MIDD Wins Home Opener Easily

The team was very excited for our first home match this year. After spending last year in the Bubble, it sure was nice to be back at home in Pepin! We were expecting more of a match from St. Michael's, but the combination of us playing well, and them not playing all that well, added up to a very lopsided match. Not to mention that they tried 3 different setters during the match.

Jane and Caroline got us started off very well offensively, and St. Mikes clearly couldn't handle either of them, who had 10, and 7 kills respectively, while only having 1 hitting error each. We did need to dial in our passing a bit so we could establish the middle, but we did that and Elissa had a big night with 8 kills, and NO hitting errors. Maddie was holding down the other middle position with Whit out with a sore back. We need to get some timing issues worked out and then Maddie will become a force to reckon with!

We served very well for the night. Elissa finished out game one with two consecutive points, and then Natalie served out the final 5 points of game two. In the third game, Caitlin came in to serve when it was 11-5, and never left the service line. 14 points later the game and match were over. I'm not sure we even rotated around one full time in that last game.

Natalie anchored the defense for the first two games, and came up big several times. Just when it looked like they might get a kill, Natalie was there with the dig! Lauren had her choice of sets quite a bit, and ended up spreading around the offense very well with four hitters having double digit attempts (Jane, Elissa, Caroline, and Julia). Sarah had a short, but successful last game, and Reisa anchored the defense in the last game.

It was really fun to play well in our first home match, and even though the crowd came fashionably late, they were loud and rowdy, which was really great! We're off the rest of the weekend, and then we have a big week next week with Union on Tuesday, and then the Amherst Classic next weekend where we'll face Westfield St., Amherst, and Brandeis.

Opening Weekend a Success. Jane named All-Tournament

After a shortened preseason, we may not have been quite as prepared as we sometimes are, but we at least got to take most of our freshmen with us! Usually, this first tournament at Potsdam has fallen on the weekend before classes started, and we've had to leave our first-years behind to register for classes. This time, fortunately, most of them came with us for what turned out to be a pretty successful opening weekend, despite some early season injuries and set-backs.

In pool-play on Friday night, the first team we met turned out to be our toughest competition all weekend. We were very well-matched with Clarkson, I think, but they were a little more game-ready. We looked like we were still figuring out who was playing what position the first game as they rolled over us easily 8-25. That wasn't pretty, but we bounced right back in game two with a convincing 25-16 win behind some almost flawless hitting (we only had one hitting error in game two!)

From there on out it was nip and tuck. Our starting line-up included three freshmen (Caitlin and Maddie sharing the RH spot, and Sarah playing OH front row) Sophomore (Caroline), who'd only recently returned to practice from a foot injury over the summer and was restricted to back-row play only played back row for Sarah. In addition to that, Reisa was kept out with a tight leg muscle that we didn't want to worsen, and Julia had to stay behind for both a lab that she couldn't miss, and a bad stomach bug. Elissa, Jane, Lauren, Nat and Whit all pretty much picked up where they left off last year, which was great to see.

After losing game three 25-27, we squeaked out the 4th to force a deciding 5th game. We had some incredible performances offensively with Jane and Sarah both lighting it up with 17 and 14 kills respectively. Elissa also had a great first match with 6 kills and only one error on 18 swings, and solid blocking. Whit had an uncharacteristic 4 errors with 8 kills on 20 swings, but also had a solid blocking night. Overall, we didn't block their OH's as well as we would have liked. Our defense took a little more time adjusting to read the hitters than we'll want to see later, and our serving errors were plenty. With Julia at home, that left Maddie playing in an unfamiliar position at RH. All things considered, we felt pretty good about our first match.

The second match that night was a totally different story, all the way around. Morrisville didn't pose much of a threat. Everyone got to play, and hopefully worked out those first-game jitters. Once again, Jane led our offense with another 17 kills, hitting .520. She also tied for the most service aces with 3, and led the team in digs as well. Jane would go on to be named to the All-Tournament Team after Saturday's play.

Losing to Clarkson put us in the Silver Bracket playing the other two teams that got second in their respective pools. SUNY-Oswego, and SUNY-Utica didn't prove to be much competition, but gave us some great opportunities to really focus on what we were doing. They both lacked size, in general, and our hitters were able to swing away. We started to really dial in our passing, which was nice to see, and our serving picked up as well. Once again, everyone played, and contributed to our relatively easy wins. It's always nice to get a few wins under your belt, especially before heading into our Conference weekends, which should all be pretty tough competition.

