Dog Sledding in Scandinavia, a MUST!

One of my wishes and bucket list ideas is dog sledding. When Maddis gave me the post card with the dog on it saying her present was a surprise, I had a feeling that it might be dog sledding, but I didn't want to get my hopes up so I thought about all possibilites. Like I said in my previous post, when we got to the site for the dog sleds, there were a couple of things that we could have done besides dog sledding. There were snowmobiles and a ski rental shop with a ski lift right next to it. Plus she had brought helmets to make me think we were doing something else. She is a sneaky one.

We were assigned to a sled that had 7 dogs attached to it. We were the third sled behind a father daughter combo and behind us was the rest of their family, mother and daughter. When we were ready to go the dogs went from exhausted to pumped and energized. They were jumping and barking, pulling at the sled signifying that they were ready to go. The two guides were on the front sled and told us to pull on the rope that held us to a pole in the ground third so that we were all in a line heading up the "hountain". Maddis was the first to be in the sled and I was the "driver".  There wasn't much to do as a driver since the dogs knew the way but there was a break peddle in case the dogs were to fast or if there was danger of crashing into the sled in front of us. Half way through the trip they added another dog to our sled because lets face it, these dogs were smaller then I thought and Maddis and I are not children. It was a tough ride up, the dogs were pretty tired and so I had to push the sled a couple times to get them moving. Even when you thought they could take no more, we would be stopped and some of them would look back at me as if to say "what are we waiting for?! Lets go!!!". The people in front of us were going quite slow, I am not sure if it was their dogs or the fact that the dad was breaking almost the entire time, but we had to stop a few times in order to get some speed going up some of the steeper hills.

Once we got to the top, the scenery changed a bit. We weren't surrounded by trees so much as white tall objects here and there. The fog came in so everywhere you looked it was white except for us and the dogs. I couldn't really tell where the ground ended and the sky began. Getting lost out there would have been extremely frustrating and difficult. It was very cold as well, my toes were starting to go numb. We finally arrived at a resting place and let the dogs take about a 15-20 minute rest. Where we stopped was at a small ski hut in a valley in the middle of nowhere. Maddis and I ordered up hot chocolates and cinnamon buns. There was a small room with a wood burning stove that we set up shop in. I had been sweating so I decided to take off all my jackets so I could dry out a little bit. Once we were through with our fika, the two guides asked us to go back to our sleds and get ready for the trip back down. This time it was my turn to be in the sled and to sit back and relax. I figured we were going to be flying down the face of this "hountain" since it was mostly downhill. The scene was incredible before we left the ski hut. Every single dog knew what was about to happen and you could tell they were all extremely excited. Most were jumping, pulling and barking. The noise was immense, so the main guy walked through the packs and tried to shush them. It worked for like 5 seconds but then they got riled up again, so they set them loose and we were off!

The people in front of us, yet again, were painfully slow. Maddis and I did stop quite a bit as well to get some speed. There were even a couple times were we traveled off road a little, this made us laugh a lot. Unfortunately for one of the dogs, he kept getting stuck in the rope, twice I had to untangle him. I almost wanted to just hold him in the sled with me because he looked so tired. I was a little nervous to touch or handle him since I wasn't sure how these dogs reacted to people but when I went over to him to untangle his leg, he just kept looking straight. It was like I wasn't even there, I'm sure that they are handled all the time by other people and was glad that he did not growl or snap at me. There were some parts of the path that we bounded and sped over, I was laughing most of the time. We were the loudest team out there, encouraging the dogs to run was number one with Maddis and I. We kept saying that they were probably thinking, shut up and let us do our jobs. But we just kept whistling and praising them as we went along. They were great!

It seemed like we got back to the starting point all to quickly. I wish it had lasted longer, but man, what a Christmas gift, one of my favorite gifts in my life up to now. I must have thanked Maddis a million times and even almost started to cry when she told me. Thats me, emotional Whitney. It was a great experience that I will never forget it and encourage everyone to try it.

I asked one of the guides how they pair up the dogs and he told me that they try to pair them according to ranking, relationship with one another and if they live together. The dogs are born with the want to pull a sled in their genes, its all they want to do. Its easier to pull a sled if you are next to a friend I guess, someone to motivate you through out the trip. Sounds like a team sport to me! After we were done, we were able to pet the dogs. They all looked and acted exhausted. I could only imagine how tired they must have been. Some were resting on each other and some had dug holes and were curled up in them. We were the last ride of the day so they were putting the dogs back in their compartments when we left. It was a wonderful day with the dogs and I will never forget the experience. THANK YOU MADDIS!!

