Phuket and Season Wrap-up

The tournament in Phuket, Thailand was the last competition of our 2010 season. When we arrived it was pretty rainy, but it still felt very warm. The rain held up for our first match, which was against another team from Thailand. We won the game in two sets and were ready to advance to the next round. This time we were matched up against a team from Poland and had a lot of trouble playing strong throughout the games. We'd start off playing well, but after each of the technical time outs, we just couldn't stay aggressive. We lost the match in two sets. It was really disappointing, not only to have lost in the 2nd round, but also to finish our season with a game where we just didn't play our best. Not only that, this tournament was our last chance to achieve our goal of making the main draw.

But as disappointing as the ending is, I can't overlook what I great season this has been overall. I've traveled all over the world and gained valuable experiences in playing at an international level that I know will help me in the future. I've also learned a lot about myself and really developed my understanding of other cultures I've encountered. This summer has been the beginning of a long journey and I've definitely learned so much throughout all the ups and downs. Now I'm taking a well deserved break to spend time with family and friends (and go skiing!). I'm looking forward to a little R&R, but of course I know it won't be long before I'm itching to get back out on the sand!

Who's your daddy?

I'd just like to make a big shout out to FAT DADDY'S in China. Not only does the restaurant have great food, there are some amazing people there too. They really took care of us here in Sanya- including coming to cheer for our Canadian teams during the tournament! Thanks again Sheldon and Max, we're definitely coming back next year!!

You win some, you lose some

Our first game was against a team from Thailand. We really didn't know what to expect- this was a team we'd never seen before. I think we underestimated them a little, because the match started with them getting four points right off the bat. The Thai girls were very loud, every time they scored a point they would scream. We had to calm our nerves a little and focus on taking care of the ball on our side. We lost the first set 17-21. But this gave us an opportunity to see what they were like. The next set went well for us, we beat them 21-16. Then in the third set, we were neck and neck until the very end. At one point we were down 12-14. It was our tough serving and changing up of our defensive strategy that gave us a 16-14 win! This match was so exciting to play and it felt so good to win!! But now it was time to look ahead to our next match. We had about an hour break before we had to play a Dutch team. We came back from a being down several points in the first set to bring it to 22-22. Unfortunately, because of some poor passing at the end, we lost the set 22-24. For the next set we tried to regroup. We had a lot of trouble controlling the basic skills like passing and setting that we really didn't play our game, and lost 13-21. The loss was really disappointing because we know we can play better than we did. This was the closest we'd come to making the main draw- we would have been in with this win. Now it's time to move forward and use the time we have here for some training sessions with other teams in order to prepare for the last tournament of our season. Next stop: Phuket!

Game Day

We're finally getting settled here in China. I think we've adjusted to the 12 hour time change pretty well and we're getting used to the heat. We also managed to get some local currency. We borrowed some money from another team, and as we were waiting for a taxi to take us into town, an acquaintance that we made at the airport happened to drive by. He stopped and offered to take us to the bank. Afterwards, he took us to his restaurant, "Fat Daddy's", and gave us complimentary smoothies, nachos and tank tops with his logo on them, Big score! Kacie and I were feeling pretty good after we trained with a team from Japan yesterday. We had our technical meeting last night, and our first game today is against a team from Thailand. I'm really excited to play!

Sanya, China

Sanya is on an island called Hainan, which is located off the southern coast of China. I'm pretty sure we're as far south as you can go in China. And boy is it hot here! The heat is comparable to what we experienced in Manzanillo, Mexcio.Our hotel (with air conditioning, thankfully) is very nice and it's across the street from the courts, which are on the ocean. It hardly feels like we're in China; the weather and the palm trees make it feel like a tropical destination. However, it does feel like we're in China when it comes to ordering food. There are some interesting items on the hotel menu, it doesn't help that nobody speaks English!

