Happy start to a fresh, new week everybody! Although the first week of school was two weeks ago, we Lady Eagles learned loads this previous week.

Thursday night was a proud momma moment. We celebrated our success in the classroom as we marched across the stage to accept our Eagle Scholar Awards. Almost all of our returners made the 3.25 GPA required to receive the award which gave us the title of best team GPA on campus. But our success wasn't the only victory that night. From last year to this year, the number of athletes that received an Eagle Scholar award reached a 29% increase, which places Carson Newman at No. 6 in overall GPA's in the South Atlantic Conference. Our Athletic Director, Allen Morgan, isn't stopping there! This year we have our eyes set on that No. 1 position. Congrats to all the Eagle Scholar athletes that are also competing in the classroom! Taking pride in what we do no matter where we go. Oorah. Can I say that? Let's go with talons up for now.

Friday the real fun began! Olympic Gold medalist Sheila Taormina graced us with her bright and energetic presence. She is the only woman to compete in three different events in the Olympics! Sheila competed in swimming, a triathlon and the pentathlon. And I thought swimming a mile was tough. Plus she's from Michigan like me! Just saying. We sat around in our locker room listening to her like kindergartners listening to a firefighter on career day. From her stories we absorbed countless life lessons but the two that she told us we must remember as athletes were: 1. Fundamentals, Fundamentals, and Fundamentals, and 2. We should not want, we must fight. One of her weakest events was fencing and she asked the best of the best how she became successful. The champion replied, while her competitors stayed after training to practice their trickiest moves, she would practice her basic footwork up and down the mat for hours on end. She knew that when she would see an opening to score on her opponent, her feet were what was going to get her there. In comparison to volleyball, we could say that without a three point serve receive pass, we cannot set ourselves up for a kill. And her point with No. 2 meant that everybody wants the gold. In order to be the best we have to fight for it. We have to fight for that ball not to hit our ground. Fight to get our feet to the ball. Fight to get properly set up for a block. Fight to be undefeated at home. Simply wanting is not enough. These words were therapeutic for our team in the beginning of our season but the most inspiring aspect of our talk was her openness about her relationship with God. I asked how she shared her faith, without being "in your face"or obnoxious. Sheila replied that attitude and even a positive energy can have an impact on people. While we are called to share the Gospel, we can plant seeds with a smile or compliment and always a positive outlook.

On Saturday we transformed into sponges absorbing all the knowledge to find. We scrimmaged in the morning. Coach played around with lineups and positions to get prepped for California and we just played as a team. No matter who was next to us on the lineup, we focused on our next contact and clear communication. Taking it one ball at a time seemed to work because we stayed consistent all day long! The techniques we have been taught are all coming together and we are beginning to look like a well-orchestrated symphony with our swing blocking! Shout out to my blockers. You made not getting hit in the face so much easier this weekend. 

Part 2 of Saturday was the highlight of my weekend. It was the Lady Eagles first Annual Alumni match! Festivities began with a BBQ where we watched the graduated players reunite with each other and like all volleyball players do, we bonded over food. Num num. We saw lots of familiar faces. Rachael Bowlin and Angelle Hayes who were my seniors my freshman year were reunited and women that graduated in 2000-2004 shared with us what their lives are like now.  After we showed them our updated locker room, it was game time. The warm-up was interesting as they tried to get organized after years of not warming up and we sized up our competition. But we had way more fun watching them laugh and tease each other.  Cheering for both sides of the court was refreshing and energizing. Not to mention Kristen Pickett, our senior setter, played libero. We were rolling on the floor laughing. After the games were finished and we got to chat a bit more with the alum, we noticed that they look a lot like we do. They were sharing stories about their crazy weekends, memories made, leg slapping and pointing fingers as if no time had passed between them. As if nothing had ever changed from the last time they played together. Even though their lives have taken them across the U.S they still had a bond that could not be broken through distance or time well spent. Now I can't wait till that day when I am reunited with my teammates and I get to see Harper still in shape from playing beach volleyball or Lindsey's kids walking in with monogramed chevron hats.

Sunday was our off day and we had girls going to Knoxville's Booms Day and others went our shopping for our last free weekend or spending time with parents from out of town. It was a great rejuvenating day because Monday we were back at it with competition and practice. In practice we got lots of good reps but didn't do too many exhausting drills because we had another team bonding activity in the afternoon! This one was a little less embarrassing than the scavenger hunt. We got to play kickball with the women's soccer team!! I'm not going to lie, at first we were dreading it because none of us can kick to save our lives and they basically do it for a living. But coach knows us and enticed us with free food after the game. Thankfully we mixed the two teams together considering they have about double the man power. And we could mix our talent! Because as we soon found out, they had their weaknesses too. We forgot about the fact that they could physically not use their hands in their sport so in turn had an extremely difficult time catching a ball (not including the goalies of course, their hands were magic). Our girls even had a hard time catching the kickball because it's so much bouncier than it seems! This also had us rolling because sometimes the ball would be kicked up and hit several people before it came to the ground. The results were inconclusive because we played about seven innings and our stomach's took over. So we walked off the field in agreement of a tie in order to get "doze burgerzzz".

All in all, this week we learned that as much as we think we play for coach, we actually play for each other. And how lucky are we to have teammates to pick us up? Playing for the girl next to us is what has kept our alumni bonded over all of these years, still laughing at each other like we laughed at ourselves trying to kick a ball Monday. It's like magic glue that keeps us together and in our memories forever. We also play for Jesus though because just like Sheila said, being a good representation like good using sportsmanship can shine a light on someone. We love what we do! But there are other unseen aspects of the game that keep us playing volleyball and fighting for more.

Thanks for reading,

Kristina (Tina) Hill

God Bless!

Throughout the 2014 volleyball season, junior libero Kristina Hill (Lake Orion, Mich.) will write about her experiences at Carson-Newman. A new installment will be released each Monday afternoon.

- CN -