Tess Udall Blog Entry

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Today we started off with our dynamic stretching warm-up, which was much needed after the last two days of intense practice. Most of us are still pretty sore; we have been going extremely hard each session. One of the best things about today was that it was much cooler in Mem Gym than normal. We are all so happy that the weather has been so cooperative! Our first years are doing a wonderful job learning all the new techniques and systems, especially because it is so much to learn in such a short amount of time. In the morning session, we worked on serve receive and passing technique, as well as a lot of team defense. The best part of practice was when we worked on seam responsibilities between defensive positions – we ended our practice on a high note.

We built our own sandwiches during lunch today, and then our academic coordinator, Kristina Bethea, came and talked to us while we dominated our food. She discussed our academic responsibilities for the year and some helpful time management strategies. We also did a team building Bingo game, which was fun! After lunch, Hillary and I came home and watched Zorro (great movie) and hung out on the couch.

In the second session, we started by working on team defense and block setup, and worked on hitting out of system, which is whenever the setter digs the ball. Afterwards, we worked on some cooperative ball control drills. To end, we played six-on-six to work on more block setup and defense. After practice, we lifted and then ate dinner together: lasagna, salad, grilled chicken and broccoli from Mona Lisa Pasta. So good! All in all, we accomplished a lot today, even with our sore muscles. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Tess Udall #9