One problem that we've run into is having a lack of cash. We didn't anticipate that the ATMs wouldn't accept our debit cards. As a result, we've resorted to eating at the hotel and charging the meals to our rooms. We also have to ration our water supply, which is difficult to do in the heat. During our training session today with a team from Great Britain, Kacie and I were feeling kind of delirious from a lack of hydration. We made sure to cut the practice short and find some water. In an effort to get more cash from a bank, we decided to spend my last 6Yuan (equivalent to $1) to get a ride to a bank in the city centre. Armed with a piece of paper that held the name of our final destination in chinese characters, we were told to take a bus. While waiting, a motorcycle taxi stopped by, so we showed him where we wanted to go and explained that I had very limited funds. He said he would take us. So we hopped in his sidecar and were on our way! We drove for about 15 minutes, then dropped us off by a little rundown market. We walked around, looking for a bank, or even another ATM. Something didn't feel right, so we showed our piece of paper to a local and asked if this is where we were. Oh no, they said, that's very far away! We were duped! And worse, none of the vendors took credit cards, so we couldn't even buy fruit or water. And so, we began our long walk home. We walked for about an hour and a half in the heat. Now it's time for some sleep and recovery in our hotel room. Hopefully tomorrow will go more smoothly!

Family matters

Here's an article on my (not so) little brother, Lenny!

He's a member of Canada's cross country ski team.

Is it just me.... or is it HOT out here??

After staying a night in Puerto Vallarta (with a minor incident of a cockroach landing on Kacie's head) we began to make our way over to Manzanillo. Turns out it was a little farther away than we had anticipated. We boarded a sketchy bus at 6am and traveled the 7 hour journey alongside local Mexican men... not too glamourous. Let's just say I was glad that was over!

Manzanillo is pretty far south in Mexico, so it was HOT. Apparently it was supposed to be 'rainy season'.... boy, I would have loved to see some rain. Not only was the temperature up there in the 30s, the humidity was a killer too.

Despite the heat, Manzanillo was beautiful. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort called Club Maeva. The athletes were given little private villas to stay in that had air conditioning.

Our first game was mid-day Thursday against Guatemala. We were excited to play because the sand was pretty shallow which meant Kacie and I could jump high and hit some hard balls. We started off really strong, earning a big lead with some tough serving and scoring big points. However, as the match continued and the day got hotter, we began to feel the heat. The game ended up going to 3 sets, but we pulled off a win. Afterwards I didn't feel very well- a sore throat and... chills? in this heat?? I tried sleeping it off, but when it was time to get up and attend the opening ceremonies, I was really feeling like crap. I went to find the on-site doctor and it turns out I had a fever and a throat infection. After cradling an ice-pack and taking some super strength Advil and antibiotics for my throat I was told to drink water and rest.

The next day I woke up feeling much better... not 100%, but well enough to play. We were scheduled to play one of the top teams in the tournament, Puerto Rico (at mid-day of course). To be honest, I don't really remember much of this game. When the whistle blew at the end of the first set, I thought the other team had called a time out... but it turns out we had won! I was so focused on playing that I didn't even notice the score. This game ended up going to 3 sets as well, but this time we lost in a tough fight. With that win, Puerto Rico made it to the semis and we had to play another game.

We only had about 1hour off before we had to play again! I couldn't believe how they'd organized the games. I barely had enough time to recover and cool down before heading out under the blazing sun again. This time we faced a Mexican team. For the third time in the tournament, we took the match to 3 sets. This team constantly put the ball over in two contacts which caught us off guard a bit. They ended up taking the third set in a heart-breaking 15-13 win. It was a very disappointing loss because this is team that Kacie and I could definitely beat, but under the circumstances we just couldn't pull it together.

Despite the loss, playing in this tournament was a really good learning experience and a lot of fun. I know now what I have to do in terms of energy management and dealing with heat. And as always, we had a blast hanging out with our friends who play on the tour. I'm already looking forward to playing in another NORCECA tournament next year!

Tijuana

Kacie and I spent the last 2 weeks in Mexico. First we travelled to Tijuana, which is just south of the US border on the west coast. When we first crossed the border into Mexico, we didn't really know what to expect. Tijuana has a reputation for for being a sketchy city... and I'd say it lived up to that reputation. We were provided accommodation on a university campus that was gated with security guards who followed strict rules about entering/leaving the premises.

The 'athlete's village' in which we stayed was decent, but also strict.. there were designated hours to have fun (play ping pong, access the internet, etc). The rest of the time, we just killed time... and played some volleyball of course!

