MIDD Falls to Tough Union Team in 5 Set Duel

Our first mid-week road trip was a long one.  At least we still weren't in classes, but everyone did have to get up early (or most everyone) for their first day of class after a late return.  We knew Union was going to be a tough match, and unfortunately we provided them with their 5th 5 set victory so far on the young season.  We eased into a 1st set victory, but battled the rest of the way for scores of 20-25, 25-23, 20-25, and 11-15.

We saw some play from two of our freshmen for the first time this season, and both Isabel and Sarah came ready to play and showed no signs of "being freshmen" on the court.  Although the setback was a real bummer, I remain very optimistic about our options and outlook on the season. 

Our passing wasn't quite consistent enough to run our middles as much as we'd like, but we did get big numbers out of our outsides.  Becca continued leading the team with 16 kills and 11 digs to go with her 3 service aces.  Isabel's introduction to college ball was a success pacing the team with the next most kills at 10 (and her first collegiate set, she crushed the ball straight to the floor in front of the unsuspecting defender, which as fun!)  We blocked well as a team with Mel setting a school record of 9 block assists to lead the team, along with 5 from Eliana and 3 from Hannah.  Emily led our team in digs again, playing in her newly converted position of libero, followed by Hannah with 18, and both Becca and Jen getting 11 digs apiece.  Overall, we had too many service errors, and too many hitting errors as we only connected for a hitting % of .112 and committed 12 service errors. 

If you look at the numbers, we held a slight edge in most categories--our hitting % was slightly higher, we edged them in total blocks, very slight advantages in service aces and reception errors, but I guess we just didn't finish.  Looking back at the film, however, we were staying aggressive to the end, which is what we want.  We got blocked a couple times as the match closed out, but we were still swinging hard, which is good.  Full Stats link here.

This weekend is our first home stand, and opening weekend for Conference play.  We host Bowdoin on Friday night, and then play a non-Conference tri-match on Saturday with Cortland State, and Colby-Sawyer.  Should be a very competitive weekend of volleyball, and a lot of fun, especially to be home!

MIDD Sweeps Smith Tournament

Our opening weekend went off without a hitch, except that we were without our freshmen, which is always a bummer, but Orientation takes precedence, and we all understand that.  I think they all enjoyed their respective experiences, although the rain did "dampen" them a bit... Sorry, I couldn't resist. We took all nine of our returners down for the tournament, and all nine played in every set, I believe, which was nice.

Our opening match on Friday night against Manahttanville, we got off to a great start and were clicking right from the start to take set one fairly easily.  We played pretty well and finished the match off with a straight set sweep, and headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. Only one room had a triple, which is a bit of a luxury for us, and we had Gary as a bus driver, so we were in good hands!

The next morning we kicked off our tradition of a Dunkin stop if we play well the night before, and we even took a picture to send to our SID for the Twitter, or Facebook, or whatever our social media outlets are, so good job, Charlotte (our social media liaison!)

Once back at the gym we took no time in getting started again and took three straight sets from Ursinus.  Since our match ended pretty quickly, we got to watch the end of the Smith match before playing them, and then quickly took three straight sets from them as well for the clean sweep on the weekend. Smith gave us a bit more of a challenge, but we were up for it.

Becca and Melanie were named all tournament team for their efforts, but really everyone had a great weekend.  Even though everyone was returning, several players were stepping into starting roles for the first time, or starting in a different spot, so it was great to see the team communicating and working together.

We are excited to be under way with our season, and we have a big week ahead of us with Union away on Tuesday, and then Bowdoin on Friday at home.   Saturday we host a tri-match with Cortland State and Colby-Sawyer, so all week will pose some great challenges for us and should really test us to see where we are right now.

I'm very optimistic about our team this year, and looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead for us.  It'll also be nice to have our full team with us as we have many options this year, and it's going to be fun to start to put the puzzle together.  Stay tuned...

2015 Season Kicks Off

The Team is BACK!  We got things started off with a BBQ at my house with everyone, including several parents.  Unfortunately, I wasn't on top of things to get a picture of the parents, but we had at least one parent from most families, and a few people with both parents, which was really fun!  Sarah's little sister came along and made fast friends with my daughters, which was great!  The only bummer of the evening was when Judd's daughters came and jumped immediately on our old playset only to get stung twice within a minute by some wasps!  She's fine, thank goodness, but very scared at the time!  And, my husband, who always does the grilling was running late, so my trusty young assistants grabbed the reins, or in this case, the meat and said, we'll grill!  (Thank you, guys!)

The next day we had our "Administrative Day" to discuss some of the many, many things we have to before we can start.  There's paperwork for a gazillion things, it seems, and so we talked in a classroom, signed forms, and met with people in the morning, and then got out for a local hike up Snake Mountain in the afternoon to finish discussing some more of the many issues that we need to discuss before we get started with real practice. 

It's a great way to get out and see VT for everyone, and get to know each other.  Even though the hike is less than 10 miles from campus, most people had not been up it yet, so that was fun.  Great view, even on a hazy day.  The Champlain Valley, Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks are all in view below--simply gorgeous!   The whole gang is pictured above.  (back row: Alice, Eliana, Melanie, Hannah, Becca, Emily, Isabel and Sarah.  front row: Gabi, Charlotte, Jen, Rose and Claire.)  And, below are pictures of each group by class, starting with our Junior Leaders!

