Hey, everyone! This is Sarah Holloway, a freshman defensive specialist and libero on the Texas Volleyball team. This year, I've inherited the weekly diary from both Whitney Garvens (who wrote it for the volleyball team in 2003) and from my brother Tillman (who wrote a diary for the UT football team last year). I'll keep you up-to-date on what's happening with the team, both on the court and off. I'll fill you in on our matches and our travels as we go after a Big 12 title in 2004! Check back each week to see what we've been up to! Hook 'em!
WOW! This has been such an extremely busy week.
Last Saturday (Sept. 18) our match against Colorado (my home state) was amazing, being down 2-0 and fighting our way all the way back for the win. I think it also taught our team a valuable lesson that we hadn't had yet because most of our matches had been relatively easy. It was also a great to see my best friends from back home, Ashley and Amber (Nu'u, who both play for Colorado).
Next we had Iowa State (on Wednesday, Sept. 22), which also happened to be my 19th birthday. In the Holloway house it is a tradition to wake up the birthday person really early in the morning and have cake and presents in bed. So earlier that morning Bethany (Howden), Jenny (Andrew), Michelle (Moriarty), Jen (Christian), Lauren (Galler) and Al (Jennings) all crammed in my dorm room and woke me up at 7:15 a.m.!. Later I found out that my mom had told them about the tradition. Beth and her boyfriend made an awesome cake and I think that it was gone that same night!
Anyway, after our match and win against Iowa state... Al, and Jenny and I went to Taco C (Taco Cabana) for dinner. It was my first birthday being away from family but all my teammates and fans at Gregory Gym - and friends here - made it a great day. The team started singing 'Happy Birthday' right after our huddle at the end of the match, and they were so loud the whole crowd got into it and helped finish the song. So thank you so much. The thought meant a lot to me!
OK, enough about me. We're moving on. Last night we played Kansas at their place in Lawrence. We knew going into the match that their gym is a tough place to play and that they are a great team. We really worked hard on our game plan and sticking to what we had to do on our side of the court. The gym was packed but we created our own energy and came out with a win.
It was also nice because my parents and my little sister Rachel drove eight hours one-way to see. I hadn't seen my little sister in a very long time, so it was a great belated present. It was also our first plane trip as a team in the charter jet. To say the least it is a very cozy plane, and maybe a little scary the first time. On our way home we could see the Tower lit orange for the football team's win and we were very excited to come home with a win.
This past week was also the start of the first round of midterm exams, which only added to the excitement. (That's why this week's entry is a little late!) Our manager, Jesse, also had a loss in his family, so please keep him in your prayers.
I am so proud to be a Longhorn and be part of the great tradition here!
As always, Hook'em.
-Holler
|
|
 |