Christmas with the Erikssons and Salen.

This year at Christmas, I went to my teammates families cabin in Salen, which is located up north near the Oslo, Norwegian boarder. We arrived at night, but I could barely make out what the place looked like. Every single tree, every road, every rock, every roof was covered in snow. When I say covered I mean you could see the outlines of these objects, in white. I was no less then amazed, I mean we were entering Dr. Sues land! I had never seen this much snow in my life. When my family and I would go to Mammoth mountain in California, it would look like it did in Salen at the very top of the mountain, not everywhere you turned. Maddis laughed as I gawked and took as many pictures as I could in the darkness. She and I arrived before everyone else so we went grocery shopping and then made ourselves at home in the cozy cabin with a glass of wine, a blazing fire in the fireplace and a spot on the couch.

Her families cabin is located on a secluded street on a hill side facing one of the ski-able mountains or should I say "hountains" since they are more like giant hills. There are woods directly across from the house and neighbors to the right and further down to the left. They bought land on the corner of the street so they have a lot of room to the left of the house and behind. There is a big deck/balcony off the left side of the house and a detatched garage they use to store their snow mobiles to the right. Most swedish cabins look to be small on the outside but when you come inside they really open up. Its a 4 bedroom house with a loft. Inside, the decore is wood finished, adorned with cozy furniture and cute christmas lights and decorations. Its what you would imagine a ski cabin would look and be like. For heating purposes there were heaters in the rooms but in the living room we had a fire blazing in the fireplace almost the whole time. Needless to say, the scenery was ideal for a snowy white Christmas.

Maddis and I dressed up the house a bit and put lights on the tree her father picked out a week before, for Christmas. We left the ornaments for when her sister Emilie arrived, she wanted to help putting them up. The rest of her family (minus her oldest sister and her family) was to get there that night. The next day, we decided to drive into the city and look for ingredients to make rocky road bars. I first tasted one when I was at our team Christmas party. The assistant coach prepared them for us and I must have eaten about 5 of them. They were so incredibly good and so easy to make. The ingredients are as follows: melted chocolate, mini marshmallows and peanuts. You let it sit in the refrigerator for about 30-45 minutes to harden and then enjoy! Its that simple. They turned out great and I once again ate a lot :)

Among winter sports that I wanted to try, snowmobiling was high on my list. Maddis had talked about it before we got to the cabin so I was excited to try it. Her dad made sure the mobile was charged up and ready to go before we left. Unfortunately but also fortunately for me, I had to have a license to drive one, therefore I was going to be a passenger only. I was fine with that since I had never driven one before and the snow was really deep making it easy to get stuck. We set out on our way via the road first and then got to a snow mobile crossing that took us into the woods. Maddis opened her up and we were flying. I wasn't able to take any pictures or videos as we were driving along since my butt rarely touched the seat, so I had to hang on to the hand holds on either side. I hooted and hollered as we sped along, it was one of the most fun things we did. Maddis made sure to tell me that when she leaned to one side I needed to as well. It was like we were a bobsledding team, flash back to the movie Cool Runnings! We got to what seemed like the top of one of the "hountains" and noticed two guys digging out one of their mobiles that got caught in the deep snow. Maddis asked if they needed any help but they looked to be almost done digging themselves out. Unfortunately the snow seemed too deep to continue on the track so we had to turn around like the other guys were trying to do. Of course, as we tried to turn the mobile, it to got stuck. One of the guys looked over at us, laughed and then asked us if we needed help, we definitely did. So, after a few tries and a lot of pushing and pulling (on their part, I didn't really know which end to push and pull at so I helped when they asked but mainly stood back and flashed my cute smile and embarrassing laugh for the guys helping us) we were finally free of the snow only to get caught again 20 meters down the track. Luckily, again, there was someone to help us, so we got out pretty quick. We made it back to the house in one piece but it was a short ride. Maddis told me that the snow was just to deep and we could try another day. I agreed and since I wasn't that great of help getting us out of the snow, I decided taking a break from snowmobiling was a smart idea. However, we were not able to go again since time did not allow, but if we go there for an after season party I think we will be able to then. A girl can only dream!

