End of Season Banquets Via Email 2020 – 2022, a Trilogy

End of Season Banquets Via Email 2020 – 2022, a Trilogy

2019-20

This season is, to me, more about what we got, than what we lost when the world took a big ol' timeout.

It’s taken me a minute (okay, 4 years) to come to terms with everything and get this overdue banquet via email officially released, but hey. It was a jolt.

If we look at the 2019 / 20 season like a basketball game, we were in the 4th quarter when the area had to clear out.

We undeniably had the most Florida squad, and for sure the most personality-laden squad ever assembled at UNCW. Florida stalwarts Reagan Evans and Chrissy Augustine and Lexie Hamilton are all amazing and unique personalities and players, yet they have to compete for the spotlight with newcomers Sabrina Reznik and Serah O’Keefe. And that’s just our Florida contingent.

In addition to the quirkiest squad ever assembled, we had Gina Kirstein and all her wisdom helping us out in practice and in the box. We got Julie.

Under the leadership of senior Raquel “Rocky” Rooney (our first ever beach-only freshman, and everyone’s dream partner) and the best beginner we’ve ever had in grad student Casey Goodwin, we trained all fall the way we always have. But the conversations have never been as lively. With Junior JM Lewandowski and sophomore Kristy Witte keeping us on task and always asking the right questions, the fun / smart / silliness of a Rachel Schaffer and a Tyla Cutrie is hard to explain.

Chrissy Augustine and Sabrina Reznik and Serah O’Keefe could hold down reality shows individually. But I digress.

Did Adam Fearing take us to Rally (past Atlanta) for our fall competition date again? We could not have a boring practice with Sabrina’s life observations and Serah’s ahead-of-the-curve innovations. It’s unproven whether the Swedish jump-set duo headed for the Olympics studied their fundamentals from Serah. She’s been jump-setting before they entered high school.

We got 9 duals in. We went to Coastal and split, 3-2 and 2-3. We beat Chattanooga and Mercer at Mercer, and we dropped a close one to Palm Beach Atlantic. We went to UNF and picked up a couple sets here and there but they still took us 5-0. And Florida State didn't ease up against us. I sincerely think that was FSU's year to break the LA schools' hold on the national title. They had multiple jump servers who just don't care.

We went to Tampa and lost a heart-breaker to the host, before beating Tusculum. But we had so much of the season ahead of us, including a spring break trip all the way down to Boca.

Well before spring break, Lexie’s parents coordinated an amazing week of training and bonding activities for our spring break. We had access to a nearby church with plenty of courts. Assistant Coach Gina constantly guided us through the fall and the spring, and we had some talks about defense. And let the record reflect that we executed our spring break plan to a T.

We had team meals prepared by class, coordinated morning runs to the grocery story, and panels of judges determining who made the best meals. We had puzzles and solitaire for the introverts, piano and a pool and participatory games for the extroverts. We got the best parts of the trip in, and we had a confirmed dual and day of training at FAU, even though events were shutting down across the country.

Then word came in. We were ahead of schedule, checking out a well-reviewed used book store. I got a phone call, and we called a team meeting on the sidewalk out front. The competitive season and in-person classes were ended. The world would take a timeout to process the unknown.

Um, how to proceed?

Being as safe as we could, we found a movie theater that night that would open its doors just for us, and half the squad saw the picture of the year, Parasite. (It's not about a disease, which would have been a little too on-the-nose). Somehow, a handful of the players had other plans and stayed in the hotel... 

The following day, as UNCW was sending down a bus and we were talking with multiple airlines, we decided to practice on FAU's courts, in spite of everything. And I'll never forget that practice. With just ourselves, we played an intra-squad scrimmage, and I've rarely seen such focused, intense, cathartic, fun, and competitive volleyball. 

John Wooden says that things work out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out. We took control of the day, and even managed to grab one of the last domestic flights back home to Wilmington. Some players had parents pick them up from Florida, since we were already there. 

Although we missed out on about the six key weeks of the season, I choose to remember that we got in the fall training, a chance to compete before spring break, and a timeout to take a step back and evaluate how to get through the tough times.

2020-21: The Universe Strikes Back

In the fall of '20, we learned about an app called Zoom, which somehow made people forget that Skype had existed for years before the pandemic. With beaches and gyms and parks closed, it was heaven for the family dogs, with company all the time. Empty bike racks everywhere became normal. It was hard to buy a comfy pair of sweats, and we learned how to create and navigate an ever-changing set of protocols to get some education and training in. It was a challenge, with lots of long, slow time in-between everything. Gardens thrived and family dinners found a resurgence. 

