle.

1:22 PM MT  Not the final outcome we wanted as the first set that we couldn’t finish proves to be huge factor in the match.  Utah Valley wins 3-1.  Everyone moving quickly as we have a tight schedule for lunch and getting back to the Salt Lake City Airport 

8:47 AM MT  Arrived at the gym. Utah Valley has pass and serve at 9:00 and we are on at 9:30 before general warmups at 10:00. Match at 11:00 local time (Noon CT)

8:33 AM MT  On the bus for the short ride to the gym.  Very ready to get the Volleyball portion of this day started.  Great match coming up today. Time to AxeEm!!

7:51 AM PT  Breakfast in the hotel lobby before getting the days’ schedule started.  We are not coming back to the hotel so a big pile of bags is stacking up in the breakfast room!

6:37 AM PT  Time for rise and shine because it’s match day!  Evan and I are up and moving ready to go to work.  I can only assume the rest of the travel party is doing the same.  We all meet downstairs in an hour to formally get this day started!

Friday, October 14

7:08 PM MT  We all ate dinner in the hotel lobby and SFA Soccer has arrived and is in the hotel with us.   Most everyone making their way up to their rooms despite it being fairly early.  We’ve got a long day in front of us and getting the win in Utah is the focal part of it.   We all meet up again at 7:30 AM for pregame meal.

6:24 PM MT We’ve picked up our food and headed back to the hotel for the night.

6:02 PM MT  Two hour practice in the books at the gym.   Great energy and everyone has earned dinner which is where we are headed next

3:52 PM MT  Players walking out on to the floor to begin stretching for practice.

3:33 PM MT  Headed to Lockhart Arena for practice after having a film session on UVU.   I think this is gonna be a great match tomorrow!

1:47 PM MT  That was quick!  All are checked in the hotel which is essentially on campus.   We’ve got an hour of down time until we gather in the meeting room for team discussion and scouting before heading over to the gym for practice.   Unlike at Seattle U, we’ll get a practice in on the match floor the day prior to playing.  No auxiliary gym this time.

1:30 PM MT After an extended lunch, the gals walked over to a nearby Target for some brief shopping.   The meal plus outing has everyone with their legs under them now as we get closer to afternoon practice.  Right now, we’ll attempt to check into the hotel early.  Back on the bus.

12:00 Noon PT  At the Corner Bakery Cafe in Orem, UT for lunch.  Absolutely beautiful scenery as Orem is right at the base of a large mountain here in the valley of Utah.

11:08 PM PT  After getting the few checked bags from baggage claim, we make our way to yet another bus.  Headed to get some food   Saw UT-Arlington volleyball about to fly out to Seattle.  Also saw the USC Band and several other sports teams. 

11:01 PM MT  Another very very long walk to baggage claim!  Wow!

10:29 PM MT  On the ground in Salt Lake City. Taxing to gate.

7:34 AM PT  Pulling away from the gate and on the way to Salt Lake.

7:14 AM PT Boarding a very full flight!

6:35 AM PT  After a long security check line and a subway style train tram ride over to the gate, players and staff are starting to arrive at our departure point. Always leave for the airport early, people!  We’ve got about a half hour until boarding to sit and grab a bite to eat 

5:28 AM PT Everyone on the bus and headed to the airport for Flight #2 of 3 on this trip 

5:11 AM PT  Gals making their way to the bus as we are scheduled for an early flight out of Seattle.  The hotel provided a grab and go breakfast for them so each player is making their way down from their rooms and grabbing a sack before loading things on the bus.

Thursday, October 13

9:57 PM PT  Postmatch interviews with Payton Cerny who hit .545 and Jayden Flynn who racked up her 7th double-double are posted to the SoundCloud site. Links are in the right hand column.

9:08 PM PT  Everyone back, finishing dinner and heading up to their rooms to back and move towards bed.  We bus to the airport at 5:15 AM, so an early morning commute awaits us.  The match tonight was strange.  You could see the team get into its normal gears about half way through, but still, there were some parts of the match that weren't overly crisp.  We did enough good things to win, but I think the overall level of play will need to get back to what we saw last week against Grand Canyon, and especially, California Baptist if we are to have sustained success Saturday at Utah Valley.  For now, we pocket the win happily and chalk up our first WAC visit to Seattle as a success.