Our first game was against the Cubans. It was a tight match and we lost the third set with a score of 14-16... which was disappointing. At least is was nice to see that we could be competitive with some of the stronger teams here.

Our next match against Mexico the following day did not go well at all. It was one of those games where nothing was going right for me. I was served the entire game... if I tried to hit the ball I'd be blocked, and if I tried to make a shot it was dug. It was very frustrating to feel like I was not in control. The game was over in two quick sets and needless to say, I was feeling pretty upset afterwards.

To take my mind off things, Kacie and I decided to go into downtown Tijuana with the other Canadian team (Becky and Colleen) to do some shopping. This was definitely very distracting.. Tijuana is crazy! Not to mention that the four of us got some extra attention for being the only blond people in the entire city. The next day we went on a mission to find a beach. We got there for sunset and rode horses along the water. It was so amazing, I was definitely starting to feel better!

Our next event was the following weekend in Manzanillo, Mexico. Instead of going there directly, we decided to stay one night in San Diego because that's where we were flying out of. We spent a full day at Pacific Beach boogie boarding and playing around with a volleyball with a Canadian men's team from Quebec, Simon and Fiji.

Now we're heading back into Mexico. Our flight arrives in Puerto Vallarta, and from there we'll make our way to Manzanillo!!

Nationals

The Canadian National Beach Championships was a three-day tournament that took place from August 27-29 at Ashbridges Bay. Kacie and I were ranked 2^nd in our pool. On the first day we played three teams and didn’t drop a set. The next morning we played the top ranked team in our pool, Jamie and Liz (who are no strangers to us, having played them in the past 2 country quotas). This proved to be a really tight game, and we ended up winning in the third set with a final score of 22-20!

After a 4 hour break, we played and won our next game to advance to the quarter finals. Here we were matched up against another nationally carded team, Marie-Christine Mondor and Melanie Savoie from Quebec. This is a really strong team, and Kacie and I ended up losing the match in 2 sets. It was really disappointing, because it meant we were out of the tournament and could not advance to play in the semifinals the next day.

MC and Mel went on to win third place, Jamie and Liz ended up second, and Heather and Liz were the national champs! Congrats to everyone.

And I’d just like to thank my parents, grandparents, brother Austin, Jane, Sarah and Duda for coming to cheer us on! I really appreciate your support, so thanks!!!

The tryouts for the 2011 Beach National Team included playing in nationals as part of the process. There were also interviews and physical testing during the three days following nationals. Everyone has to try out for the team each year, even if you were on the team in the previous year. The team will be announced later this year.

I'm on a boat!

... Well, it's a ferry. And it's huge! We're on our way to the next stop on the World Tour. We flew from Kristiansand, Norway to Stockholm, Sweden, and from there were are taking a ferry to an island called Åland in Finland. The ship we're on has a restaurant deck, several viewing and sleeping decks as well as a sauna!! I'm sure there's more I haven't discovered yet. This 5 hour trip will go by in no time.

As I'm writing this, I'm looking out the window to breathtaking Scandinavian scenery. It almost reminds me of the Muskoka lakes in Ontario.

After spending a week in Kristiansand we are moving on to Finland. We're leaving behind enjoyable and unfortunate experiences, both being equally memorable. Last Monday we played in a Country Quota match. The FIVB only allows 4 teams per country to enter the tournament, any excess teams play off in order to make the Qualifier (Canada has 5 women's teams entered here so the teams with the lowest amount of points had to play each other for the 4th Qualification spot). It worked out that we would have to play Jamie and Liz.

This was a match like no other that I've played before- I'd never been so nervous for a game! It felt like there was just so much to lose: win and make the Qualifier with a chance to make the Main Draw, lose and your tournament ends right there. The match wasn't pretty- there were so many unforced errors on our part and we lost the match in 3 sets. Kacie and I were pretty upset with the loss. It was tough to hang around in such a small town while everyone got to play, and we weren't allowed! We did manage to go watch most of Canada's games- they were all very exciting! Jamie and Liz actually made it into the Main Draw, which is a huge accomplishment!! Congrats to them, and to Heather and Liz, who also had an excellent tournament.