With attestations, swabs, and me somehow acquiring a trigger-activated thermometer to detect fevers, we returned to campus in the spring (athletes only). For the record, measuring forehead temps is a tricky skill in the outdoors, where glistening skin registers a frighteningly low body temp. Everybody was learning. Because the indoor volleyball season was postponed, we would compete with both sports in the spring -- a tricky trick for us since Katie Lanz, and Brooke Hanshumaker played important roles on both squads. 

With only Ashley Thompson (Smash) crossing over from indoor, the beach-onlies were leaned on like never before. And challenges still presented themselves. Due to ever-evolving protocols, JM Lewandowski and Elena Turnbull weren't able to travel with us that first important weekend in Jacksonville. With 8 players, we decided to still compete, but without a couple of our most steady performers. Despite some valiant performances, we couldn't overcome Charleston, Mercer, or the host UNF. 

Amazingly, we got the rest of the squad back for the regular season, and were joined by Katie and Brooke for the CCSA playoffs against Tulane and Florida State.

With all the weirdness of Covid and both seasons happening at the same time, we still got to travel and compete. At our home tournament at the end of the season, Sabrina Reznik caught fire, jumpserving and blocking her nemeses into submission. Bagel (Bayla Cutrie) got her numbers right and calmed the happy feet and balled out. Elena Turnbull became the poster child of defensive patience and ball control, which accompanied her aggressive jump-serving perfectly.

Rachel Schaffer, with a shoulder hanging on by a thread, was a blur on defense, and maybe our best passer. Chrissy and Kristy played like an old married couple, with two tweeners who could block and defend.

Can we take a minute to imagine what 2020 and '21 would have been without the presence of grad student Casey Goodwin? New to the beach game, she was the role model we didn't know we needed. How to learn. She also showed us all how to block, with elbows properly over the net. How to be calm and genuine and helpful in the stress of competition during a worldwide pandemic. And she worked her way up to a match win over South Carolina with our talented Sadie Sharkey defending. 

Freshman Maya Duggan either learned, or already knew how to pull off the net and dig the most impossible of shots with whichever arm was handy, and how to see where the defense was without looking. And Reagan Evans consistently was one of our strongest and quickest defenders, with a healthy shoulder and willingness to skyball when called upon. 

As with any season, if you zoom in close enough, there are going to be some conflict to resolve, and this year was no exception. If I had a time machine, I'd go back and try different ways to manage conflicts -- I'm a work in progress too and this season taught me a great deal about team dynamics. I still don't have all the answers, but I'll hopefully be quicker to act.

While everyone on this team is dynamic and amazing to work with, we need to focus a moment on JM. As a beach volleyballer, she's passionate and has those smooth deep-dish hands, and she can flat out pass a ball and sideout. But, cliche as it is to say, her passion for life goes beyond this team. She became a leader of the SAAC. She fought internal battles to help bring beach courts onto campus and took some bruises in the process. She dove into her pre-med classes and even earned a special parking spot at Capt'n Bill's as a referee of the month :)

In turbulent times and facing strong competition (remember, we were still in the CCSA, and we drew Tulane and FSU in the tournament), I am reminded of the mood our team was usually in as I pulled up to practice at Bill's, or behind Wag in the fall. Getting to train and lift and travel with this high-achieving and caring bunch helps remind me that in challenging times, it's important to lean in on appreciating those people around us. And to remember that love is granting the benefit of the doubt. 

2021-'22  The Return of the Seahawks

New People: hello :

New Conference: Hello Sun Belt!

End of Season Banquet via Email, 2024. And also the prior season...

 UNCW Beach Volleyball

End of Season Banquet Via Email, 2023-24

Also End of Season Banquet, 2022-23

And Also End of Season Banquets Via Email 2020 – 2022, a Trilogy

End of Season Banquet Via Email, 2023-24

Who were we gonna be in ’24? With only 10 beach-onlies in the fall and a couple returning dual-sporters, we had to be efficient. And we had to find us some new players from the indoor squad. And truth be told, with a 3-way tie for 5th (in an 8 team conference) in last year’s conference tourney, we had room for upward mobility.

Also, where were we gonna go? Having ventured to Boca, Corpus Christi, Owings Mills (just a stone’s throw from Federal Hill, MD), I was determined to take the team on a Santa Barbara Spring Break Sojourn. But would it break the bank?

We were picked to finish 4th in conference, behind Charleston. Still in the Sun Belt, for those keeping track. Picked to finish in the top half of the conference despite our uno dos audios last spring. Not sure if we should have been flattered or extra-motivated.

