Indiana University Athletics
A Crazy Road Trip For Hoosier Volleyball
8/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
While riding along in a luxury bus, equipped with satellite television, a kitchen, leather couches and movie theatre-type seating in the back of the bus, the Hoosiers were forced to pull off the side of the road because the bus was overheated just outside of Indianapolis. Luckily, the bus mechanic was following the team and quickly got the bus and team back on the road.
As the travel party ventured another hour towards their destination, the bus's engine overheated again and it became apparent to the bus driver and mechanic that a switch in transportation was needed. Tom, the bus driver, then volunteered to make the 45-minute round trip to his home and pick up his own personal coach bus. While waiting for the new 21-passenger bus to return, the team enjoyed ice cream treats from a near-by restaurant.
"Our players were nearly unfazed by the delays," said Head Coach Sherry Dunbar. "We were just all so excited to play on Friday and begin the season."
Back on the road, the Hoosiers were in high spirits, watching movies, listening to music and telling jokes, but then Tom received an alerting call. He was informed that there were "tornado-like" winds near Chicago, right where the Hoosiers were headed. Fortunately, the travel party avoided the severe winds, but did drive through a large thunderstorm that included almost five inches of rainfall.
After all that, the Hoosiers managed to arrive at the hotel just two hours later than originally expected and were excited to start the season. The original bus was thought to be fixed by the mechanic Thursday night and would be exchanged for the alternate bus Friday morning at the hotel. However, Tom's personal bus was used for transportation to Friday morning's practice as the original bus overheated again on its way to the hotel.
"We are learning to control the controllables and everything that has happened so far is not under our control. We are all staying positive and getting some good team time in before we play."
Following practice, the excitement level was very high in anticipation of the season-opener scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday night. With everything, seemingly, back to normal, Dunbar then was contacted by tournament officials to inform her that DeKalb, Illinois was declared under a state of emergency due to massive flooding and Friday's matches were cancelled.
"It's disappointing that we can't begin the year and play today," said Dunbar, "But you realize that there are more important things at hand like the safety of our team and the people that live in this area. We will be patient and wait for word from the tournament officials on our status."
The team is in no danger, however, as they are lodging in Rochelle, Illinois which is approximately 25 minutes away and is not suffering any severe weather conditions. Barring additional inclement weather, tournament officials have created a new tournament playing schedule for the weekend. IU is slated to take on Northern Illinois at 11 a.m. central time and Western Illinois at 5 p.m. on Saturday before finishing off the weekend with a 10 a.m. match-up against Western Kentucky on Sunday.
Check back at iuhoosiers.com for updated information regarding the tournament.