We should be well-tested before then, however, with St. Mikes and Union coming up, and then the Amherst Classic the following weekend before our first official NESCAC competition. I think that once we get everyone healthy, we could be a very tough team, but we have some work to do to get where we want to be! Some fun preseason pictures should be coming before too long.

Pre-Season Fun Set Tone

One of the fun things that happens during pre-season is that the Captains often take the team for a "conditioning" practice away from the gym. This year is was up nearby Snake Mountain. Despite the hectic Freshmen Orientation schedule, our freshmen made it on this jaunt on a gorgeous, sunny afternoon.

The team got in some relaxed conditioning hiking Snake Mtn. It's a high-reward hike because the view you get from the top is well worth the 45 min. hike up!

The returners had more leisure time during pre-season while the Freshmen were busy running from practice to their Orientation activities. Lake Dunmore, south of Middlebury is a favorite spot to go to the beach and enjoy the lake and the sunshine between practices!

Alumnae News!

It's always fun to hear from Alums, and pictures are always welcome as well! Not too long ago, senior Kate Heath was visiting her sister, Amy Heath in Washington, DC, where they had dinner with Lexie Fisher. Sushi, I was told, was on the menu. We've discovered that sushi is a favorite among many members of the team, so if there's an alum out there who wants to come back to MIDD, but you're not sure what to do, come back and start a sushi restaurant in town!! We need that here in MIDD, maybe even a Sushi/Thai restaurant?!

Recently, I've also heard from Georgia Jolink, who ran in the Boston Marathon recently. She was fundraising for an excellent cause, the Children's Hospital of Boston. She said that being a part of the Miles for Miracles marathon team was "really inspiring" for her. Here is a brief part of her account of the race:

"I was wearing a singlet that said Children's Hospital on the front, and before the race, I had written my name on my singlet and down my leg, so between yelling for Children's and yelling my name, the fans really helped. I never thought that people I had never met before could encourage me so much, but the barrage of cheering was almost constant for the last several miles.When I hit the "One Mile To Go" sign somewhere on Commonwealth Ave, I picked up the pace a little bit and just went for it. My legs were hurting, I was dodging people right and left, people were racing past me, the crowd was almost deafening, and once I turned onto Bolyston and saw the Finish Line, I thought about all of you and how the race was about something greater than just running."

Georgia ran into Lacee Patterson and her mom, who were both running in the Marathon as well, and they were able to share a pre-race dinner Sunday night, which sounded very nice! Apparently, Georgia and Lacee were very near each other in the final mile of the race, but I won't say who came in first...I will say that it was reported to me that despite a pulled muscle, Susie Patterson was still out there to finish the race--amazing, but par for the Patterson course, I think! :) Way to go all of you!!

Lindsay Patterson has been in touch, and is very happy working for the Buddy Program right in Aspen, and she is very active in all parts of the organization, which has been rewarding and exciting for her. She's also been coaching youth volleyball, and this is what she had to say about that recently: "I just started coaching my first volleyball team! I'm trying to remember how I learned to pass/set/hit etc. as I teach these 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. It has been really fun (and challenging!) as we are only in the 2nd week of practice. I have about 14 kids, which can seem overwhelming when I'm trying to teach how to serve and balls are flying right and left! I forgot that we learn the under hand serve before the over hand serve for a reason! Anyways, it has been fun to keep my foot in the volleyball world now that my "career" is over, and I do love working with the kids. So, Tuesday I'll be back in the gym!"

Karen Engler Bartlett is living here in town, so I run into her quite a bit. She lives in Cornwall with her husband and two children, Khalen (2) and Julia (5). Believe it or not, she and I both have children in the same pre-school! How fun is that?! Karen has agreed to co-write our letter to alums this fall encouraging attendance at our Alumnae Game on Homecoming this year, so stay tuned!!

Thanks for the updates, all of you. Anyone out there who wants to catch us up on your life, please let me know. I think I have other news from Holiday cards that I'll go through again and get some other alumnae news out there. It's time to reunite alums--so please think now about coming back for Homecoming next year, and stay tuned for our letter in the mail!!

Nat's update from Uruguay!