The season began with the traditional mandatory freshman parent meeting, dominated this year by Traci Schrock (our only freshman). For the 9th season in a row, the first fall practice took place on the 2 deep courts I secretly really enjoy behind Wagoner Dining Hall. They technically are managed by Housing (Seahawk Village) and it’s still next to impossible to raise or lower them. Since our sophomores were residents of Seahawk Village, we didn’t have to strain calf muscles and armpits to reach over the fence to let ourselves into the pool post-practices in the roughly 90 degree and humid heat. One of the nets is still a little high which I still think is good for training.

How we gonna beat Brazil on a low net?

Fall strength and conditioning was consistent and peppy, with M-W-F noon workouts and lots of mobility and agility thanks to new strength coach Elijah Cuffee out of Liberty University. Note to selves, 3 days of weights and agility >  2 days of weights per week.

The training focus was to be aggressive at the right times and patient at the right times, and to know what time it was. While crossovers Sarah “Sal” Thompson, Grace Melnick, and Jadyn Barry were helping the indoor squad, our Charlotte-based sophomore duo of Gabby LaPata and Lyvia Trimp took turns pushing all the upper classmen and Traci in vollis, Friday QOBs, ball control challenges, and getting stronger and faster.

Our fall competition day gave the team a chance to see how we stacked up against Charleston, Coastal, and S Carolina in Columbia. Word came back (I was with indoor) that we were competitive all-around, and a huge thank you to Justin Carson in the Seahawk Club to being our driver / sherpa for a beautiful day of competition.

We trained how to hold on defense and when to throw in some traps with the Sorum Shuffle. We made our float serves float (even Kaley! (eventually)) and our short serves short.

Team bonding once again involved getting craftsy at Casa de David with some upcycled yogurt containers and dirt to house the aloe pups that are descendants of our first plant-building exercise at Daniel’s / Brittany’s house some years ago. We spiced things up this year by adding rosemary and sage. Maybe thyme next year. Once again, some of the best design and naming ideas were imitations of fellow-teammate ideas, the sincerest form of flattery.

During our first month or so of training, we had observed that some new courts seemed to be under construction, hidden behind a green fence. They were prominently located, between the new freshmen dorms and the new Shore Dining Hall. Unofficial word was that they would open “sometime in the spring.”

Our October surprise came from an accidental conversation with one of the construction project managers. He let us know on a Wednesday that “by Friday,” the courts would be complete and opened for usage! Rather than allow for the possibility that anybody else might use the courts before we did, a plan quickly formed to ensure that the first sideouts on the new courts would be ours. With sparkling apple juice and clear plastic cups, we toasted our new home on a beautiful Friday afternoon at sunset. We more than enjoyed bouncing balls on the flat courts with regulation nets on great sand – not too jumpy, not too deep (if such a thing exists). We didn’t mind the balls flying past the 4 new basketball courts, or rolling up to the freshmen dorms. We quickly noticed the uptick in foot traffic – tons of freshmen and tour groups strolled by.

We also quickly noticed that some in the community assumed that our balls were everyone’s balls. Gracie Sistrunk quickly added “Team” to our “UNCW Volleyball” balls with her expert sharpie skills. Problem solved.

Flat and freshly raked courts weren’t totally new to us, since we had been at Capt’n Bill’s the past few springs, practicing and competing. They (and by they, I mean the owner John Musser, and occasionally Jonny the VB League Guru) leveled those things for us before every practice.

John is probably on a tractor right now, come to think of it. We hope to still use Capt’n Bill’s for special events and camps, since the people, the 12 courts, and the food are all amazing.

The official opening of the Shoreline Sports Complex came November 17, and came replete with speeches from Chancellor Volety, a couple directors of Rec Sports, and featured Sadie with those giant scissors for the official ribbon ceremony. Lots of pomp and publicity, but not as fun as our secret apple-cider christening.

Based on last season’s performance and a near top-30 RPI, we again qualified a top pair for the prestigious AVCA Fall Pairs Championship. Sadie Sharkey and Gabby LaPata represented us, and they played with their patented blend of scrappiness, steadiness, hustle, ball control, and fun. They gave a S. Carolina top pair an early “L” by fighting off match point and turning it into a dub for the Dub. After not upsetting FIU and LMU, we beat UNF’s top pair to finish in the middle of a super-strong 64-team pack, up about 10 spots higher than our finish a year ago. Progress.

Our fall wrapped up with Kaley giving us a solid reminder of how not to pass a skyball (I’ll find the video at some point, but it involves trying to spike it and sort of missing), and thanks to Morgan Smith, we had the coolest social media posts of any team in the land.

With the start of spring training, we welcomed Charlotte Cronister, Emily Hanlon, and Caitlyn Callahan from the indoor team, along with returners Sal Thompson, Jadyn Barry, and Grace Melnick. With amazing athleticism, size, and team-first mentalities, our beach team got better with each new addition.