We're excited this year to welcome our new freshmen to campus, and also welcome back a couple of Alums that are going to help coach this year.  Meg '14 is back for her second year in the Admissions Office and on the bench as an Assistant Coach, and Lizzy '15 is back working in town and helping out also when she can, which is great.  And, we're lucky that Brian is still with us after taking on a new job of his own, switching to a company called Twincraft in Burlington.  It's still a cosmetic company, but we have yet to see if they have seconds for a "goody bag" for the team to rummage through?!  :)  After five practices, we'll take our show on the road for our scrimmage in Northern Vermont on Sept. 5th.  We better get busy!

Alumnae Summer Encounters!

I got a couple of great pics from alums this summer who were sharing their fun reunions with former teammates!  First of all, Caitlin ('13) came back to MIDD for a weekend of summer fun at the end of June and hiked Snake Mtn. with Lizzy ('15) and Kathryn ('16). 

You have to love the "selfie," or group selfie in this case?  I, of course, still don't quite have the hang of it, and my now 15 year old daughter just laughs (ok, probably eye rolls) at me when I even attempt it, but it's so great to get these selfies because everyone's in the picture then! 




In July, Jane ('12) ran into Mallory ('10) in Chicago, I think out of the blue!  Jane lives in Chicago, and Mallory was just visiting, and I didn't get all the details, but it sounded like they had a chance encounter.  Small world, huh?!  How exciting and fun to run into old friends!  Thanks for sharing!

 Have a great rest of summer.  The countdown is ON now to the 2015 season.  We start this year as we always do with the BBQ at my house on August 31st, so that puts our countdown at just under three weeks now (20 days!).  I hope the workouts are going well for everyone returning!  IF any alums want our fitness test, just for old times' sake, I'm happy to send it to you!  Just let me know.  :) 

(PS--I've gone soft in my old age--no more timed mile, so many of you might not find it all that bad?!  Boo hoo!)

2014 Team Posts 7th Highest GPA in Division III Volleyball!

The AVCA posted it's annual Team Academic Awards earlier this week, and once again, Middlebury College Volleyball was among those honored.  Our wonderful sports information guys here at MIDD (Dain and Brad) did a little more digging and actually found out that we had the 7th highest GPA among all Division III schools honored.  Thanks for the extra digging to find out that information, guys!  :)  Here's the link to the press release done by MIDD Athletics:  http://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/wvball/2014-15/releases/20150730fmzj8x.

Nice going, Team, and keep up the great work in the classroom, as well as on the court.  As August approaches, the countdown is on--31 days till we meet again! 

Sarah Studwell '13 Rides for Pride!

Sarah Studwell '13, or Stud as she was known with MCVB, participated in the Ride for Pride this June near her hometown, and surpassed her group's fundraising goal!  Sarah rode 50 miles to raise awareness and funds toward LGBT regional support programs and national LGBT lobbying efforts.  She reported that, "Despite the recent progress with the blanket legalization of gay marriage, GENDA (the gender non-discrimination act that would prohibit discrimination based on gender identification) failed to pass once again. So your donations will be put to good use!"  

Sarah said that her group's goal was to raise $25,000 and at the time she sent me her update they had raised over $30,000, so well done, Stud, that's awesome!!  And, riding 50 miles is no small feat, so congratulations for not only raising that amount of funds, but also in completing the ride.  Here are a couple of pictures of Stud and her group.  What a great experience and cause.  Happy Summer, and thanks for sharing your event, Sarah!!



This last picture is our flagpole here in MI.  After the court ruling, my middle daughter told my husband that she wanted to get a rainbow flag and fly it along with the American flag.  So, they got on Amazon.com and found one!

Summer Fun!

Hannah has been in Rwanda, at a farm, working for Gardens for Health International.  She and another friend are doing communications work and learning about all that GHI is doing in Rwanda.  Here is the link to her Blog.  She's been there since early June, but you can  catch up on her experience there from the Blog.  Here's the link to Hannah's Rwanda Blog.  Check it out, it's fascinating!

Melanie is interning at the same law office, and she picked up where she left off, basically.  She's learning and hearing about all kinds of experiences she never hopes to have herself, since she's in a divorce office.  Quite the experience, it seems!  She's also continuing to practice her German, even if some of her office mates find it a bit unusual--that's not going to stop Mel!!  She's also discovered fun in participating in the Washington Post Hunt in downtown D.C.  According to Mel, it's a massive scavenger/puzzle hunt all over the city.  She says the Washington Post comedy writers put it together, which she says gives us an idea of the level of seriousness involved.  At any rate, it sounds very fun!  Of course, she's also working out and playing every week, which is great!

Gabi is spending the summer in DC again, and this time is getting to hang out with Eliana a lot.  They've been exploring and having all kinds of fun, it seems!  Gabi reports that they've been around the monuments, to Ocean City, MD, and working out!  It's always good motivation to have a workout buddy, so nice job, guys!