Thanks to Natalie for keeping in touch while abroad in South America this semester! Here is an update from her, in her own words. Sounds like she's having an amazing time, but there may be more talk of futbol games than studies?! :)

These are excepts from her email:

"whatsup yall?! long time no talk, but Happy Easter! eat some chocolate for me because i'm really missing fatty snickers. i went to santa fe, argentina again with my family and Clare Zutz (a midd friend) and we spent the day at my gma's house in Sauce Viejo. we had an asado of course and played volleyball and a crazy version of poker called truco, that i still have no idea how to play. and we danced a little...[utube video available if you ask her for link!]..."

"life here in uruguay has been really awesome so far! my uruguayan family is turning out to be more than i expected. last saturday we went to the southeastern coast of uruguay (la paloma, punta del diablo, cabo polonio, and more) and got to see amazing beaches and hippies, which was awesome! we saw the one and only recycling can in cabo polonio where only 80 hippies live (sorry this sentence sounds awkward... my english is getting worse and i'm not so sure yet that my spanish is compensating for it...). but it was sick and if any of you all come down, we'll def go 'cause it's my favorite place so far in uruguay. our exchange group also got to go to the World Cup Qualifier game with Uruguay and Paraguay and uruguay won 2-0!!!!!!!!! SOOOO FUN! and i definitely fell in love with soccer, and #10 diego forlan who plays for Atlético de Madrid : ) "

"on a less fun note, i like my classes a lot (modern uruguayan history and democracy and dictatorship). but because uruguay has never been important in the world, i have no clue about what they are talking about. so i'm trying to read more about uruguayan history before i go to our 3 hr-long classes! yeah sooo long, partially because most of the time to say one thing in the spanish language takes double the time than it would in english (another terrible sentence--sorry). and also because there is absolutely no class structure and students talk whenever they want. OH and our classes are essentially half 30/40 yr olds and a few young uruguayans. so i havent had the greatest luck friending natives, but then again we've only been taking classes for 2 weeks! but the professors are incredible and pretty nice to us foreigners."

Whit is enjoying Italy!

Our juniors (or sophomore Febs) have been great about keeping in touch with us here at MIDD this spring. Here is what Whit had to say recently about her semester in Italy! This is in her own words, which is much better than me trying to recount her tales!...

"I thought I'd send an update about life in Italy...

So for the month of January, I just traveled a lot. I got into Florence January 4th after a 14-hour delay in Chicago (we planed & de-planed a total of 3 times) and went to see the David, the Boboli Gardens and mostly just wandered. Then I did a pretty whirlwind tour...I went to Paris, Edinburgh, and Copenhagen, and made it back to Italy for the start of our semester here. Since then I have mostly remained in Italy except for one weekend in Prague.

Ferrara is a pretty small town, where I believe there are more bicycles than there are people, but it's very friendly and not very touristy so we get a lot of Italian practice here. It was a medieval town, so there is a large castle in the center of town, complete with a moat! There is also a big stone wall that surrounds the old part of the city, and it's a great place to walk/ run around and see the city. I am living in an apartment close to the wall with an 2 roommates, one Italian girl, and one English girl, and I love them both! Our apartment is cute, small and cozy...and the ceiling of my room slants so that I can only stand up in the doorway, but I don't mind! I am most definitely very tall here...France and Italy especially...I blended a little better in Scotland.

In general, Italy is wonderful...the people are all loud and friendly, and they are serious about their food...they love pasta and pizza! Our spring/ Easter break is coming up, so we are doing a 10-day trip to Scotland, Germany, and Ireland!! I am soo excited to see Dublin and Galway!"

Clinic for Home-Schooled Youngsters!

Let me give you a little-known fact about Vermont and Volleyball: there is NO high school volleyball in the state of Vermont. I know, hard to belive. It's actually the ONLY state in the country without HS Girls Volleyball. So, on that note, we decided to offer a free volleyball clinic to local kids (boys and girls), hoping to stimulate some interest in this great game. We thought that we'd start with a small group this first year, so we targeted a group of home-schooled children who don't always have the same access to recreational sports as those in the school system. (Not to mention that our Faculty Affiliate has three home-schooled daughters who adore the team, and are totally into volleyball!)

We had a great time. Lauren and Jane ran the clinic from planning through execution, and got several teammates to help them. You can see that we lowered the net, and drilled the basics of the game: passing, setting, and hitting. They even tried to play a game to put it all together at the end of the clinic. It was a lot of fun, and we're anticipating opening it up to boys and girls from all over the county next year! Here are few pictures from our morning. (If you're familiar with the venues at MIDD, you'll see that this took place in Nelson, as it was still during basketball season!)