Christmas Eve day came and the presents were all around the tree. Their normal tradition was to go cross country skiing, have dinner and then open presents. I had never been cross country skiing before but had seen it done on TV and thought that it looked fairly easy to achieve. Well, lets just say its easier on flat land then on the hills. Maddis thought I was going to fall just from standing on the skis, luckily I am somewhat coordinated and could handle myself on flat ground. However, going up and down the hills was another feat I was faced with. The first hill we came to, Maddis went down first and turned around to tell me what to do, "right foot slightly forward, bent knees, lean forward and try not to do anything else." Seemed simple only I looked like I was trying to do the splits with bent knees as I leaned to far forward. What ended up looking so easy for everyone else to do I made look hard and a little painful. I got the bottom and fell backwards and to the side. Laying there laughing and frustrated, I got up the best and only way I knew how, roll to the side and stand up. Thankfully that worked well enough so I wasn't left to roll around on the ground like a helpless caterpillar on skis. We ended up skiing for 2.5 kilometers and two more falls accompanied me on the way. One fall forced me to squeeze my legs together as hard as I could seeing as the tracks went from two lanes to three on the way down the hill. I was so desperate to not pull my groin that I ended up knock kneed before I crumpled in a heap to the ground as I made it to the bottom of the hill. Just for reference of these "hills", think of a small grassy knoll that kids like to roll down, that type of hill was my enemy that day. Regardless of falling, I found new respect for the sport overall and would love to do it again. Since I don't ski anymore I think it would be a great alternative and an amazing work out, I was sweating through my winter jacket at the end. Maddis's mom lapped us and went for 5 kilometers, go momma Eriksson!

That night we had the traditional Christmas food of Christmas ham, swedish meatballs (homemade), Janssons Temptation (potatoes and anchovies mixed together with cream), sil (type of fish mixture), deviled eggs with caviar, boiled potatoes, sweet mustard, caviar in a tube and some other little things that I am not to fond of eating. Weirdly enough, my favorite dish is the Janssons temptation (potatoes and anchovies). Its a baked dish that actually comes out to be pretty good if you don't think about what's really in it. Everything tasted amazing, especially the homemade swedish meatballs. After our meal, we gathered around the living room and began to hand out gifts. Maddis was "santa" so she handed out all the presents. I decided to open all the gifts  from Maddis and her family first and then to call my family on skype later. Maddis's mom and dad got me lotion and soap from the Body Shop and also really good Glogg that we drank at the cabin. Her sister Emilie got me a Swedish horse. They are little wooden horses that are a tradition here in Sweden. Some are painted red and or blue with designs on them and some are just one color. You see them everywhere and I was even talking about wanting to get one while I was in Salen on the way up in the car with Maddis. I was so excited when I unwrapped it, they probably thought I was a little crazy being as excited as I was about a little wooden white horse. Maddis gave me a post card with a picture of a fluffy wintery dog on the front. On the back it said in Swedish that she would be giving me my gift the next day and it was a surprise. I was able to connect with my family over skype and they were happy to see that I enjoyed all the gifts they got for me. One gift in particular was my ultimate favorite, an Olympus digital camera. Its shock proof, water proof and fool proof! Just the type of camera I need since I am super clumsy and have always wanted to have a waterproof camera. I absolutely love it and will carry it wherever I go which is great since my bigger one is so awkward and heavy when I want to go site seeing. They in turn opened their gifts I sent them. I was excited to see that they all seemed very pleased with what they got, made me happy.

The morning of the 25th we ate a quick breakfast and was out the door, on our way to the "surprise" Maddis had planned for the day. I asked her what I should wear and if what we were going to do involved a helmet. She told me to wear snowmobiling clothes and brought the helmets with us, also telling me jokingly that this was the last day of my life. When we arrived to our destination I did a quick scan and saw a number of things that could have been the big surprise. First thing I saw were snow mobiles so naturally I thought that we were going to do some heavier snowmobiling. Then I heard dogs and saw someone hitching them up to a sled on the opposite side of the road. The last thing was a ski lift and so I thought we were going to do some more cross country skiing at higher altitudes. All of these thoughts came to a halt when I saw 4 dog sleds with 8 dogs a sled come bounding through the trees and into the clearing. I looked at Maddis and she asked me if I knew what we were doing and I yelled with excitement "Dog Sledding?!?!" and she nodded. I jumped on her and gave her a huge hug. Dog sledding is something I have been wanting to do since I moved to Scandinavia. We both laughed when we realized she was the best boyfriend ever! Since the dog sledding was such a great part of the week over Christmas, I will make a separate post about it. For now just know that it was amazing and an incredible time.

