Hey Eagles! It's been a great week at Holt Fieldhouse for our program. We put up three more W's this week, making our record 13-1 in conference and we're holding steadfast to the No. 2 spot in the South Atlantic Conference. Something that we didn't expect to come across was a little mid-season lull, but with motivation from coach, support from you, and push from each other, we are battling our way through second round.

So if you have been reading since the beginning of our Khronicles, you will recall a post I wrote about how our weeks are literally like rollercoasters. Well this Tuesday we got a real rollercoaster ride for free.  Tuesday at 4:45 the Carson Newman vans were packed with a lively crew headed for the Mars Hill Lions. This is normally a beautiful, straight shot drive through the mountains. But that night the drive was anything but a straight shot. Coach decided to take the lead and as we followed Google Maps. We were about 40 minutes into the drive when some of us realized we had never been on this road before. Then 40 minutes turned into an hour, curves turned into twists and 90˚ angles, and bright glowing faces turned green. It was funny at first then our whole van began feeling car sick and we felt like sea sick pirates who just wanted to spot land! But we made it there and I had never been so happy to see an away gym. The good news is, I think Mars Hill's gym was so hot that we sweated out any car sickness we still felt. The bad news is Mars Hill took us to five sets. But sometime in the last five points of the fifth set, we decided that we were the better team and it was time to fight. We took the victory home with us that night. Coach promised us a different way home, and we did take a different route, but somehow we still ended up going around the same kinds of twists, turns and winds around the mountains! Murphy 's Law I guess! Or maybe it was the universe's way of punishing us for not beating them in three sets like we know we should have. Nicely played, universe.

On our day off, a few of us went to the caf together (we travel in packs). Not many people were in there so we were just messing around with each other. Lucy, our No. 1 fan and one of our closest friends, challenged Anna to a game of "What are the odds". It's a game where you pick something challenging for one person to do, like a dare, and then ask then what are the odds they would do it. Then the challengee picks a number range like 1-15 and you both count to three, say a number, and if you both say the same number, the challengee has to do the dare! Lucy asked Anna "What are the odds you would steal that whole cookie tray?" Anna replied, "1-10". And they both said seven!! Next thing ya know I'm recording Anna jacking the whole dang tray of the caf's beloved chocolate chip cookies and bring them to our table. But not to worry coach, she put them back untouched. And no cookies were harmed in the making of the "what are the odds cookie challenge". I think the best part was capturing everybody's confused looks as she rounded the corner with the aluminum tray full of two dozen cookies. Priceless.  But thank you to Mrs. Castle and Celecia Seale for the cookies after Saturday's matches! We got our fill J.

And Thursday we made season history with the first pre-match light practice of the year! It lasted less than an hour and gave us just enough time to get in touch with our competitive side and get the reps we needed. After practice was over it was time to start getting mentally prepared for the weekend.

On Friday we dethroned the Royals and beat them in four sets. Although we achieved the win, we weren't satisfied and realized that was the second team in a row that simply worked harder than we did. You could tell both teams wanted it, but we would have a few mindless plays which gave the other teams opportunities to score several times in a row without an answer from us, and before we knew it, a game slipped through our hands. Thankfully, volleyball is a game of momentum and we have the talent and drive to gain it when we decide to run with it. None the less, something had to change and change fast.

On Saturday morning, we came in to get a few reps in before our two matches that day and coach talked with us about how we needed to continue growing as a team and be cautious not to get stunted by these lapses in mental toughness. That plugged a little spark in our booties and we beat both Catawba and Belmont Abbey in three sets. It was a great opportunity for everybody to get to play and to see that we haven't peaked or even plateaued, but growing together as one.

We ask for your prayers as we go through these little growing pains as a team. We know that we are a special group of girls, and we know that seasons like this don't come along often. So we must get a grasp on what we have and run with it. Thanks for all the love and support and have a great week, do great things!

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.

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