Chelsea Oemcke #7

Well this weekend was packed with matches every night! We started weekend Saturday night against the Griz, in Missoula. We began the match neck to neck with them in the first set but we unfortunately couldn’t sustain our energy throughout the match and lost to them in three sets. The good thing about our season though, is that we will get to take them on again at the end of October on our court! Can’t wait! After that match we knew we had to pick up our spirits and get ready for two consecutive matches back home. Sunday night we came out strong against Cal-State Bakersfield, winning in three sets. It felt good to get another win at home and generate the winning vibes from the team. On Monday night it was round two as we faced Cal- State Bakersfield again. We expected that they would come out stronger than they did the previous night, hungry for a win. We all knew we needed to stay even keel and consistent throughout the match, in order to produce. A bit shaky at first, we collected ourselves and finished them in three sets again! We tallied another win at home and knowledge of how important mental preparation and confidence in ourselves is. We are ready to build upon these matches and go in strong for this weekend against Weber and Idaho State! GO CATS!

Nicole Baker #6

Hey All!

This weekend was our first home games of the season and seeing as we haven’t played at home in a month it was very exciting. I never expected the amount of fans we get at the games or how crazy they get! Props to the guy who came Saturday night with a half blue and gold fro with a painted face to the match. Friday night we came out strong against Portland in the first set but fell behind in the next 3. At one point in the match I somehow managed to lose a shoe mid rally and just began slipping and sliding all over the court until the point was over. It was a miracle I didn’t eat it in front of the 900 fans that showed up to cheer us on. We rallied together for Saturday night though and came ready to play against Eastern Washington and we won! Wahoooo! It was a great feeling, and is going to be the first of many wins in Shroyer. Anyways have a great week everybody! And Cat/Griz this weekend! Be there!

Bobcats split their home opener weekend

Our Volleyball Bobcats entered their first weekend of home play in Shroyer Gym with excitement to play in front of the best fans in the Big Sky Conference. The faithful Bobcat fans came out in force for our home opener against Portland State, however the 900 fans witnessed a loss to the defending Big Sky Champions.

The following night, 800 more loyal Bobcat fans showed up to yet again support us and they brought the craziness!! Our fans really inspired our team and helped us to a GREAT win for our program over Eastern Washington. The win was MSU's first at home since Oct 26, 2006. A sign the the program is doing good things. Many more home wins are sure to follow as the team works hard every day to return to the top of the Big Sky Conference year after year.

The team is working very hard day in and day out to achieve this goal and the team also loves and appreciates its fans. Keep coming out all you Bobcat fans! Bring your friends as we promise to make every match and exciting one.

Our next match is at Missoula (a SHORT 3 hour drive) against the Grizz. Call your friends, rent a bus, car pool, hitch hike, ride a bike...do whatever it takes to get to Missoula where our Bobcats will be fighting to repeat last years win over the Grizz on their court.

We then play at home again this Sunday and Monday night at 7pm vs. Cal State Bakersfield.

To read the press release for both matches, click on the match below:

MSU vs. Portland State
MSU vs. Eastern Washington

Jodeen Rademacher #5

Hey there everyone, the team just returned from Washington last night and we are ready to get back into the gym today to start off a great week of practice. On the way back to Bozeman last night, the team had some fun to make the long drive go quicker. You put 12 girls on a bus for an extended period of time, expect some crazy/loud games to get played. This particular game helps each girl get more familiar with her teammates.

On a more serious note, all of us Lady Bobcats are super excited about starting off our conference play on our home court. We have been on the road for three weeks now and we are ready to show all you bobcat fans what we have been up to. Well I better get back to my studies and eat some lunch to give me energy for a productive practice this afternoon. I hope to see you all at our home matches this weekend which are Friday (vs. Portland State) and Saturday (vs. Eastern Washington) at 7pm in Shroyer Gym.

For those of you that are out of town, you can see the match live on Big Sky TV via the internet. Just go to

http://www.bigskyconf.com/sports/2009/8/14/BigSKYTV81509.aspx

Mackenzi Campbell #4

Hello, my name is Mackenzi Campbell and I am a freshman setter from Newport Beach, California. The transformation from Southern California is defiantly an extreme but with the help of my team, they have made a dramatic effect on helping me adjust. Also, the 3-1 winning streak we had in Pittsburgh in our first tournament was a good start to our season. Our trip was exciting, eventful and most importantly a great bonding time for our team. I think the best part of this weekend was really getting to know each and everyone of my teammates. I mean don’t get my wrong I have been up here for 3 weeks and I know everyone really well on team due to we all eat, sleep and play volleyball with each other everyday, but this was our chance to get to know each other outside of the one thing we all highly hold in common, volleyball. The weekend started on Friday when we went on a tour to the Pittsburgh Steelers stadium! It was an amazing experience and we were all very excited, yet there were some mixed emotions toward this “men of steel” team…Rachelle going strong with her loyalty to her Denver Broncos, decided to stay clear of picture taking of any legendary Steelers players. Later that day we went 2-0 against Robert Morris and Radford finishing off the day right…with two wins. It was a good day to be a bobcat. The following day, all of us studs woke up to see the view of the beautiful city. We took the incline up to the top of the cliffs to take some very exclusive pictures! After the incline the day went on as we beat Morgan State in 3. As I would like to say the weekend got better when we played our last match, unfortunately I would be pulling your bobcat tail. Your blue and gold bobcats sadly have to inform you that we lost to Duquesne. Heartbroken, we went to our next stop the Spaghetti Wherehouse! All of the calories we burned off that entire weekend we probably managed to put back on within one meal! It was fantastic! We also probably helped the waiter burning quite a few of calories himself with all of our craziness and chaotic behavior. The dinner was filled with more competitions and more laughter; which I think is the best cure for a heartbreak we suffered from a few hours before. The last day we woke up bright and early and our faces were looking very…interested, considering all the events we endure this past weekend and all the balls we got hit in the faces with. To finish off the trip the team decided to document all of my beautiful sleeping faces/positions. I’m glad I can embarrass myself enough for everyone else’s enjoyment! I can reassure everyone; I mean everyone got a good laugh when they saw the many pictures that were taken of me when I was sleeping. Let me tell you we have quite a few photographers on the team as well. Besides the pictures I think we all learned a lot from this trip. We learned that we have a whole other level that we need to reach. We learned that we can all eat a large amount of food and most importantly we learned about each other. We had an amazing time and we are all extremely gratefully we got the opportunity to do all the things our wonderful coaches planned for us. Thank you coaches for all you did for us this weekend!