5/30/04

Day 12: Tour Reflections
By Head Coach Jerritt Elliott

	Dariam Acevedo and Jerritt Elliott

Well, our 2004 European Tour is over. It feels like both yesterday and so long ago that we left Austin for Rome.
What a wonderful time our players and staff have experienced during the past 12 days in Europe. We have seen historical masterpieces, played some great volleyball and shared some moments together that will last a lifetime.

I enjoyed seeing our players learn the culture from the three countries they traveled(Italy, Austria, Germany). Today in the Munich airport when we were getting ready to board the plane home, some of our players discussed what their favorite city was.

Jessica Curtis' favorite city was Rome: "Rome is a place I could definitely live following college."

For Jenny Andrew it was Innsbruck, Austria: "I just love the beautiful architecture and slow paced life in Innsbruck."

Bethany Howden liked it so much that she plans to put on a backpack and travel following her graduation next May.

Regardless who the player was I spoke with, I had fun hearing what each player took away from this trip, both on and off the court.

This tour gave us the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with one another. We were able to put fun little events together for our players to grow as a team.

We switched roommates at every hotel, had them race across Rome with no map to the Pantheon, and arranged for them work with the Colorado State volleyball team on a scavenger hunt throughout Venice.

Overall these events proved to be a positive experience for our team. I'm lucky to have the opportunity to work with such fabulous student-athletes who are also a pleasure to be around.

	Jerritt Elliott and the Texas Volleyball team in Europe

During our tour we were able to go 5-0 against our international opponents. The experience our team gained from playing foreign teams is invaluable. I saw positive growth from every player during these past twelve days and this was the first time all spring that we were healthy and able to put our full squad on the floor. This tour showed our staff that we can have a special 2004 season.

I want to thank everyone who assisted us in making this trip a reality:

The Texas Women's Athletics Administration for its overall support and working with us to make this trip happen;

Tonya Johnson, my assistant coach, for her endless time organizing this trip with Bring it Promotions;

Lizz Summers, our SID, for putting together an incredible Web site for our fans to follow us on our journey;

Erika Kuhr, our athletic trainer, for taking care of our players and making sure they were ready to go for every practice and match. We are going to miss you next year!

To Whitney Garvens for making sure the trip ran smooth and setting up all the video for our matches;

AJ Bunyard, my administrative assistant, for all her help getting us on the road and making sure my family could get back in this country after our passports were stolen;

Tim Kelly and Cory Solomon, our tour guides from Bring It Promotions who put on a fantastic tour for our program;

and finally…

To our players, for all their hard work and growth as a team.After this trip, we can't wait for the start of preseason camp in August! Next season, we have a tremendous base from which to build a successful season.

Hook 'Em and we'll see you in Gregory Gym in the fall!
-Jerritt