1/31/11 After the Copa...

Hello all!

In my previous post I told you that we played Haro in the semi-finals (we beat Tenerife in the quarters) of the Copa de la Reina.  That game was really important to us not only because we obviously wanted to get to the finals in the Copa but also because we had lost to them a few weeks earlier AND the coach of Haro in the news papers was kinda talking smack on our team saying that, "they did not need to prepare and blah blah", any ways we were all kinda pissed about that so we wanted to beat them, which we did! (SO HA!) We beat them in 4 and it was a good match.  We played at 530pm and after stayed to watch the next game because the winner of that match would be our competition in the Finals the next day.  Murcia was the winning team and they had won the Copa 4 years in a row! We had a quick turn around to play because we played Saturday night and had to play at 12pm Sunday afternoon.  It would be a challenging game for both teams, mentally and physically.  I will tell you more about the finals after I show you some pics...

This is my hotel room. I got to have my own because there is an odd number of girls. Usually I would stay with the trainer lady, but her boyfriend is our assistant manager so she stayed with him.  Loved having a big bed and room all to myself to just relax in after practice and games.

This was my shower. It was ah-mazing.

This is Paula and I in the bus on our way somewhere. She has also been my roomie for the last 2 weeks but she left me this morning to go back to Puerto Rico :(

This was the gym that we played in for the Copa

Neat

Locker room before the finals

Vita and Sabrina (They are like 6'4!!)

Esther, our libero. She is the SH*T. Best libero in Spain and at one point all of Europe. Fact.

Ana y Alba

Okay so we woke up on Sunday and had breakfast and film and left for the gym. I was super nervous and woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep. The Copa is a HUGE deal in Spain and because I am new to the team I really wanted to do my part to help.  The crowd was awesome and we had about 30 fan from Menorca come and support us! It was cool to have such a supportive fan base so far from home.  They all had t-shirts and obnoxious noise makers. Loved it! 

We won the first game 25-21, lost the 2nd game 22-25, lost the 3rd 21-25, won the 4th game 25-17, and lost the 5th game 14-16.  It was such an intense match. Both teams made incredible plays and left everything out on the court.  The last point we lost because the ref called a net on our side, which was the WORST way to end a final point of a final mach in the Copa, but what can ya do.  Either way it was hard for me to feel particularly disappointed about the match. We gave everything we had and everyone played really well.  We played with heart and together as a team so we deserved to win but sometimes it doesn't go your way and you have to just learn from it.  Plus we will get them at the end of the season when we go to playoffs! 

The travel home was long and pretty exhausting but we made it home safe.  We now have 2 days off to recover, which is awesome.  We played 3 matches in 4 days and our bodies are all tired.  Not to mention mentally drained from the games as well.  When you put that much heart and emotion into something it takes more out of you than you realize. 

I am going to take this time off to walk around the city and take pictures and check out what's around me.  I will post a blog and some more pictures as I go. As always, if there is anything you would like to know, feel free to ask!

Ky

Also it was my boyfriends birthday on Jan 29th, so I thought id give a shout out. Happy bday Nate! You're old! :)