In Sweden, everyone celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve so on the 25th everyone (i mean everyone) parties. Naturally Maddis and I were ready for this day, we decided to go in the sauna and jacuzzi with a few beers and have some relaxing time before we were to get our dance on at the bar that night. We got all gussied up and were then driven to a bar/club Harry's. When we got there, there was no line and not a whole lot of people inside...5 minutes later the place exploded with party people everywhere. The party was in full swing and Maddis and I were ripping up the dance floor when Maddis looked around and then yelled to me "we are the tallest girls in here!! We are a freak show!!" I laughed and reassured her that we weren't. Then I took a look around and realized that we really were the tallest people there, besides a few guys. Oh well, its common to be taller then most but to be taller then everyone, now that was weird. We met some skiers/employees who were working there in Salen and they even commented on our height. They told us that they noticed us right when we got the the bar to order drinks, we stood out. Ok, ok we get it, we are tall, but once we told them what we do, they understood why. Although one of them thought we were pulling a prank, thinking I was not from America and was in fact Swedish and that we weren't volleyball players, ha! What turned into a very late night (we did not go to sleep until 5am) made for a very sleepy morning after. The next day I don't think Maddis and I got up from the coach at all unless there was food to be eaten or to go to the bathroom. We both slept most of the day which was needed since the night had been so long.

Overall the night had been a great success but it also signified the closing of the time we had in Salen. On the 27th, we were to be heading out to Gothenburg, a city that has been talked about so much and also on the west coast of Sweden, I couldn't wait. What was also waiting for us there was a chance to hang out with the famous volleyballer Kyle Gramit.

The morning of the 27th I said my goodbyes to the Eriksson family and I thanked them about a million times, telling them this was probably the best way to spend Christmas being away from my own family. I didn't want to leave Salen, but I knew there were exciting things for me in Gothenburg as well. I know I will be back to Salen one day and hope that it is just as awesome as when I was there for Christmas. I will be forever grateful to the Eriksson family and Maddis for inviting me into their home over the holiday. It was a great Christmas and I will never forget it.

Engelholm

When Egelholm arrived to the gym, I was excited to get to see my old coach and a few other teammates I had played with in the past. I talked with Tina (coach) for a little bit and like always she assured me that she will always be around for me if I needed her. She was one of the best coaches I have ever had but also a great friend. I hope that friendship will continue through out the years.

Our match up with Engelholm was a loss but went better then expected. We took them to 4 sets and could have even taken them to a 5th set. One of their middle blockers was a beast and was blocking a lot. She also sounded like she had change in her pocket when she jumped but thats not important (haha). They had an outside hitter who was very experienced and had many shots and swings, a libero that was a good passer, setters who were quick and a middle who was a beast like I said before. The best part about their setters though, was that they were short so hitting over them was easy and where we got most of our points. Unfortunately for us, we started late and were down two sets to none. We got away with the 3rd set with 25-23. The 4th set could have gone either way but we let them slip by midway through.

All this being said, here is the positive side of the match: we finally started to play more like a team and flowed better together. Our passing was better making it easier for our setters and attackers to get an opening in the block. Mentally we grew and all of us stated that we had fun on the court that night, including me. I believe we were all able to do our own jobs and not have to worry about anything else which is how we worked better together as a team. The match against EVS I believe is the last match we will be playing with our heads down and timid. From now on, our team is stronger, more united and ready for whatever this league throws at us. We have proven that we can play against the top teams and give them some sort of fight. Now its time to show this league that we are not going to just lie down and get repeatedly kicked. Its time for us to do some of the kicking. As a part of this team, I refuse to be intimidated by other teams in this league and hope that the others refuse as well. When we play Sollentuna at our house after this weekend, I know that we will be ready to attack. Its time to take a stand and show people what kind of team we really are. Break time is over, lets get work done now, not tomorrow or the next day. I want to walk away from a match knowing we did all we could, that is all we can ask of ourselves anyway. No regrets, no worries, just play and everything will be fine. We had a sports psychologist come in to a practice one day and he said it perfectly, "dont think, no consequences, just do it!" I hope we can bring this mentality to this half of the season and make the play offs. I know we can and we will!

