Welcome back....Welcome back...Welcome baaaacccckkkk

It has been forever I know.  Almost a month and a half to be exact.  A lot went on in the month...a couple losses, a couple wins, a trip back to LA, many nights out in Milan, and much more.  But I can officially say I am ready to get back into this blogging business.  Here is a little volleyball update.  We ended with first round of the season unfortunately with a tough loss to our rival Busto Arsizio.  I say our rival because our 2 cities are only about 10 min away from each other...and I actually live in Busto.  But that loss is now is the far past but here is the score just in case you were interested.

Villa Cortese vs. Busto Arsizio  26-28, 27-29, 25-20, 25-21, 14-16

As you can see we let that one get away from us.  But we have learned and moved on.  After that match I got to leave the next day for a week in LA.  It was great to get back and to see the progress on my new place.  Unfortunately things were moving very slow.  But at least I can now say that things are almost done and everything planned will be complete this month.  Or next match was in the next week and we knew it was going to be a tough one.  And it sure ended up being one...we picked up another loss and this one was ugly.

Villa Cortese vs. Perugia  25-27, 17-25, 20-25

Nothing much to say about this one.  Perugia is a strong team and it is very difficult to play in their game...but no excuses...we played horrible.  These two losses caused a little drama on the team but it wouldn't be a normal Italian season without a little drama.  Luckily it passed quickly and got back on the winning track.

Villa Cortese def. Bergamo  25-20, 32-30, 25-22

At the time were were tied with Bergamo for 2nd place so it was a great win to put us apart from them.  Next up was the first match of the quarterfinals of Coppa Italia.  Coppa Italia is a big deal here in Italy.  After the first round of the season the top 8 teams compete for the Coppa Italia title.  Coming out of the first round in 2nd place we ended up matching up with Novara (Logan Tom's team).  The first match was to be played at Novara and the following week we would play my team's gym.

Villa Cortese def. Novara  21-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-21

After a rough start in the first set my team really turned it on.  One of our best matches for sure.  And gave us a good opportunity to advance to the final 4.  Before we played Novara for the second time we had to travel to play Conegliano (Sarah Pava, and Makare Wilson's team).  I had never been to that city and was excited to play in a new gym that was very nice and filled with a great volleyball crowd.  A great city to play in.

Villa Cortese def. Conegliano 25-19, 32-30, 25-18

Once again we played a great match with a little scare in the 2nd set, but it showed how strong and patient we were.  Great team effort once again.  It was time to play Novara again to go to the Final 4 of Coppa Italia.  We needed to win 2 sets to advance.  We started the match off on fire winning the first set easily.  Also in the 2nd set we were in control until Logan went back and served about 8-10 balls and brought her team back.  But after that it was all Villa Cortese.  Taking the 3rd set to go to the Final 4 and eventually winning the match.

Villa Cortese def. Novara  25-17, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17

It is a pretty big deal for our team to qualify for the Final 4...and also means bonus time for me...not that that matters at all.

Sunday Castellana Grotte travels to our house for another match.  Right now we are sitting alone in 2nd place behind Pesaro.  We are going to continue to take one match at a time and continue to get better as a team each day in the gym.

Again I'm sorry for being missing in action for so long...but I'm back....