We again learned how to hold on defense, and how to run traps. We visited Positive City, learned Wooden’s definition of success, and talked about body language and how to always be adding value in a group.

Our home opener on our brand new courts was an all-Charleston affair, with 2 duals on Friday and a pairs tourney on Saturday. Upon players request, we played under the lights on Friday, which was an amazing idea. With rain dumping about 45 minutes before go time, the set-up was looking a little sparse. No big sound system, but HC Dottie stepped in with her superb portable PA, so we had music and her on the mic announcing the pairings. The courts drained perfectly and we started almost on time, with a nice crowd of optimistic people.

We gave Charleston a warm welcome with back-to-back 5-0 sweeps under the lights, then we managed to pull some upsets and play ourselves in the pairs tournament final on Saturday, with our 2s Maddy Folks and Lyvia Trimp winning the whole thing.

The following weekend in Columbia, we couldn’t pull off the upset at South Carolina, even though Maddy Lyvia got the win at the 2s. Maddy just has something against the Gamecocks apparently. But we beat Coastal, Charleston, and Chattanooga our first weekend on the road. It was time for spring break, but where?

With unbelievable parent and friend of the program support (you know who you are) we got the go-ahead. The following weekend, we flew from MYR to LAX. I remain somewhat amazed that for 10 out of our 14 players, this was their first trip west of Arizona. And Emily Hanlon, a senior blocker from the indoor team, is from Chico (that is in California).

For 3 days, we sight-saw and trained at East Beach. We had yogurt parfaits with berries and granola at my dad’s house. Thanks dad! We met the Santa Barbara City College beach team, and a pick-up game of player-run queens may have broken out, one of my favorite moments of the season. We borrowed balls from Jordon Dyer who runs a club in SB, we met the very intense Mike Maas who says to just go and dig the ball already.

We dined at Los Arroyos in Montecito, we ate acai at Backyard Bowls, we ran some star drills. We saw the courthouse, UCSB, some elephant seals, my high school (go Dons) and downtown. As I had forecast from the late fall, a little rain fell on us here and there, but we are beach volleyball players and it’s all part of the fun.

An early Friday morning drive to Cal State Bakersfield was more scenic than I expected with mountains and farm fields. Different than the millions of pine trees and endless flatness we see in the Southeast. The courts are beautiful, with grass surrounding, proud palm trees protruding, and nothing but clear skies and 72 degree perfect weather.

In our first dual against Bakersfield (who took a dual off Cal Poly last year), we were tied 2-2, and for some, this might cause some tension.Not exactly where you want to be, unless you are seniors Jadyn Barry and grad student Charlotte Cronister. They came in clutch, winning us the dual in thrilling overtime. Yay team. We smoked CSUN 5-0 which may have hurt us the next day when they surprised us by playing better, shuffling around some players, and taking us 3-2. Dang. But after going 4-1 on the trip, one of my old AVP refs gave me a chuckle. A former AAA-rated player himself, Lars told/asked me “Fish, you’ve got some ballers! What does UNCW stand for?”

New this year, we had a mid-season mandatory Sun Belt event in Huntsville, Alabama, where the conference tournament would also take place. To help with seeding, we played folks not on our schedule, and while we didn’t sneak past Georgia State who didn’t drop a match all weekend, we did ourselves proud against Southern Miss and SFA by 4-1 scores. We beat ULM 3-2, and earned ourselves the #2 seed for the tournament. It didn’t hurt that we also beat Mercer 5-0 at S Carolina a couple weeks later.

A strong performance at the conference tournament left us with 2 losses to Coastal, both 3-2. But we also beat ULM twice to finish 3rd in the conference.

After the season, a couple of nice recognitions came our way: Sadie and Gabby were named the SunBelt Pair of the Year. That’s kind of cool. Ellie Bucci became our all-time wins leader, and she and Bri Haggerty were named to the All-Conference Tourney team along with Sadie and Gabby. Ellie also somehow snagged the prestigious Chancellor's Award, perhaps the highest honor for a UNCW student-athlete. Equally important in my book, we finished #1 among all UNCW athletic teams in the GPA department. You’re not blushing, I’m blushing.

Not sure we even had a #hashtag, and I was pretty lenient on Wooden memorization recitations while planking, and we maybe only took a couple trips to Positive City, but did we have us a season. Miss you guys already, and you couldn't have a more proud coach. Enjoy it and back to work we go…

--David Fischer

End of Season Banquet, 2022-23

Being an optimist and a pragmatist can get tricky. I’m in a state of denial about graduating Smash (Ashley Thompson) and almost graduating Tyla (Cutrie). They are what you want in a UNCW Beach Player, and I’m proud to know them and also I’m bad at goodbyes.