Nu kor vi Orebro!

Swedish Perks

Hey all! Here is a quick update on last two weekends matches: We lost in 5 to Svedala, got owned by one of their two pros all game (outside hitter), we couldn't figure out how to stop her iron fist from schooling us almost every time she hit the ball. We were almost always to early or to late in the block. But the good thing, now we know. Learning how to succeed and letting go of failure. Anyway, that night was disappointing but we earned ourselves a point regardless. We will beat them at their house, on to the next. RIG, the volleyball high school was next on the list. The first set was frustrating becuase it seemed like we were sleeping. The second set went long, 35-37, which we lost. Unfortunately I hit the last set ball into the net... Third set was a blow out, seemed like anything we did or tried was not enough. Although it looked like the other side was losing not us, but when you looked at us, even when we were doing well, we looked stressed and like we were losing. We need to fix these things now, or we will continue to lose and I know no one on this team wants that. Practices this past week have been intense, focused and tiring but all good. I see the fire starting to come back in the eyes of the girls. Its reassuring and gets my mood up as well.

While at RIG, I got to see my old teammate Nellie! When we played together she was 15, clumsy, tall and adorable. She was what I thought to be a human version of Bambi, so I called her that through out the time I was there. Not so sure she appreciated it, but always humored me with a smile and for that I thank her :) Ok, thats enough talk about volleyball for now.

As some of you may know, I am spending my 4th Christmas here in Sweden. I will be going up to my teammate Maddis' families cabin near a ski resort, the name she keeps telling me but I instantly forget since I can't pronounce it. I believe the name of the resort starts with an S, thats the best I can do right now unfortunately, ha. Of course I would rather be home with my family in warm California but listen to what we are going to do. We will go sledding, snow mobile-ing, building a snow man, cross country skiing, sauna-ing, jacuzzi-ing, going out on the 25th (common for all swedes to party this day) and be in the serene wintery wonderland that is Sweden during Christmas time. Plus Maddis say's that if I enjoy a beer and relaxation time then I would fit right in with her family. Im a shoe in! If I am going to stay in Sweden I would say, this is a pretty awesome way to spend Christmas. Now, I am not saying my two year stint with the Petterssons was not fun at all! I love that family and know they would welcome me into their house any time of the year. Maddis is one of my best friends on the team, so I am sure she and I will have a great time over the holiday break. She has not stopped talking about when we will go out on the 25th, which in turn makes me super pumped. I only hope her family likes me...
I heard from another teammate (who has know Maddis and her family for over 10 years) that her father is intimidating. She said that she just recently got over being scared of him. Hopefully the bottle of Jameson I got him for Christmas will help my chances.

 If you have never been to a place that snows during Christmas, you are seriously missing out. Christmas time and snow go hand in hand and it puts a whole new meaning on the holiday season. In Sweden, this time of year is a whole other world of beauty. People go the extra mile to show how much Christmas means to them. Let me paint a picture for you. Luckily this year we got snow early which makes everything all the more brighter. Riding my bike to practice at night never ceases to amaze me. Swedish people are very much into advent, lit up paper stars, twinkle lights and lots and lots of candles. You could burn down a small wooden house with how many candles I lit the other night. The thing about Sweden, is most everyone likes the cozy atmosphere during the winter. Its hard to get away from anyhow.

In town (Orebro) at the moment, every corner of every street is lit up and decorated. Starting on the North end of town working south, we have a whole street of trees adorned with white lights, there are about 100-150 trees lining the street. In the square with the castle there is a giant ram made out of pine tree branches (side note: last year it was burned to the ground, horrible smell) and the giant clock balcony has lights on the railings. Moving towards the main square with a big church and statue, is an advent calendar lit up on one of the buildings. Each window shows a different number of the month and then is turned into a picture when that day has come. The trees in this square are lit up with 3D stars and spheres. There are also two Christmas trees with white lights in the branches and the fountain also sports a waterfall of lights. In the last big square, where the malls are located, there are lit up cone shapes on the roof of one building, a giant tree in the other building and white lights in icicle form cascading down the front of one of the malls. On the three streets that make up the center of town, hang pine tree branch garlands with a red bell in the middle and two white stars on the outside which light up at night. On the main shopping street there are lights on all the small trees and also icicle lighting down the middle of the street on the lamp posts. The last street, we like to call the "red ball" street. There are giant red balls that light up down the street. In the trees, hang ornaments and icicle lights. PHEW! ok that is the most of it in town. Just trust me when I say people like to decorate with white lights and ever so cute santa gnomes.

