The road trip to MIVAs was quoted by a few as "The best trip ever." We watched movie after movie in the van to and from campus and battled some nasty snow in western Illinois on Sunday morning. The guys sang, some of it wasn't all that bad, but Antoine needs to stick with Studio Art and Kyle will make a career of it on Broadway someday. We had an awesome night at Olive Garden consuming more bread sticks than you could imagine and celebrating an early 21st birthday for Jeff, with his parents. We met mama Sham (Jehu Shamlin's mother) and she brought needed energy to the team on Saturday! Tolls in Illinois stink...every 3 miles is another! We didn't eat pizza in the van which satisfied a few and even got some subs from Jimmy Johns for the ride home...stopped at Wendy's too for some fries and a frosty. Click here for exclusive video footage.

MIVA Championships

On the way to the MIVA Championships at Northern Illinois University, we stopped in the city to check out the Navy Pier, Magnificant Mile and to stuff down some Chicago style pizza at Giordanos. By the photo you would expect 55 degrees, but it was only about 25 when we made the stop by Lake Michigan for the team shot. We played our best tournament of the year and finished 3-3, but two of the losses were to top 25 and former national champions at the Division I level (UW-Oshkosh and OSU) as well as a very talented Indiana University team that defeated UW-Oshkosh in pool play. We defeated Ball State University, Iowa State University, and Purdue University. This was an excellent timing as we take the final steps to prepare for nationals.

#8 B-W vs #3 Grove City College

Our fans traveled from campus and our families traveled to Grove City, PA to support the team...I think we may have even out numbered their fans! We had a potential future Yellow Jacket in attendance, friends, classmates, parents and others. The match started off excellent as we developed the attitude to win the match and took the first game 25-20 in the GCC arena. GCC rebounded to win game two 20-25 and won the third game 23-25 in a close game throughout. We had the lead late at 20-18, but could not hold on to secure the lead in the match. We fell behind quickly in the fourth game and never rebounded; losing the fourth game 25-22 and the match 3-1. Next up is another brutal weekend, but all in preparation for the national tournament as we head to Northern Illinois University for the MIVA Conference Championships.

Break time at the Cavs game!

No practice on Tuesday, but a great night at the Cavs game. The game went into the final minutes on a crazy night in downtown Cleveland, but the Cavs pulled out a victory vs. the Orlando Magic. It was a good night for a break as we head into the final month of the season and prepare for the NIRSA National Tournament and no better way to spend it than in downtown Cleveland watching the league leading Cleveland Cavs.

I found the team!

After some ups and downs this season, I have found the team that was so successful last season! The team that played with confidence, energy, excitement, consistency and fire. It took a little change in approach as a coach, but in our final match in the MIVA conference play we found the elements needed for success and stretched the match versus undefeated University of Dayton to the limits. While we lost the 3rd set 16-14, we played the best match of the year and have instilled some confidence in a talented team. We have a lot to work on prior to nationals in Kansas City, MO, but we have the talent and now the energy to be successful!

A weekend without JIMMY JOHNS!

We completed our first weekend without eating Jimmy Johns...quite an accomplishment for this team as they may be Jimmy Johned out! Believe it or not we found new options and they were tasty, but certainly not easy. On the way home most of us ate at Subway except for the smart few who decided they wanted Steak and Shake. We ordered, ate, talked, joked and drove down to Steak and Shake a 1/2 hour later only to find Jeh, Kyle and Phil still sitting at the counter waiting for their food...I think the text came through, "never Steak and Shake again." Fun weekend, I found our team that was so successful last year, the excitement, the energy, the ability. More to come!