8:11 PM PT   Stopped at Panwa Thai for pickup order for dinner before heading back to the hotel

7:45 PM PT  SFA completes the sweep as the 'Jacks right-side attack is too much for Seattle's block.  'Jacks now 18-2 and 6-1 in WAC play.  We'll head to pick up dinner in a bit and back to the hotel.  Everyone needs to be early to bed tonight as we have a very early flight into Salt Lake City in the morning.

3:39 PM PT  We have arrived at the gym and go on for pass and serve at 4:30 local time.   Make sure and hit the radio button in the banner above at game time (8 CT, 6 local time) for live streamed audio of all the action from Seattle.  

2:54 PM PT  Finishing up lunch at EverGreen where everyone got a large salad or rice based bowl. Very filling.  Geared up for the gym now.   

2:06 PM PT  Evan took us through video scouting after the gals got a few hours to do schoolwork and rest.  Now, we are headed to our pregame meal.  All involved are ready to get to the gym after having had a travel day followed by a practice day.

11:35 AM PT Slightly more serious - over the last few years I've been doing a lot more audio interviews after matches and especially when we travel.  I began doing audio interviews sparingly in 2012 and 2013 and have continued to add them to the mix of my coverage of SFA Volleyball each year.  The crazy chat with Jenna & Day was Interview #300 all of which are archived at the archive link above in the black banner.  It's a joy to have had that many volleyball conversations - most of which have been serious, but of course, some of which, have not been.

11:29 AM PT  The next installment of "Not So Serious" interviews features our managers Day Meadows and Jenna Robichaux.  At the beginning of the chat, Associate Head Coach Evan Amstutz jumped out into the street beside the hotel to play traffic cop in an effort to help the bus back out of its spot and get us going to the gym.  Evan's antics had the bus rolling, especially Coach Humphreys.  Tweet with Evan as traffic cop here and audio interview with Day and Jenna at this link. From one minute to the next, you never know what is going to happen with this crew.  Tonight, we finally get to play volleyball and go for another "W" to add to our list in WAC play.

11:08 AM PT  SFA Volleyball staff well represented in the hotel gym as several of us made our way down to a treadmill, weight rack or stair-climber to work off last nights' pasta feast.  The gals, of course, are resting up and getting some homework done before we head out in a few hours for pre-game meal.

9:34 AM PT Pass, serve and walk throughs done.  Headed back to the hotel for down time and study hall.  The bus rides around town have proven to be interesting.  Just saw gas at $5.79.   Beautiful inner city apartments one block away from tent cities.   A true mix of city life.  Narrow city streets tough for busses and large vehicles to navigate.  Weather has been beautiful.  Not a single stereotypical overcast moment while we’ve been here.  Time to rest up and then take care of business on the court tonight.

7:32 AM PT  A quick breakfast and now bussing over to the main gym where we will play tonight for pass and serve.  On the bus we did another “Not So Serious” interview with our wonderful managers Jenna and Day.   They get a little retribution on the players they help every day.  That will get posted when we get back to the hotel in a bit.  We also got to see Evan play traffic cop helping the bus depart the hotel.

Wednesday, October 12

7:25 PM PT After an amazing dinner out, the ‘Jacks are in for the night back at the hotel.   Tomorrow we get to play volleyball.  Remember that the match is at 8 PM “Texas Time” and I hope you’ll listen in right here in this space for the live radio broadcast.

5:16 PM PT  Family style Italian eats at Buca di Beppo is a great call.  Everyone having fun finding people to share dishes and sides with

4:46 PM PT  We spent a little over an hour strolling the Public Market area by the waterfront.  Lots of shops and places to see fresh fish being sold and bought.  Multiple levels of shops to browse.  Weather has been great so it was a fantastic hour of walking and looking around.   Headed to an early dinner.

3:28 PM PT  After a few hours of study hall and rest - I had a half hour power nap in there - we are back on the bus and in tourist mode as we are headed to the open air Market by the water.

12:39 PM PT  Lunch at Verve Bowls.  Smoothie bowls where the idea is to choose a base with energy, fruit and some form of juice.   Then topped with granola, nuts and fresh fruit.   I feel so cultured.