It makes me think that I need to be taking more night shots, but its been so freezing lately. I need to suck it up one night and just do it. This weekend we have Engelhom, I will get to see Tina my old coach and whoever is still left from the old team. Im excited about that. I hope that we can shake them up and possibly win. If we believe in ourselves and each other it is a very very good possibility. Until then, adios and good day!

Coming up!

Well like I stated in the last blog post, Hylte is a good team and it would be a fight, which it was. Which we lost...unfortunately. They stated in their local newspaper that we were the worst passing team in the league and would be surprised if they didn't walk away with a win. Personally, I thought that was a low blow, but gave us more motivation to kick some ass. The first 4 points of the game were aces...delivered from us on their side of the court. One of their players was struggling a lot in the passing line up that night. I think almost every one of us got at least one ace from the serving line. Our passing was up and down but I definitely don't believe we are the worst passing team in the league.

Hylte put up a good fight and had 3-4 hitters who could crush which eventually took the match from us  in the end. Like usual we had some spectacular and not so spectacular plays. I was also in it with the referee a few times since some of the calls that were a bit ridiculous. But I am not the old Whitney who irrationally argued with the ref's, I have calmed down a lot after being in Sweden for three years. I used to think that hot headed attitude was just part of the game I played but now that I look back on the times when I got yellow cards and so on, I think "what a bone head!". Plus its exhausting arguing or even trying to sway their opinion about a call because you know they won't change. I changed the ref's mind once against Hylte and was surprised. Better to learn from your mistakes then to keep doing them.

Next we played Gislaved for the League Cup. I thought that it was going to be somewhat of an easy win for us since we beat them pretty well before in the Series. However, the line up was different, meaning they were back to their old selves like last season, a lot better then how they started this season. They put their old setter back in the line up so the two main hitters on their team were getting set a lot more. I think they may have released the foreign setter who was there in the beginning. She would tend to put the ball over on two a lot, she never really gave her hitters a chance to get in a rhythm. Her type of play may work in other leagues but not this one and not for Gislaved either. With that, we unfortunately lost and are now out of the running to win the League Cup. Its not a huge loss for us since we have set much higher goals for our team in the Series, but I, like many on the team wish we could still be in it to win it.

This week we are preparing for Svedala. They have two Americans on their team, both of which are good players according to our setter who knows them. One is a good hitter (high on the kills league) and the other has a nasty jump serve. The rest of the team I think are made up of the same girls from last season. I believe we can win this match in 3-4 sets if we pass consistently well, put balls away when we get perfect situations, cover, serve pressure and play calm but intense defense. Of course the other team will make some good plays but I think we will be able to minimize them with a great game plan. I look forward to playing them and hopefully getting another victory which will edge us closer to making the cut for Grand Prix!

In unrelated news, eight members of the team joined in a Thanksgiving feast Sunday night. This was the first year that I prepped the turkey on my own. It was disgusting but kind of liberating knowing that I could do it. Kris did a great job of basting the turkey while I made the stuffing. Everyone else brought things to add to the table. We had sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, dinner rolls and since there is no cranberry sauce here we substituted it with lingonberry sauce instead. We finished the meal with a wonderful desert of apple and pecan pies with vanilla ice cream (made by Elsa). Everything tasted very good and I was proud of the girls for helping put it together. For some this was their first time which was very exciting. When we sat down, we all said what we were thankful for and then did a toast. After all this the girls and I were very happy to get into the food.

Thanksgiving thursday I was lucky to get to talk to some of my family. As corny as it may sound we did a group internet hug (I hugged my laptop) and when I leaned back to see them all again, we were teary eyed. I miss them so much but was so happy I got to see them.

Until next week, preparation for this sundays game started yesterday! Lets get it, wooop!