It's also hard to stay upset in Kristiansand for too long because the town is just beautiful! The buildings and restaurants were so quaint (however expensive!) and the people were also pretty friendly. Also- I've never seen so many blond people in my life!! It was a refreshing change from traveling is Asia. I felt like I blended in a little better here!

Kacie and I spent the week training with some other teams. We're ready to move forward and take on Jamie and Liz in the next Country Quota game in Åland!

On the road again...

Two weeks after playing in Vancouver, Kacie and I made our way up to Kelowna for the Centre of Gravity tournament. This is a festival that happens every year for a whole bunch of different sports including wakeboarding, jetskiing, dirtbiking, bmx and of course, beach volleyball. My parents and Austin came for the weekend to cheer us on (even after suffering some injuries and illnesses during the trip!).

We ended up having a pretty good tournament, coming in 3^rd place. We lost to the tournament champs (Heather and Liz) in the semifinals and beat our former partners (Asya and Rebecca) for the bronze.

After getting back home we had less than three days in Toronto to do laundry and pack for the next 3 weeks! Now we’re in Kristiansand, Norway and it’s absolutely beautiful!! The weather is cool (about 20C) and slightly cloudy, but it’s a nice break from the muggy Toronto heat.

The only thing not so nice about Norway is how expensive everything is!! Walking through the streets, we checked out some of the menus of local restaurants: the average meal was about $40 CAD. A club sandwich was $30!! We’re going to have to start getting creative with our meals here….

Vancouver!

I love being on the west coast! It seems like every time I come here in the summer, the weather is absolutely perfect. Kacie and I played in a 2-day tournament at Kitsilano Beach last weekend. We played a total of 7 exciting matches and ended up coming in 4th out of 32 teams. As usual, we had a lot of fun playing some of the top teams in the country. (Jamie and Liz, the tournament champs, are off to Korea to represent Canada in a couple of invitational tournaments. Best of luck girls!!). We will see most of the other teams in Kelowna for another big tournament next weekend.

Our stay in Vancouver was made possible thanks to the generosity of Kri's family (Kri was my roommate for 4 years at UofT). Her parents treated us like their own kids by letting us take over their house and even borrow their car to get to the beach. They also came to cheer for us while we competed, and even took care of me while I came down with strep throat!! I can't thank Julie, Blair and Pat enough (and Amy and Kri for letting us stay in your rooms!). You guys have been more than amazing.

I'd also like to thank Blair for taking pictures on the weekend! Here are a few:

Change up

There have been some big changes since my last post. Asya and I have split. It was a very difficult decision to make, but we have both moved on and found new partners. I just want to say that I respect Asya as a person, a player and a friend. I learned so much playing with her this season. She has played the game for a while now and definitely has a good understanding of the game tactics and has amazing ball control. There are no hard feelings as we continue to practice daily with our new partners under our head coach, Lennard.

My new partner is Kacie MacTavish. I'm really excited to train and compete with Kacie. Our first big event will be at the Corona Open in Vancouver (July 16-17).

No pain, no gain

Our first week back from Korea was a pretty grueling one. It was the Train 2 Compete National Selection Camp- which Asya participated in, and I as her partner. Training started on Tuesday and went throughout the week including the OVA tournament on Saturday. The weather was getting cooler and rainier as an intensive week of skill testing ensued. At the end of each day, everyone was sore and exhausted, but throughout it all we knew we were building up our stamina and toughening our mentalities- if we can survive this, we can play in anything!

Thursday was a particularly rough day, we had 6 hours of training, mostly in the rain. Unfortunately, that day I also rolled my ankle. The sand was hard-packed because of the rain and there were some pretty big divets on the courts. I came down from a block jump and landed on my ankle in a funny way. I ended up just getting it taped and continued to play. The next day it felt much worse, so I was advised to take the day off and go see a physiotherapist at the Athletic Centre at UofT. Turns out I strained a tendon, so it's nothing too serious.

The weather on Saturday turned out to be perfect! I got my ankle taped up for the tournament and Asya and I ended up winning! It was a great day- so nice to be back home. Now we're taking a well-deserved few days off to recuperate from the week. Then we'll be back at it again! I can't wait!

Home

After traveling to three tournaments across the globe over the past two months, it feels really good to come back home to a familiar routine, food and regular sleeping habits! We'll be training and competing in Canada for the next couple of months.

