Yellowjacket Blog - Alicia Cazamier, Volleyball

Oct. 22, 2007
Well, this week turned out to be quite a success. We hosted both Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks this past week. Thursday night's game against Anchorage was a lot of fun. We ended up winning the match in 4 games. Then Saturday we played Fairbanks. There was a lot of anticipation for this night to arrive. It was a special one for our team. Between the 2nd and 3rd games we had a little ceremony in honor of the 2006 Heartland Conference Volleyball Champions. We were graced with the presence of all 4 of our seniors from last year, as well as freshman Leslie and coach Cortney. A banner for our accomplishment was also revealed that night. After the ceremony concluded however, we went back to business. And this time we meant it. At the intermission we were down 2 games to 0, but we came back fighting and won it in 5 games. It was a lot of fun and was definitely a memorable night. Thank you to all who came to watch and for all those who supported us last year throughout our season and at the conference tournament. We hope to continue seeing you out at our last 4 home games of the season, as we'll do our best to be successful yet again in this new conference!

Oct. 1, 2007
After looking at our schedule a few moments ago, I have come to the realization that our season is already half over. We have completed 16 games already and are sitting at a 12-4 overall record. Where does the time go? Well, this week was kind of up and down for us as far as wins and losses are concerned. After coming back from a 5-day road trip to Alaska, we began preparing for our match against the Western Washington Vikings on Thursday night.  Unfortunately, we didn’t come out to play that night and our first place spot in conference was snatched from us that evening. But we bounced back and came out fighting Saturday night against Central Washington. Although they took one game off of us, we still managed to pull of the ‘W’ and are sitting in the number 2 position in conference.

Perhaps one of the more momentous events for us this week was the transformation we saw in Nicole’s appearance, or the time Coach beamed with satisfaction and told us she was proud of us after completing a drill that we did on Friday afternoon at approximately 4:40pm. Or maybe it was the sweet 90’s hair-dos that Jill and Taylor would wear to practice every day. (The day they wore the scrunchies really topped it off.)  This past week was a fun one, despite the loss. However we look forward to our upcoming matches this week. Tomorrow night’s game at Rocky should be a good one! It has always been one of my personal favorites. We want to thank everyone for supporting us at our home games so far this season. Its been great seeing you there. And we hope that you’ll join us at Rocky Tuesday night as well!  

Sept. 10, 2007
After arriving home, fresh from a huge win at Seattle Pacific, I am excited to report this week's past experiences. Unfortunately school began this week, and I can now say with a little relief yet greater remorse that I have officially finished my last pre-season training camp. Conference play began this week and after having been to only one day of class, we left early Thursday morning for Nampa, ID. That night we played against Northwest
Nazarene in front of a huge home crowd. Let's just say we did not play Yellowjacket Volleyball that night. We ended up losing in four games.

The next day we got up early once again and left for Seattle. After spending multiple hours in the airports with crazy and annoying drunken football fans, we finally got to Seattle and began our search for the hotel. I say ‘search’ because we took a few timely detours which ultimately resulted in the skipping of lunch and the failure to check into our hotel until after going to practice. That night we had an amazing dinner in downtown Seattle where we later walked around and did some shopping.

Saturday afternoon we got to spend a few hours at the Pike Place Market where we got to watch some fish fly and do a little souvenir shopping as well. Then it was game time! Saturday night’s match was a memorable one.  Seattle Pacific is not only the 2-time defending conference champion but was on a 21-straight GNAC game win streak and had not lost at home in three years!!! Well...we broke those streaks. We came out fighting from the start and played some great volleyball. I think we all wanted to prove that we were better than what we showed at Nampa only two days prior. It was a huge win for us! We’re excited to continue on with some more conference matches this week as we finally play at home! Thursday night we play against Saint Martin’s in our home opener and then play Western Oregon on Saturday evening. So make sure to bring your noise makers and come watch some volleyball. We hope to see you there!!
 

Aug. 20, 2007
Well, where do I start? Preseason has been a great time for our volleyball team so far. We started training on August 6th and have been going strong ever since. Two-a-days were intense and we’re looking forward to putting what we’ve learned into action this coming weekend. This weekend we get to take our first trip down to Omaha, NE where we’ll have a four match tournament. I think I can speak on behalf of the whole team in saying that we are really looking forward to our first game! The team is looking great and with about half the team being new this year, we can't wait to get in some more bonding time on the road. The last few weeks we have spent a huge amount of time with each other, both on and off the court. Last week we spent an evening at Jill, Tay and Stef’s house singing karaoke and watching team videos from past years. This year we hope to have another great and memorable season which we can capture on film and video. We’ve already got a good start with Jen and Devon’s version of “Drop It Like It's Hot.” I’m sure there will be many more good laughs to come.