Tough Loss

After a three match winning streak we have hit the end....for the time being ;) We met Lindesberg Wednesday night (Halloween), the Swedish Champs from last season. Our coach prepared us with smart tactics and a plan on how to infiltrate their strong attack and three person block. However, when we got on the court, at times, it seemed that we were lost on what to do. Our blocking was weak and they continued to burn us on hard angle swings. Our passing was 50/50, too many missed serves and our defense failed at times due to our blocking mistakes. That being said, there were times when we played brilliantly and actually took a set from them to make it a 4 set match. Our assistant coach said after the match, she felt like there was anxiety on the court and that is something she hasn't felt ever with this team. I guess I am to caught up with whats going on at the moment on the court, that I don't notice the anxiety. I didn't feel like people were anxious, maybe more nervous to make errors and quiet occasionally. These things we will come away from the match with and continue to improve upon.

We met them again a week after for the League Cup. We played a lot better however our serve misses were over the top and our passing was lacking. Our blocking and defense was stronger. Also our attacking was better as well. In the end we lost but we took them to 4 when we could have easily gone to 5 sets, however the last set didn't feel like all of us were fighting for it. I could see that some were tired (including me) and maybe a little discouraged about how they were playing. I was jump serving this time, for the first time so I was missing quite a lot which was no good, but I tried not to worry to much about it since it was out of the ordinary for me. Next time my serving will be better and more consistent. Im more worried about hitting the backs of my teammates heads! In the end the match was well played but of course we could have pushed them further. We are bound to beat them this season I am certain.

This weekend we have Hylte/Halmstad. They are a good team so I think it will be a good fight that I hope we will win. If we focus on what we have to do on our side of the court then we will for sure win. Its all about the strategy that our coach gives us and our skills as a team that will help us succeed. Go Orebro Volley!

Better Late Then Never.

So, its been a long time since I have written an update and I must admit a lot has happened. I will try to keep it short and sweet, so please hang in there if I begin to ramble. Where to start....ok, I've got it! Our first match after a rough pre season. Every team in the league participates in the Ligga Cuppen (League Cup). Our first opponents were Sollentuna who we beat in 3 sets to none! The match went well with a few glitches here and there, but its always nice to have something to improve on, no one is perfect. This win has ensured our spot in the next round of the Cup, awesome!

Our first series match was against Solletuna again. They had two of their starters back in the starting rotation and were able to rattle our passing line up a bit in order to take the win 3 sets to 1. It was a disappointing loss for us since we were clearly the better team. Our passing was ultimately our downfall in this match. The week following this match we practiced hard on passing and attacking in transition.

Our next game was at home against Gislaved. They were equipped with the same two outside hitters as the season before, a new setter and a good defensive plan. Their new setter was the kind who sets/tips the ball over if she is front row or back row 85 percent of the time. In other words the infuriating type for many. Our tactics were simple, shut down the outsides and NEVER let the setter win with her way of getting points. Well, we did it! There was one ball that the setter threw over which fell but other then that, we got EVERYTHING else. It was a great feeling to be able to rattle another team who we had trouble with last season. We beat them 3 sets to 1.

A home match against Ljungby was next. This match could have been a 3-0 win but the 3rd set felt a little to laid back and we weren't able to rally in time until the last couple points. This gave us momentum for the 4th set which we won however it was a little to close for comfort. A win is a win though and we took it yet again 3 sets to 1! The match was one of my favorites because it was the first I did not have any mistakes!! Something I would like to try and continue through out the season. I know it won't happen all the time, however keeping my mistakes low or having none at all will help the team firstly and also my confidence for the rest of the season.

This week we only have practice after practice and lifting. Our next game is at Lindesberg. It will be a fun match since I know their crowd will be there and hopefully peppered with a few Orebro supporters. A lot of energy to work with I am sure. I will be facing a setter who played to the same University and under the same head coach as I did. We did not play together but I was able to see her play in a few matches while I was still in school. I must admit she is a force to watch out for. I hope that the Orebro volley girls and myself will be able to come in the match prepared and ready to take on this strong team.  We have the skill and the support from with in to beat them. We just need to be consistent and focused through out the match. Its about time it was our turn to show this league what we are made of!

Until next time, some of us are going to carve pumpkins tonight. Will be fun to do something that reminds me of home. Also some of the girls have never participated in something like this, so it will be fun to see what they think about it all. After the carving is done, I will be attempting to roast the seeds. Wish me luck! Next time I write I hope to have a few more wins to report :) Bye for now!

A couple pictures are below from the fall weather here in Sweden :) Enjoy!