While on the road, we've developed a list of things we'd like to work on and it will be nice to get some helpful feedback from our head coach, Lennard Krapp.

Another great thing about coming home is that I get to do another one of my passions: road biking. The weather was absolutely beautiful so my dad and I put in 71km this weekend.

Game Time: Seoul

We trained for a few days before the tournament started. Our first training day was cold and rainy, and when we arrived at the courts only one other team was there- our fellow Canadians! We did some drills with Kara Zakrzewski and Julie Rodrigue and a German team eventually joined us as well. The next day we decided to get our practice session in just before the technical meeting. We started warming up on one of the empty courts as Larissa and Juliana (currently the top team in the world) came over and asked if they could share our court for their warm up. OBVIOUSLY we didn't mind. Asya was just serving some balls at me so I could practice my passing and Larissa and Juliana would spontaneously jump in and set the pass for me to hit. It was a really cool experience. I'm pretty sure I hit the ball harder than I ever have in my life! When they left our court, we trained with a team from Latvia. The weather finally cleared up for qualification day! The sun was shining, but the wind was pretty gusty. We were set to play a Japanese team for our first match. We know this team fairly well because we trained with them a couple of times in Brazil and China. Our first set started off well, but they pulled ahead with some tough serves for a final score of 15-21. The next set was tight! They were one point ahead at the technical time out, then we were ahead for most of the second half of the set. They ended up winning 21-19, taking the match. This was a disappointing result for us, but Asya and I are pleased with the way we played for the most part. We are definitely improving as the season progresses. There is still a long way to go and although the loss is frustrating, it's a good learning experience for us. After our game, as I was watching another match, a woman came up to me and asked if I could do an interview on the radio. I was a little reluctant... still being depressed after the loss and all... but I grabbed Asya and it turned out to be a lot of fun! Now we are going to do some sightseeing in this awesome city. Check out my facebook page for more pictures!

Getting started.

Hello and welcome to my blog! I'm just learning how to use this site, but I thought I would get things started with a little update on our beach season and travels so far. My partner is Asya Danilova, a former Varsity Blues indoor volleyball teammate of mine. Together we're an awesome team, both of us being over 6 feet tall! We've decided that I will be the designated blocker, and Asya will defend. In April we traveled to Brasilia, Brazil to compete in our first FIVB tournament together. We were one of three women's teams there representing Canada. This was an awesome experience for us in terms of experiencing our sport at an international level and getting used to spending a lot of time together. The city itself was rather boring, so we had to find our own ways of keeping ourselves entertained. (Un)luckily I still had one more exam to write for school, so I studied the whole time I was there. Asya was dependent on the Internet, and one day when it broke down, I saw how truly determined my beach partner can be. I'm pretty sure she single-handedly forced the hotel to fix it immediately, and wouldn't stop bothering them until they did. It was pretty impressive. We trained most of the days we were in Brazil, with many teams from all over the world. In the tournament we lost to a team from Germany. We had a really tight first set, but our lack of experience playing together at this level came through in the end and we couldn't pull out a win. Regardless, the experience is one we have definitely learned from. When we got back to Toronto, I wrote my last undergrad exam ever! It feels indescribably good to be done. Now I can put all my energy into what I love: playing beach volleyball! In early May, we left for the next FIVB tournament in Shanghai, China. The flight was really long, and the time difference there is 12hours, so I didn't even have to set my watch! Our tournament was actually just outside of Shanghai, in a place called Jinshan. The tournament site was a cheap cab ride from our hotel and right on the beach. Again we trained with many other teams, most of which are becoming our friends now! When the tournament started, we played a pair of twin sisters from Finland. This game didn't go very well for us, but we got to get a taste of what it's like to play a high ranked team in this sport. We traveled back home and trained for the short time we were there. We're currently in Seoul, Korea, living with Brianna- my amazingly awesome friend from high school♥. So far we are having a great time experiencing some of the fantastic food this city has to offer. Unfortunately it's currently raining, and it's supposed to stay this way for the next few days! I hope the weather man is wrong on this one. More updates to come! Thanks for reading!

Provided by website-hit-counters.com site.