This year, for me, was amazing, fun and normal. Normal is not to be taken for granted. We were lean in numbers, with 4 crossovers joining our fall crew of 10, but the beachiness through and through was undeniable. On any day, or in any drill, any player could and often did outperform all her teammates. We took a staycation in Wilmington for spring break, and got some great training mixed in with a hike at Ft Fisher. We visited South Carolina a few times to play the usual strong suspects in the Gamecocks, Charleston, and Coastal. We played the Catabawans and the Erskines and we managed to finish with more wins than losses on the season at 15-14.

Making lineups means making choices, and Sadie Sharkey and Gracie Sistrunk did us proud in Huntsville at the Fall Pairs Tourney. After a natural adjustment to seeing the Pac 12 (“Wait is that UCLA warming up?” “Yes, Gracie.”) and everyone else all in one venue, we rattled off 3 wins in a row against the top pairs for another Pac 12 school (Oregon), the University of New Orleans, and Santa Clara. While Gracie took most of the spring off to support teammates, her shoulder, to keep Julie’s grad students entertained (Jalen and Austen), and occasionally dominate in one-armed Spikeball (nevermind the dislocated shoulder & repair surgery). She’ll get to be a sophomore again with another year of experience.

We again had a great mixture of bigs and smalls and some international flair. Canada gave us Grace Melnick, and she gave us the biggest block to train against and to play behind, and she thinks that now would be a good time to stretch if you don’t mind, and I agree. Often paired with Morgan Smith, they sided out like bigs and racked up multiple wins at the 6s. And kudos to Morgan for our amazingly professional Instagram presence. When I thought about posting non- professionally edited videos (picture me recording a video by holding my iPhone 10 in front of my computer screen), Morgan would politely reach out to me and talk about quality and standards, and maybe having some? Which I appreciate. 

Speaking about the future, we are about to have the most experienced returners of all time.

Next year, we’ll have seniors Sadie Sharkey, Ellie Bucci, Jadyn Barry, Bri Haggerty… that’s like 30 years of experience. And it somehow seems like Maddy Folks and Kaley McLaughlin have that much experience all by themselves, even though they’ll just be juniors next year. The more- experienced team often wins in beach volleyball, with the exception being that one time Mercer beat us with no seniors, and also no juniors (so basically a juco team). I’m totally over that one.

That being said, the future of this program is exciting.

Our now-sophomore class feels like one of the strongest sophomore classes in the country. All three are the most sensitive setters you’ve ever seen, and all three can put a ball down with some oomph. Lyvia Trimp, Sal (Sarah) Thompson, and Gabby LaPata: aim high and bring us up with you.

I say the season was normal and wonderful because we had a not-unusual level of injuries and sick days, and some nice wins (Charleston at their place, finally!) But also some wins that would have been nice (Charleston and Coastal, who both got us 3-2 at our place). Close losses at the conference tourney (We are now in the Sun Belt for those keeping track) will serve as fuel for our fire and a reminder that in sports, a B+ does not help bring about a victory. And we’ve got some good students.

Yes, we finished Top 30 in the computer-generated Pablo rankings. Yes, we produced the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year (Yay Gabby LaPata!) and 2 All-Conference Pairs in Sadie / Gabby and 1 st team: Smash and Bri. But I believe that regardless of the outcomes, we went for it. We took the big swings, hit the big serves, and made choices that will make us successful in the future.

As a coach, I’m most proud of our people and the character and quirkiness we bring every day. No two players on this team are exactly alike, but all of our practices and travels this year have been fun. Formal holiday party with karaoke, check. Elevation test at a Ft Fisher hike, check.

Building itineraries in small groups at Bitty & Beau’s on a cold and rainy Saturday morning might be my best idea of the year. Tyla and Smash, you are the heart of this team. Your performances on senior day are a neat memory, but I think I speak for everybody when I say I’m proud to know you and you make us all better.

Here’s to doing all we can this summer to set us up for an amazing ’24. But it’s okay to take a few minutes to reflect on the efforts and strides this team made to become the best we are capable of becoming.

End of Season Banquets Via Email 2020 – 2022, a Trilogy

2019-20

This season is, to me, more about what we got than what we lost when everything stopped.

It’s taken me a minute (okay, 4 years) to come to terms with everything and get this overdue banquet via email officially released, but hey. It was a jolt.

If we look at the 2019 / 20 season like a basketball game, we were in the 4th quarter when the arena had to clear out.

We undeniably had the most Florida squad, and for sure the most personality-laden squad ever assembled at UNCW. Florida stalwarts Reagan Evans and Chrissy Augustine and Lexie Hamilton are all amazing and unique personalities and players, yet they have to compete for the spotlight with newcomers Sabrina Reznik and Serah O’Keefe. And that’s just our Florida contingent.

