Every week throughout the 2004 season, the Texas volleyball team will all respond to a question posed to them by TexasSports.com.
Proving that life on the road is sometimes an exercise in finding unique ways to keep yourself busy, freshman outside hitter Jen Christian once again took control of the tape recorder and went on a mission to find out what her Longhorns teammates were thankful for with Thanksgiving approaching. She found her teammates as they were preparing to leave the hotel and head to the Nebraska Coliseum to take on the 2004 Big 12 Champions, No. 2 Nebraska on Wednesday afternoon. Turns out, a lot of them are thankful for Jen Christian.
Jen Christian: Dariam, what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? (Talking and moving around, nearly falling off the taping table when Dariam entered the room prior to the Nebraska match on Wednesday.)
Dariam Acevedo: I am thankful for my family and for everything basically, for everything I have, for all my friends...
Christian: For me?
Acevedo: For you, too.
Christian: Good. What else do you need?
Acevedo: I'm also thankful for my trainer (Kristin Thompson). She's special and we've seen a lot of each other this year!
Christian: Michelle? How about you?
Michelle Moriarty: I don't know. There are a lot of things. You know the usual stuff: family, friends...
Christian: Me?
Moriarty: JC, too, for being my roommate this trip. I've waited all year and finally on the last trip we get to be roommates...
Christian: That's not all?
Moriarty: That's part of what I'm thankful for.
Christian: Jessica Curtis, what are you thankful for?
Curtis: I am thankful for my teammates...
Christian: Me?
Curtis: My family, Jen Christian, of course. I'm thankful to have people around me who support me and whom I can support and just a loving group. All that good stuff and lots of turkey, too.
Christian: Yay! Turkey, turkey! Holloway, what are you thankful for?
Sarah Holloway: I am thankful for my family and my boyfriend.
Christian: Jenny? Are you thankful for me?
Jenny Andrew: Well, first and foremost, I'm thankful for Jen Christian, my best friend. I'm also thankful for such a supportive family who I love so much, and also my second family: my teammates and my coaches.
Christian: Mira, what are you thankful for? For Thanksgiving, the holiday tomorrow?
Mira Topic: Oh! Yeah, Thanksgiving! I am thankful for everything: my family, my friends, peace.
Christian: That's so cute!
Topic: I'm also thankful for being happy and I'm happy right now.
Christian: You're thankful for being happy? That's so nice! Alyson, how about you?
Alyson Jennings: My team!
(Round of Awwwws come from the rest of her teammates in the room.)
Christian: Me?
Jennings: Yeah, you, too. Shoot, I don't know what else. You put me on the spot. I guess I'm just thankful for my team.
Christian: You HAVE to be thankful for something else.
Jennings: Why?
Christian: Cause it's the rule!
Jennings: Ok, my family, too, for all their love and support.
Christian: Lauren Galler? You?
Galler: Oh, I don't know. Let me think. I don't know. I don't have one.
Christian: You must have something. Family, team, me... that's basically been what everyone else has been thankful for.
Galler: Ok, family.
Moriarty: OK, JC, what are you thankful for?
Christian: I'm thankful for my teammates, Michelle Moriarty because she's my roommate this trip. I'm thankful for my family. Did I already say that?
Moriarty: No, you said teammates.
Christian: Ok. Well, I'm also thankful for my friend, Chan Chan, back home. I'm thankful for my dogs. Wait, I'm thinking, there's more. My coaches... I could go on. I'm thankful for tonight, because we're going play Nebraska hard. And we're thankful for this gorgeous day in Lincoln, Nebraska, where it's 30 degrees outside. Tonya, what are YOU thankful for, besides me and Michelle, of course.
Asst. Coach Tonya Johnson: What am I thankful for? Gosh, there are so many things that are great that are great right now. I'm thankful for the opportunity to coach the great people that I do.
Moriarty and Christian: That's so sweet!
Christian: Tea? How about you?
Leticia Armstrong: I'm thankful for my family.
Christian: Brandy?
Brandy Magee: My family
Christian: And?
Moriarty: Michelle Moriarty?
Magee: (Laughs) and my wonderful teammates!
Christian: Tea!
Armstrong: I said it already. I said my family!
Christian: Well, it wasn't enough. Keep talkingÖ.
Armstrong: Fine. My family and I'm thankful for being at Texas, for playing volleyball. I'm thankful for chocolate.
Christian: Coach Brian, what are you thankful for besides me?
Asst. Coach Brian Hosfeld: Ha! There is no one specific thing.
Christian: Well, you can say them all then.
Hosfeld: Well, then, I'm thankful for my wonderful wife, Jaimie, and my baby Ella, my life in Austin, and I'm thankful for being part of this program and this team!
Christian: Yay! That's sweet! Kristin, what are you thankful for?
Graduate assistant athletic trainer Kristin Thompson: Well, first and foremost, Jen Christian because she keeps me employed. And then my family and friends and everyone in Austin.
Christian: Beth!
Bethany Howden: I am thankful for Holloway spending Thanksgiving with me and my family! It's going to be so much fun!
Christian: You have to say something else, too.
Howden: I'm also very thankful for my family.
Christian: Jesse, what about you?
Manager and camp director Jesse Sultzer: I'm thankful for my great bosses, aka the coaches.
Howden: You just want a big raise!
Sultzer: I'm thankful for Jenny, and Jen Christian, and my favorite player, Bethany, and Michelle and Al and Tea and Mira...
Christian: OK, we get it. Coach? You're the last one so what are you thankful for? Bring this thing to a great end!
Head coach Jerritt Elliott: I'm thankful to be your coach and that I get to coach you guys everyday. And I'll be thankful if we can beat Nebraska tonight.
Christian: You have to say family, too.
Elliott: I'm thankful for my future little Longhorn in Kahle and my beautiful wife, Sarah.
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