What's good everybody?! It's Monday, and if you are like any of my girls, Mondays are not your best friend. We say goodbye to the past week, but hello to a brand new one. If yours has started off wrong, here are some uplifting words just for you. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…"(Isaiah 43:2). Let's have a great start because we have a lot to celebrate as a program!

Our home match on Tuesday was against Mars Hill. They are known in our conference for their scrappy defense and dang did they use it to their benefit Tuesday night. It was by far the most frustrating match we had seen thus far in season. Our hitters grew irritated with their block and defense as they picked up virtually everything. Even as a defensive player I was annoyed because it was like their platforms were just magnetically drawn to the ball and they were right there every time. Going into our intermission 1-1 we shared frustrations with the coach and he encouraged our hitters to keep swinging in faith and confidence that we will win the long rallies. He was right. We beat Mars Hill in four sets, our first conference match that went longer than three games. At the end of the match we discussed that being on the top of our conference was something we earn proudly and confidently, but it also placed a huge target on our backs. The top is a place we haven't experienced as a team in years, so each week we are faced with new challenges. It was during this match that Kristen Pickett reached her 3,000 assist of her Carson-Newman career! Congrats Pickett!!! Kristen, I feel like for each assist we have an action shot of you shooting the ball through the ball with your hilarious setting face. I've been looking at them for three years and it never gets oldJ

We got some criticism after the game because it was the first SAC match we hadn't beaten our opponent in three sets. But I think we forget that winning in 3 is a rare occasion and in order to do so, everything and everyone must be in perfect synchronization. It's that feeling when all the stars align in your favor. Right tempo, right pace, right rotations, right meals, right attitude and right fight. But we are still learning together! Although we strive for it, we can't expect perfection each match. And if we were, how were we ever going to grow as a team? The funny feeling of our losing will lead us to the conclusion that a win is a win no matter how many games, substitutions, or bad calls it took. The important fact is that we found a way to win as a team.  

Friday nights are quickly becoming our favorite night of the week. I mean what's better than heading out with all 15 of your best friends in a party bus with our tightest clothes and favorite shoes to…… Brevard College for our second of three matches this week!! I had you worried there for a little bit, sorry! Had to lighten it up a smidge there. Brevard honored women who battle ovarian cancer with a "teal night" on Friday and it got us excited for our dig pink match on October 24 which is ironically also against Brevard! For the past few years, Brevard has been notorious for their grueling and obnoxious crowd. And they did not disappoint on Friday night. Some of us thrive in those atmospheres because it gets us riled up!  And I have to admit, they were pretty comical. Coach even got his name chanted in between sets two and three. Plus obnoxious fans make it an even sweeter victory when we beat them in four. Oh and another little detail, Rachel Harper achieved her 1,000^th kill during this match! How her arm is still physically attached to her body, I have no earthly idea. But I do know that if you congratulate her or Kristen on their accomplishments, they will both deny the assumption that it was out of individual achievement that they reached those outstanding numbers. One lesson that we each learn about volleyball is that it is truly a team sport. A kill does not exist without an assist, and an assist does not glide through the setters hands without a dime pass and the block has funneled. It's like the circle of life! Or circle of volleyball haha. Next we headed to our hotel to defeat Lenoir Rhyne in the morning.

L-R came as another challenge to us because they had some of the toughest hitters we had seen in our conference! But we knew we were in for a battle because through each season, we are greatly matched competitors for each other. What set us apart from them this time around was our break dancing skills. Anna Patton and Eileen Anderson both brought out their coffee grinders before the match and went to town on the gym floor (off to the side of course) and got us feeling footloose high fiving into the match. We have the most spirited warriors in the conference in my opinion. So this weekend, Coker and Wingate, get at us. Bring your best slides, threes and huts because we are coming at you with some sick break dancing moves!

On the way home, plenty of us fell asleep from the hard work we had put in the past two days. I zonked out and woke up noticing we weren't moving. Weird, I thought. Then I woke up a second time and noticed we still weren't moving! What gives!? Turns out we were stopped for an hour in stand still traffic because of an awful accident just a few miles ahead of us. With the extra time, we did what any traveling team would have done in our situation. Got out of the bus and took selfies while we stretched our legs and soaked in the fresh air around us. Once we got back in the bus, we finished up the movie Greese as we "ooh op bom a loo op ooh op bam boo'd" our way back to Jefferson City with content of two wins over the weekend and some quality time with family that had visited.

Thank you all for the support you give us from week to week! We feel your thoughts and prayers uplifting us as we soar through each day. And thank you for reading! I love hearing your positive feedback because I write for you! 

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 -