Under the leadership of senior Raquel “Rocky” Rooney (our first ever beach-only freshman, and everyone’s dream partner) and the best beginner we’ve ever had in grad student Casey Goodwin, we trained all fall the way we always have. But the conversations have never been as lively. With Junior JM Lewandowski and sophomore Kristy Witte keeping us on task and always asking the right questions, the fun / smart / silliness of a Rachel Schaffer and a Tyla Cutrie is hard to explain.

Chrissy Augustine and Sabrina Reznik and Serah O’Keefe could hold down reality shows individually. But I digress.

Did Adam Fearing take us to Rally (past Atlanta) for our fall competition date again? We could not have a boring practice with Sabrina’s life observations and Serah’s ahead-of-the-curve innovations. It’s unproven whether the Swedish jump-set duo headed for the Olympics studied their fundamentals from Serah. She’s been jump-setting before they entered high school.

Well before spring break, Lexie’s parents coordinated an amazing week of training and Boca- appropriate activities for our spring break. We had access to a nearby church with plenty of courts. Assistant Coach Gina constantly guided us through the fall and the spring, and we had some talks about defense. And let the record reflect that we executed our spring break plan to a T.

We had team meals prepared by class, coordinated morning runs to the grocery story, and panels of judges determining who made the best meals. We had puzzles and solitaire for the introverts, piano and a pool and participatory games for the extroverts. We got the best parts of the trip in, and we had a confirmed dual and day of training at FAU, even though events were shutting down across the country.

Then word came in. We were ahead of schedule at a used book store, and I had to deliver the word that the season was over. But even though Florida shut things down and our competition at FAU was canceled,

Momentum

A few months ago I was doing okay, but I was coasting.

With an interesting Democratic primary headed to California, I ventured onto the websites for Hillary and Obama. Obama´s led me directly to entering my email address which I did with some ambivalence. I checked a box indicating an interest in volunteering, but didn't think anything would come of it.

A week later, I walked into an office in Venice Beach, late for an Obama Precinct Captains meeting. It turns out the neighborhood next to mine, Mar Vista, still needed one, so I signed up and got some training. That afternoon I was on the phones, identifying Obama supporters. I made close to 150 calls -- probably more than I´d made to strangers in the last three years combined. It felt like work, but good work. I came in each day that week to make calls, and was driving around that weekend knocking on doors. That's when a phone call came in from my new employer.

My sister Andrea had forwarded me a notice that Oxnard College was looking for a head coach for its women's volleyball team. It'd be a step up in pay and responsibility, and I excitedly accepted the position. My interview had taken place the week before. I have no doubt that the practice of cold-calling and developing rapport with strangers helped me in my interview.

The following weekend I was out there again, putting on out door hangers and identifying PrObama voters. An interruption came in the form of a phone call from the Jose Cuervo marketing team. They called to offer sponsorship for my 2008 beach volleyball season. I accepted and am the happiest member of the 2008 Team Cuervo. And the Airstream got sponsored, too -- it´s getting Cuervo-logo´d up this week. I take the sponsorship as a sign that the world smiles upon action. And I'm smiling because of the sponsorship.

Have I read The Audacity of Hope? No, not yet, but I ordered it. Call me a sucker, but I fall for his messages of hope and unification. Optimistically, I jumped into a campaign with no reasonable chance for him to win in California. As he wins state after state, I feel like a fan whose team is marching through the playoffs. And I honestly feel that because I jumped into action, regardless of for whom, it helped me get some needed mojo for 2008. And while the home hasn't rolled anywhere yet, I feel like I'm on a roll.

Eyes Smiling in Ireland

"Hi! We're beach volleyball players from California. We're ranked somewhere between 30-40 on the AVP Tour. We're traveling in Europe for six weeks this summer -- do you know of any tournaments we could play in?"

I sent this email to about twenty different countries' volleyball federations. Didn't realize that the paragraph above, along with this website, would be our application to be featured pros in an Irish exhibition.

For four days we were busy promoting, playing, commentating, and enjoying beach volleyball at its best. Not its highest level, mind you, but its best.

The 'beach' in Bray, 45 minutes south of Dublin, is made up of boulders, each roughly the size of a... volleyball. But inland of the 'beach' is a concrete strand, followed by a wide swath of grass. Feature Court was some great sand placed on the grass, just accross from our hotel. Not a difficult commute.

The equivilent of a 3-ring circus took place on Feature Court for the Coca Cola Volleyball Festival, run by Volleyball Ireland and the Bray Summer Festival. About every 30 minutes one match would end and another, in an entirely different format, would begin. Jack and I played in a King Of the Beach (everyone plays with everyone) with Tristin from England and Aaron from Australia. Some American friends played a Queen of the Beach: Kathleen Madden, Kirstin Olsen, Angela Lewis, and Janelle Koester. Between our games, the top Irish pairs duked it out for national honors. That's four divisions already, but as stated, this was a condensed 3-ring circus.