12:16 PM PT  Back on the bus after practice 

11:32 AM PT  The practice gym is a tad warm.  Ugh.   Gals got just under a half hour left and then they’ll be rewarded with a cool treat at lunch.

10:19 AM PT  The club is the practice gym at Seattle U, an auxiliary facility similar to our HPE for practice.  After a bit of time here we’ll head over to Verve Bowls for a smoothie lunch before heading back to the hotel for rest and study

8:41 AM PT Finally got a chance to post the crazy "not so serious" interview with Leah and Camryn right before we got on the plane at DFW airport. I present them with "not so likely to happen" scenarios and they have to pick a teammate to fill in the place of someone else.  It's all part of the lighter side of the SFA Volleyball family.  Click here for the chat. 

7:30 AM PT  Practice day begins as everyone is beginning to stir around the hotel.   Breakfast at 9:00 and then we get our first look at the gym for practice shortly thereafter.

Tuesday, October 11

10:06 PM PT After checking into the hotel everyone got a chance to finish eating their late night meal.  Some of the gals went through a stretching routine and used foam rollers to work out the kinks of being on a plane for near four hours and walking and waiting around airports.  Now, just after midnight CT, the last of us have made it up to our rooms to get ready for bed.   It’s been a long day, but it was wise to travel today rather than tomorrow when we need to have a good practice and film session to finish preparations for Seattle U.  Breakfast scheduled for 9 AM PT.

8:29 PM PT We arrive at the Honey Hole sandwich shop to pick up dinner before going to the hotel   We are currently one mile South of the area that was known as CHAZ, the self-governing zone that was established in police protest here a couple of years ago.

8:05 PM PT  Wow.  After another long walk through terminals we arrive at the bus to take us to dinner.  The bus is, uhhhh…”basic”.   But hey… we’re here and we are well…hungry  

7:43 PM PT  Waiting on a few bags that had to be checked at baggage claim   Most everything was carried on.  My duffel bag is filled to the top and I’m already wishing I’d packed lighter lugging all this stuff around today.  Headed to sandwich shop after we get bags.  Sooooo hungry!

7:03 PM PT  On the ground in Seattle!!!

5:23 PM MT (In the air)  oh my gosh, Yordan Alvarez just hit a walk off home run to send the Astros to victory in Game 1 of the ALDS

4:56 PM CT  The team is all ON the plane!

4:33 PM CT  Plane beginning to board.  Did another NOT SO SERIOUS interview with Leah and Cam and it’s fantastic.  Will post when we get off the plane.   About to settle in for the long flight to Seattle.   Everyone in good spirits while we wait.

3:15 PM CT  Through security and at the gate.  We had a LOOOONG walk from the security checkpoint to our actual gate   Everyone catching their breath and looking for a place to get refreshments.  Wow.

2:41 PM CT   Rolling up the gate in the bus at DFW Airport 

12:44 PM CT  In the first "Not So Serious" chat of the trip, Hailey Hunt and Kelsey Harrington battle to see who knows more about our destination states of Washington and Utah.  Along the way, we learn that the Washington Commanders pro football team is NOT in the state of Washington.  The lighter side of SFA Volleyball is already in full form.  Listen to this ridiculous interview with Kelsey & Hailey.

11:34 PM CT  We’re outta here!  Bus loaded and headed to DFW airport.  Everyone was instructed to bring lunch for the ride and assistant coach Madi Wilkerson already had all of our boarding passes printed out.   Now to find who got 31C so I can negotiate a trade for the aisle in place of my window seat assignment!

Monday, October 10

10:05 PM CT:  I've posted the audio interviews with Bella and Ari from last Saturday's win against CBU and I'm all packed up.  This will be my third time to visit each of Seattle and Salt Lake City, but first time in over 15 years and first trip with SFA Volleyball.  The 'Jacks will get in a practice tomorrow morning in Shelton Gym at 7:15 AM CT and then we roll out of town on the bus at 11:30 AM CT.  Before all this gets started, it's worth mentioning how blessed I am to cover this team and have an opportunity to travel like this.  I am not guaranteed each season that I'll get to travel on the plane trips, so my gratitude level is high on the eve of flying out for what we all hope will be a fun and successful trip - with two W's - out West.