SPLIT, Croatia – Carson-Newman outside hitter Rachel Harper is overseas playing in the Ninth Annual Global European Challenge.  These are her stories. 

DAY ONE:  We arrived in Dubrovnik, Croatia. This is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! Everywhere I looked was just another piece of God's beautiful masterpiece.

The high mountains on one side and the deep blue sea on the other, it was a sight of a lifetime for me. The city just adds even more amazement to the sight. All the roofs match with deep orange bricks, and surrounding the city is a castle wall built hundreds of years ago, which we were able to walk around, those memories will stick with me forever.

DAY TWO: We rested up and were ready to play some volleyball. We hit the road for Bar, Montenegro. On our way, we stopped in Budva, Montenegro for some sightseeing and shopping.

It was so neat to see the different cultures and how they live here. All the Croatians are very well educated, most all are bilingual, speaking Croatian and English. One Croatian, named Daniella, who plays volleyball for a club here in Croatia, showed us around Montenegro.

Again, this town was surrounded with huge mountains, not anything like the mountains in Tennessee though. These mountains are so high and steep; it is difficult to see the tops, looking like they reach through the clouds into Heaven.  After leaving Budva, we went the rest of the way to Bar to play our first match. We played against a club team from Bar, Montenegro.

Although this was our first time ever playing together as a team (no practice or anything), and although the gym felt like an oven, we pulled it together as a team, and won our first match (3-1). The girls here are all very talented and I feel lucky and blessed to be able to play with them and learn from them and from the coaches.

DAY THREE: A relaxing day. We went to the beach in Bar, which consisted of no sand and no ocean. Instead, in place of sand were smooth rocks leading into the Adriatic Sea. I have never seen a more beautiful beach scenery than this one simply because I was not only looking out at the sea, but surrounding us were once again, the mountains. Our coaches allowed us to lay out in the sun, as well as to nap before the game to get us ready to win again.

That night we played the same club team as the night before and won again, but this time we beat them 3-0. It was a good game, I am very impressed with the way my team here is pulling together and working hard to represent USA and our schools.

DAY FOUR:  A long day, traveling a total of 10 hours on a bus with another club team to Split, Croatia. It was mostly full of sleeping and getting to know each other better.

Everyone here has such good hearts and such inspiring stories. It has opened my eyes to see how many people have had to push through tough times just so they can continue to play volleyball, the sport they love and the sport that God blessed them with the ability and talent to play.

I hope to come back to Carson Newman and add even more passion and intensity than we already have on our team! It is going to be a great season for our University.

-CN-