A couple grass courts were set up just outside the arena, and an International 6x6 co-ed tournament was concurrently underway. The finals were moved in front of the crowds on the Feature Court. Eight members of Ireland's Special Olympic volleyball team joined the 'international' beach pros for a couple games. And a bevy of Irish celebrities -- some pro athletes and some hopefully talented in other areas -- also took the court for some volleying.

Difficult to pick a highlight, but this one stands out. Eric, a 5'2 Special Olympian who split time between commentating and playing, was on my team. After a spectacular rally, ended by Eric with a nice line shot to the corner, he peeled off his shirt, flexed, then high-fived each of us on his team. Then to be fair, he crossed under the net to celebrate with each of our opponants. Then he acknowledge the crowd, now standing and screaming in support. The game was tied at this point. But with that kind of momentum, the final point was just a formality. Each male player on our team was now Brandi Chastained and celebrating in solidarity.

That was a highlight. But so was taking on six of the Irish celebs with our co-ed team of professional players. None of the celebs were famous for their volleyball skills so we naturally had to even things out by running plays. One play called for a six-person I-formation serve receive. As the serve was hit, we'd randomly scatter to pass, set, and crush it down. Another serve receive involved us jogging in a circle as long as possible. I don't think the celebs took offence of our playing around (we still dominated them) but I was having too much fun to notice...

Here's the 'official' coverage about it: http://www.beachvolleyballireland.com/

Piestany Pressure

I'd researched some hotels and smaller places (called Pensions) to crash in. The few alongside the center court were pricey or full, so we grabbed a taxi. Over the next 90 minutes, we had popped into over a dozen places, finding them either pricey or full. We ended up getting dropped off exactly where we'd hailed the cab, which the driver found pretty amusing. We checked into a pricey hotel for the night, and had reserved a nice Pension a lovely 5-minute walk across the river from the main court for the following three nights. The town of Piestany is world-famous for its thermal mud, spas, massage -- we were going to stick around regardless of performance. And the dollar goes further in Slovakia than even in Czech Republic.

We didn't talk much about our prospects in the qualifier. There wasn't much point: if we lost again in the qualifier there'd be no reason to even find out what prize money we'd missed out on. The Tournament Director Shaff picked us up the following morning and drove us 10 minutes to an abandoned cross between a Medevil Times restaurant and a prairy farm house. After the meeting, held in Slovak, we again got in the car and headed to a different site to our court. Three out of twenty teams in the Qualifier would advance. Since our location had only one court, our bracket of eight teams would only produce one Qualifier. Yikes.

In our first game we were as focused as could be -- I hardly realized until after the match that our opponants were high school aged and not super strong. We badly needed the vic.

Our second opponants were two big guys who obviously played quite a bit. Probably more indoor, but it was an overcast still day -- not many beach elements to deal with. Jack and I sided out well and were at 7-all in the first game when I had a terrible, or great thought creeping into my head: 'We could lose to this team.' This team was stronger than the one we'd lost to in Pnov. We could be eliminated in the qualifier of two small land-locked countries without long histories in beach volleyball. And losing this early would mean not even getting a workout in for the day.

I decided to whack a few jump serves, and the difference between my usual fluff serve and the whacking seemed to set them off kilter. So did Jack running off the court and onto the grass to set a dig of mine. We got a couple point lead and held 'em off to take the first game.

Normally Jack serves first for us but I began game two at the service line. We got up two-nil at which point I drilled a serve into the net. But the seed was sown -- they were arguing about whose ball was whose on serve receive, and Jack took full advantage. He floated the dominant player some serves practically down the middle. With that player now crowding the middle, Jack mixed in one down the now-vacant sideline, which was foul-tipped into the not-so-nearby hedge. An earned 2-0 vic for me and Jack. No Airstream, but we were getting rolling...

Partner Selection 201 -- "Musical Partners"

I had eight and a half months to prepare for the AVP Miami. Ticket from LAX to Ft. Lauderdale? Check. Probable place to crash? Check. Partner? Partner? Well, let's not panic -- there were 15 whole hours before the Monday noon deadline.

Some players stick together. Jenny and Annette haven´t played an AVP event with anyone else throughout their careers. Some players switch it up regularly, looking for a partner with the right tools, chemistry, hook-ups, points. The whole courtship / breakup process is interesting, but one technique stands out as the most daring.

For five years I sat out the Musical Partners dance. I played with John Hribar. Perhaps we both missed out on chances to team up with upgrades in certain areas, but but we always knew who we were arriving with.

