DePaul University Athletics
Christy Landschoot: sports blog July 30
7/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
July 30, 2008
Hello!
Welcome to my new blog everyone! I am so excited keep others updated with what DePaul volleyball is up to! Right now our team is preparing for pre-season which begins in two weeks. We have been working so hard, and I think it will really show in the upcoming fall season. We played in a few tournaments last spring, and this summer we have been playing and conditioning on our own to get ready for season.
We had two weeks to practice before our first tournament at Purdue in the spring season. This tournament was really big for us because there was a lot of good competition there. We played two matches in the morning against Western Michigan and Ohio State. Although we lost both matches, it was great competition, and we were able to see areas that we had improved on since the fall and things that we still needed to work on in practice. Later that day, we beat Indiana State and lost to IUPUI in a close match. Kate Letcher lives in West Lafayette near Purdue, so the entire team went to her house after the tournament for dinner and fun! It was also coach’s birthday, so we celebrated with an enormous cake!
The following weekend we played at Sports Performance, a volleyball facility in Aurora. This tournament also had great competition. We lost our first four matches of the day, but left on a good note, beating previously ranked Ohio University (yay!!!). Kat broke her hand at this tournament, so we were down another player. She was out for the rest of spring, but she has been able to play for most of the summer and is ready for fall!
The following Friday, we scrimmaged UIC at DePaul. It was a lot of fun because we played this game called "baseball", but it was really playing volleyball! It was a little confusing at first, but eventually we all got it and played for a while. It was a really effective and fast drill. Then we played a few games against them, and we learned a lot about what we still needed to improve on and what we were doing well.
Our last play day in the spring we played a women’s league team. All the players on the team had played volleyball in college and were very experienced. This really showed when we played them and when comparing our team’s level of experience to theirs. We played several games against them, and it was clear that we had improved since the beginning of spring season.
A new assistant coach, Matt Jennings, was hired in the end of spring, and we are thrilled to have him here! He has a lot of volleyball experience, and he will be a great addition to the team! We have met with him a few times already, and we cannot wait to work with him in the fall!
Now we are in our last two weeks of summer!! This summer has gone by so fast. We condition, lift and participate in open gyms throughout the summer. Before we knew it, it was time for the DePaul Volleyball Camp, which was held last weekend. Most of the girls on the team worked at the camp. Kate and I worked with the younger athletes at the camp, which was so much fun! The camp was really well organized and was two days packed with great volleyball. The incoming freshmen members of the team attended this camp, and now they will be here until pre-season begins. For the past week, we have still been lifting and conditioning and are playing every day. This week has been a lot of fun, and we will continue for the next two weeks before pre-season begins.
I hope all of you keep up with my blog and with DePaul volleyball. It is going to be a great season!
I also hope everyone is having a fun and safe summer! Talk to you soon! GO BLUE!
Christy
