Nationals

After a 4.5 hour bus ride by our favorite driver Kim, the MNU Volleyball team arrived in Sioux City, IA at the Tyson Events Center. As exciting as the bus ride was through the western Iowa cornfields and what not, walking into the Tyson Events Center got our hearts beating. We followed the sound of volleyballs to the gym for our first practice of the national tournament. Playing on a court with bright lights and gigantic ceilings is a bit different compared to our home Cook Center. After a good energetic practice we checked into the nice, cozy Stoney Creek Inn which is approximately 500 feet from the convention center (talk about convenience)! We are really thankful for the amazing living situations we have for the next five days. After getting all cleaned up we hopped on the bus and went to eat dinner at Pita Pit. I think it's safe to say a majority of the team found a new love at dinner. We scarfed down those pitas quite rapidly. We returned to the hotel and a few of us got excited when we saw the indoor/outdoor pool and hot tub and decided we had better test it out. The first day at the national tournament ended with 17 tired young ladies ready for a good nights sleep.

Monday morning arrived and we were up and ready for breakfast. The Biola volleyball team is also staying at our hotel and we were able to talk with a few of them at breakfast. Although we didn't have any games today, we had a full day planned starting with helping out at the special olympic volleyball camp at the Tyson Events Center. All 24 teams of the national tournament were able to help out at the camp and teach volleyball to the campers. We had about 2 kids to every team so it was a lot of interacting one-on-one. A little boy named Anthony had most of our attention as we all circled around helping him learn how to do some basic volleyball skills. We then got a volleyball game (playing with a beach ball) going with more of the campers and everybody enjoyed seeing the excitement in their eyes. After the camp was over, we took a little road trip to the mall. We ate lunch and a few people did some speedy shopping for outfits for the banquet we had this evening. We had a bittersweet last practice this afternoon and for the seniors it is starting to hit that this will be the last week of competitive volleyball we will play in our lives. We will always be thankful for the talents and teammates that God has given to us.

Once we were through practicing, we had a few hours to get beautified for the NAIA national volleyball championship banquet. Being part of the top 24 teams has been a honor and we have gotten to experience so much through it. The banquet was filled with excitement and fun. We took pictures in a photo booth and even got to sit on Santa's lap. Anna Nostrant, one of our seniors, was recognized for her award as a champion of character. Molly Brewster, Megan Hayes, and myself Laura Hamblin were also honored as scholar athletes. We ended the night by heading to our rooms and working on some homework... well some of us did. We have really enjoyed the atmosphere that the national tournament brings and are looking forward to actually playing some games! Our first opponent is #2 University of Texas at Brownsville. We will take them on Tuesday at 5:45pm.

I'll update more on the lives of your MNU volleyball players tomorrow!

Laura Hamblin