298 athletics alaska bound At the beginning of the fall 2008 semester, the Lady Bison volleyball team embarked on an adventure. Besides participating in a challenging tournament, the team was able to go white-water rafting, shopping and sightseeing around the beautiful countryside of Alaska. “I loved the trip and would have liked to stay there longer,” senior Shellie Rummer said. “Alaska is such a beautiful state, and the temperature was perfect — a nice escape from the 90 degree Arkansas weather.” Besides just a change in weather, the team got to experience several other things foreign to their college home in Searcy. “We got to go white-water rafting, which was probably the funniest thing in the world. We got to see [Coach] Gib fall out of our raft,” Rummer said. “We also [saw] a real glacier [and] ate great food.” Although the trip to Alaska could have been viewed as a vacation, the team had to earn this trip. They had long practices, repeated drills and worked out together. The girls even had to be back on campus 10 days earlier than other students in preparation for the trip. “Every year, before school starts, we come on campus and have practices three times a day,” junior outside hitter Manuela Nesheva said. “Once school starts we have only one practice a day, and by the NCAA rules we have to have one day off in the week.” That extra practice time allowed the team to begin working out any kinks in their game to get ready for the Alaska tournament and the rest of the season. “Sometimes [in practice] when something was not working as it should have, we approached it in a different way,” Nesheva said. “We tried and still try to make each other better and to figure out ways to do that.” The work that the girls put in for the Alaska trip resulted not only in being able to compete in a new place and enjoy breathtaking scenery, but also in becoming closer as a team. “At the tournament I believe we really grew as a team, and this helped set the stage for the season to come,” senior Leah Tepe said. “One of the unique characteristics about our team is that we train hard no matter the situation, and our team [also] has a very unique chemistry. We get along as teammates on the court [and] off the court.” Competing in the tournament and spending a whole week together was also a chance for the new freshmen on the team to begin their volleyball experience at the collegiate level and mesh with their older teammates. “The trip definitely helped our team bond a lot faster than usual,” Rummer said. “I think us older members helped the freshman feel [like] part of the team and helped them keep their minds off being away from home. Since we were together for so long, we got used to each other and really got to know each other.” Throughout the season, the team grew closer. However, most agreed that the Alaska trip was what initially brought them together and kept them together for the remainder of the season. Not only did they have a great time in Alaska, but they also learned about each other and became friends instead of just teammates. “It was like being on a vacation with 14 of your best friends,” Rummer said. Rebecca Harrell Senior middle blocker Shellie Rummer keeps her eye on the ball as she attempts a kill against the Texas A&M Commerce blockers in a game played on Sept. 12. Rummer finished the game with nine kills and during the season was second on the team in total kills with 301. Noah Darnell Volleyball team travels to play in tournament
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==