2 down...big win over Croatia

Today we played the first match of the day.  Always a little difficult because normal pre-game routine is altered a little bit.  But not enough to stop us.  After a long warm-up we came out a lot stronger then the day before. One of the keys to our victory was our serving. Against Thailand we made a lot of errors and today was the exact opposite.  We served aggressive yet controlled and got Croatia out of system making the game a lot easier on us.

Here are the scores from the match:

USA def. Croatia 25-26, 25-13, 25-23

You can check out highlights, pictures, and other players blogs on www.usavolleyball.org/events/3055.

Up next is Germany.  One game at a time...a lot of tournament to go.  Hope everyone has a good weekend.

I'm back...

After taking the summer off from blogging I am finally back.  I have so much to share about my summer from what I did all summer to new fashion finds.  But for the next 16 days I will be blogging about World Championships.

I took most of the summer off from USA Volleyball trying to get my knee and body in better shape to make a run for the 2012 Olympics.  About 2 months ago I got back in the gym with the USA Team and competed my way back onto the roster.  Now after a long and hard summer I am here in Japan with the team for my first World Championships.  I know it is hard to believe that it is my first...but it is.  It was the only big tournament I was missing on my resume, and I am so happy to be here helping the team.

We traveled to Japan on the 21st of October to get acclimated and train for a week before the tournament started.  We had a great training week in Shinga the home of the Japanese club team Toray Arrows.  The organization was so wonderful to host us in their city and gym for 6 days.  Thank you to the Toray Arrows.

After a 5 hours bus ride we arrived in Matsumoto on Wednesday.  Had a short practice on Thursday in the competition gym, watched a good amount of video, and rested up for today.  We took the court today against Thailand for our first game.  After a slow start we pulled out a 3-1 win.  World Championships is a very long and difficult tournament.  A win is a win and that's all that matters.  Now it's time to look ahead to Croatia tomorrow.

Most of the games are being streamed online.  Problem is the site changes but I will try to update you as soon as I know.  You can always follow the tournament on fivb.com for all the results, stats, and pictures.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Volley Update

Once again I took a little break from blogging...but I'm back to give a little update.  After winning Coppa Italia, 3 days later we started playoffs.  In the quater-finals we were matched up with Pavia.  We were all very tired from Coppa Italia, but fought hard and were able to win the series in 2 straight matches.

Gara 1

Villa Cortese def. Pavia 25-19, 25-16, 19-25, 25-22

Gara 2

Villa Cortese def. Pavia 25-11, 29-27, 27-25

We were the only quarterfinal to be finished after two games.  We really needed that rest because we knew the semi-finals was going to be a tough one.  Bergamo ended up beating Perugia in 3 matches, so it was time to play Bergamo.  Bergamo is a always a very experienced team with a lot of Italian National Team members.  We beat them in 5 sets to win Coppa Italia, so we knew this was going to be a long series.  

Gara 1

Villa Cortese def. Bergamo  25-23, 25-17, 24-26, 26-24

Gara 2

Bergamo def. Villa Cortese  31-29, 25-17, 25-14

Gara 3

Villa Cortese def. Bergamo  25-17, 24-26, 24-26, 25-14, 17-15

Gara 4

Villa Cortese def. Bergamo  25-22, 26-28, 22-25, 25-19, 15-12

I get tired looking at those scores.  It was a battle...and we came out on top to make it to my first ever final appearance here in Italy.  Pesaro had closed their series against Jesi the night before.  So now it was time to forget about our big win in the semi-finals and concentrate on Pesaro.

Unfortunately last night we suffered a difficult loss in the first match of the series...

Gara 1 

Pesaro def. Villa Cortese 18-25, 33-31, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13

It is always an interesting experience going back to Pesaro after playing there for my first 3 years in Italy.  The fans have become quite aggressive these days...but I guess people can say that about me on the volleyball court.  They are just doing their job.  Tomorrow we will fight once again and try to tie up the series before heading back North.

Coppa Italia

Finally this past weekend we got to play again.  It was time for the Final 4 of Coppa Italia (Italian Cup).  The Italians take this Cup very seriously and they have it for every sport.  We practiced hard for two and a half weeks preparing for this weekend.  First up in the semi-finals we had Jesi (Heather Bown's team).  We came up with a big 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-15) win, and some confidence going into the final against Bergamo.  Bergamo just the other week won Champions League, which is the Cup for all of Europe.  We knew we had our work cut out for us.  We started the match off great with a 2-0 set lead and 16-11 lead in the 3rd...then...well something happened and we ended up in the 5th set.  But with the hard work of our team and coach we pulled out the victory (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25, 15-13).  This was my first time winning Coppa Italia, and also the first for our organization.  It was absolutely incredible.  The support from our organization, staff, and fans was tremendous.

Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Manu, Me & Vesna

Celebrating

Me & Manu

Unfortunately we had very little time to celebrate.  Playoffs start on Thursday and our focus is now directed to winning the Championship.

What a weekend...

2nd free weekend...

As I previously said...we had 2 weekends off from games.  The 2nd weekend I had Sunday off...and Manu and I decided to go for a late lunch in Milan at our friend the Pharmacist's restaurant.  We ended up staying there for at least 4 hours enjoying great food and great company.  Then spontaneously I brought up going bowling...and all were for it.

Manu, Bianchi, Pharma, and I bowling...fun times...

Pre-bowling lunch...Pharma & Bianchi

Manu

Manu showing her skills

Strike for Bianchi

Manu & I

I love when we have a little time to do things that we normally can't do...now we are trying to make it a once a week thing...we will see...I need to practice on my own before the next round...

Easter Spa weekend...

One plus of having 3 weeks off from games was having Easter weekend off. I was having a very difficult time deciding if I should travel out of Italy, go to Rome, or just stay around Milan and relax.   Luckily one of my best friends from Hawaii made my decision a lot easier.   My friend Erica Lum and I grew up together in Hawaii.  She has now been living in Italy for the past years with her fiance Phil Martin who plays professional basketball here.  It worked out that Phil had a game close to where I live.  Erica decided to fly up the morning of his game so we could spend some time together.  I decided to surprise her with a spa day in my new favorite hotel in Milan.  After the spa day we went to Phil's game, had a great dinner, and then Easter brunch the next day before she left.  I had another day and a half off after that but chose to just relax in the hotel and have some Me time.

Check out this hotel...it was amazing...Exedra Milano

The spa

Entrance to Bar

Room w/ view of Duomo

Outside

Bar

This picture is similar to the room I was in...

I will be back to the hotel asap...It was so great seeing Erica & Phil...and hope to make their wedding this summer in Hawaii...

Spring is here...

Finally the weather is nice...I might be speaking too soon...but I hope Spring is officially here.  To tell you the truth I love the weather but not a big fan of spring and summer fashion.  As weird as it sounds I will be missing all the layers and what you can create in the fashion world with layers...

These woman are completely covered yet so sexy and stylish...bye bye layers...see you in a couple seasons...