Alex Penewell #17 and Rachelle Allen #1

Two entries this week...enjoy!

Alex Penewell #17

“What is competitive greatness? It’s being at your best when your best is needed. It’s enjoying the challenge when things become difficult, even very difficult.”

–John Wooden

As we are coming down to the last few weeks of season we are still learning and progressing as a team, which is just a reminder of how far we have come and how much further we have to go. This week we were defiantly reminded of the very important fact that we are a team and as such we are one unit that gets rewarded for the positive and punished for the negative. We had shorter practices this week but there was no lack of intensity or physical demand, but we struggled to keep things crisp and unfortunately that translated into a sub par weekend.

It is also the point in the semester where papers are due, exams are plentiful, and the expectations are elevated. I am really enjoying my Nineteenth Century Art History class, it is one of my favorite time periods in history and we are looking specifically at the art in France which is easily where my favored artists are from. I will definitely be spending most of my time in the library studying this week, when I’m not in the gym of course.

My southern California roots may later regret saying this but I am lovingggg the snow! I am happy we got to experience Fall but I was ready to break out the boots and beanies. I have really enjoyed Bozeman so far, its such a fun town and the support for athletics is unlike anything I’ve experienced before.

I feel that as we are entering our last week and are preparing for our last two matches of the 2010 season it is going to be important for us to remember to be competitively ready and to exert all of our energy into these last practices and our matches against Idaho State and Weber State! Our senior night will be Saturday against Weber, come honor Meghan and Jo on their last night!!! Go Cats!!

Rachelle Allen #1

Our last week of regular season is here. The last three months have gone by extremely fast and I am amazed we have only one week left.

Last week was a tough one for the team. We went through a couple speed bumps throughout the week and ended with a disappointing loss in Sacramento. We did have some good practices, however we just could not manage to get into a rhythm or do the small things. It was a disappointing loss after we had done so well against them a month back at our Dig Pink match, but this week the we are looking to cap the season off going 2-0! We are ready to get back into the gym tomorrow and start tuning up the things we struggled with against Sacramento.

In practice this week I am looking forward to passing and defense! With those two things tuned up we will surely give Idaho State and Weber State a tough match. Our passing and defense was just not disciplined and held us back from getting in the same rhythm we are used to.

This weekend is going to be a tough one seeing as it is Meghan and Jo's last games. Meghan has been here through the thick and thin of this program. Through all the changes this program has made from different coaches to different game plans to even different gym floors :) I am going to miss her very much.

Jo has also been here for the past three years now and has become a very close teammate. We always seem to relate with the random injuries we have and our two very lovely right shoulders. I am going to miss them both soooo much. We do have some great gifts planned for the two, so hopefully their senior night will be a night to remember :)

Outside of volleyball, we are starting to buckle down in the academic arena. Now that the season is coming to an end we are not going to be missing anymore classes due to travel. The past years the volleyball team has been one of the top teams in GPA and we are definetly going to work to keep it that way.

Everyone is a little hesitant about the snow we came back to, but we will embrace it especially after being spoiled with the great fall in Bozeman. Some of the girls are doing just that. They went sledding on Pete's Hill, had a great time and took a lot of funny pictures.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and the team is all looking forward to getting some time off of school and spend some good time with families. Not everyone will be able to go home because of the short 3 day break, but everyone has fun plans to look forward to. Wishing everyone safe travels and a Happy Thanksgiving!! Thank you all for your support this season and believing in the change of this program. We will continue to work hard to get the program back to the top! Thanks again!