We did notice with some envy, however, that players ranked below us were occasionally picked up by a much stronger player. At times it was the Partner Domino Effect where a high-ranking individual drops out last minute and causes a chain reaction of new teams beneath. These new teams usually meant great opportunity for the ´picked up´partners with manageable damage done to the pre-domino relationships.

But there´s always someone playing Musical Partners. Think musical chairs on a dance floor: when the music stops (i.e. the sign-in deadline), you hope the numbers are even and you've made an impression on your target. It's not for the weak of stomach, especially when cross-country flights (or in my case, drives) are involved.

Now if one player decides to keep an eye out for a stray great pick-up, that´s fine. But it´s less fine for that player´s backup partner, who now must jump on the dance floor in case the wandering-eyed partner gets lucky.

My regular AVP partner has a real job. Work required him to take a trip on short notice to Portland, Oregon during the AVP Miami. Portland, Oregon is pretty far from Miami. Once he officially let me know he couldn't play, I began surveying the partners with many more AVP points. One seemed promising, and had 244 points to my 144. We'd be a top-4 seed in the qualifier where four teams get in. But he was playing the same game, and I was his back-up. He had chances to get directly into the Main Draw, so without a commitment, I chassed onto the dance floor.

On Sunday at 9pm PST, I called Florida-based Justin Phipps. He had a solid partner, but was kind enough to point out target for me. “He´s registered, but they might not have enough points to get into the Thursday qualifier,” he said. The target was Dave Dipierro, who lives with my former LA roommate, Donovan Dana. (Their house, whether they knew it or not, was my probable place to crash.) It was too late to politely call Florida, but time was ticking. I texted my former roommate who woke up Dave Diperro who then called me. I asked him to dance with 11 hours to go before the deadline.

Depierro decided to call his registered partner to ask permission to break up. He agreed they probably didn´t have the points to get into the qualifier restricted to 28-teams. Within the hour, he got permission to break up and we were registered online. We left the dance club.

Fifteen minutes after registering, I got a text from Mr. 244. He was still hearing the music. His Main Draw dreams were still leading him on. Could I wait 'til tomorrow morning to decide? I could not. I end up playing the AVP Miami Qualifier, and Mr. 244 ended up not going.

So, was it all worth it? I think reasonable people could disagree.

I had a three-day trip to South Beach. I was wined and dined by my new sponsor, Jose Cuervo on my birthday. I played three incredibly close matches and won the first two. We beat the #6 seed as the #11 seed. We won zero prize money. We feel we played hard and fair, and had a great chance to qualify.

I hope to know who I'm playing future tournaments with a little sooner in the future. I don´t like that part of beach volleyball is making as many calls as possible to sell myself to potential partners. I hope not to find myself on the dance floor. Unless, that is, a monster blocker happens to throw a look my way...

Skegness, England: Slightly Sweeter Than it Sounds

It’s been a wet summer in England. Pouring rain slammed our bus from Stanton Airport to London. The prior weekend’s English Volleyball Tour event had been flooded out, so the one we were headed for would be well attended.

Getting to Skegness was half the fun. Thanks to a comically strong pound, buses and trains from London weren’t an option – they’d involve arriving a day early and getting a hotel. Brother Bill's Notting Hill apartment was on the schedule and in the budget. I figured out we could rent a car at 11pm the night before and get it back 24 hours later. The catch was that the only rental place we could find still open was at Heathrow Airport, and driving in London is daunting.

In one of my best decisions ever, I shelled out the extra eleven pounds (22 bucks) for the GPS navigation system. Unfortunately, the screen went blank a few miles before reaching Notting Hill, and I had no clue where I was other than driving on the wrong side of the car, the road, and the city of London. A wrong here can mean a photo-captured ticket by mail. Heathrow Airport was easier to find than brother's apartment, so I went back to the rental counter and picked up a working charger for the GPS. By 4am I was back to Notting Hill, just in time to pick up Jack and leave for the event.

On no sleep, Jack and I checked out the tourist town of Skegness. The place is arguably nicer than its name, Skegness. With no sleep we still managed to get some pool play wins under our belts. Tough serving got us early leads in each of our playoff matches. Our opponents’ tough serving got them the first game of the final. We were dragging and needed to win in 3. Our incentive: the tournament paid its prize money in British Sterling: pounds.

Game three had very few ‘real’ points – points scored by the serving team. Fortunately we got a couple late in the match, including the final point. Jack jumped into the angle and stuffed their left-sider.

We had won some 125 pounds which would have made us a profit for the weekend. Sadly, gas in the UK is priced in pounds per liter. At over $7 per gallon, we were glad we had left the Airstream back in the USA…