Nov. 7, 2007

After rave reviews SFAJacks.com is bringing back the 2007 volleyball player's diary, this year with junior outside hitter Shelly Swendig.

Wednesday night after practice, we set off for our last regular season road trip in order to play UTSA and TAMUCC. We watched a few movies - including Hocus Pocus and Gothika, on the five-hour bus ride to good ol' San Antone in celebration of Halloween, and arrived at the hotel a little before midnight.

Thursday afternoon, we got our annual fix of San Antonio shopping, where Jami, Ray and I decided to eat at Chipotlé in lieu of the planned restaurant - La Madeleine. We were later informed that our post-game meal would be at none other than Chipotlé... rats!

Upon arrival at the gym, a few people decided that it was an appropriate time for Christmas carols and patriotic songs, so as we waited for our locker room, the SFA volleyball team serenaded the passers-by with such classics as "Jingle Bell Rock" and "America the Beautiful." Finally we made it into the locker room, where we threw our gear on and got ready for the match.

The game commenced at 7pm, and although UTSA put up a solid effort, we still managed to win in three. There is not much else to comment on except, apparently, their fans thought I was from Slovakia, which I thought was neat.

Friday was void of a match, but I would be reluctant to call it a day off. We parted from the hotel - where we ate wonderful Texas shaped waffles for breakfast, and set off for Corpus. We watched Eight Crazy Nights, which is quite prolific as far as memorable movie lines are concerned, as well as Super Size Me, where we learned the song, "Rock and Roll McDonald's." And as one may imagine, any time we saw those Golden Arches, someone was sure to begin serenading us with those four words in their most beautiful singing voice. Oftentimes, that someone was Ashley Edwards.

We got to Corpus in due time, ate lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, checked into our hotel, had a team meeting on the beach (a nice change in scenery), and finally, went to the gym for a short practice. After an energetic, and I daresay fun, practice, we were informed that we would be eating dinner at none other than (drum roll please....) On The Border! I don't think we have ever been so excited about anything. Then again, maybe it was just Bailey and me that were so excited. The food was delicious, naturally, and we all had a good time making faces at a small child sitting by us.

Saturday we were all set to play TAMUCC, and we unanimously decided that their mascot - somewhat of a Tiki-post man - is the scariest mascot ever. Just like the Roadrunners, the Islanders put up a fight, but we took the match in three. Immediately after the close of the match, we grabbed some food from Jason's Deli, and hopped on the bus for a wild ride home.

This week we will play our final two home, as well as regular season, matches versus UTA on Wednesday at 7pm, and Texas State on Saturday at 4pm. Saturday is senior night, so make sure to come out and support them!

Word of the week: Penultimate, adj. - second to last The Ladyjack's match versus UTA will be their penultimate match of the regular season.