Indiana University Athletics
Jazzmine Checks in From Europe
7/13/2016 7:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Caio!
Jazzmine McDonald reporting from Pula, Croatia. It's safe to say that this last week and few days have been a whirlwind. Never in my life did I think I would be playing with the USA Collegiate National Team in Europe against some of the best volleyball players my age from other countries! I first of all want to thank God for blessing me with such a great ability and talent to play the sport I love. Second I want to thank my parents for always being there and providing an unbelievably unwavering support system. Last but not least, I would like to thank the coaching staff and Indiana Athletics for giving me their support and opportunity to participate in such an awesome learning and life experience.
Game Play:
So far we have played teams from Milan (Italy), Slovenia, China, Russia and England. The European and non-American style of volleyball is much different from how things are back in the states. For example, in the NCAA just about every team runs a fast offense and here the sets are skyrocketed out to the pin hitters who swing incredibly fast and hard. Much harder than some swings I have blocked against back in the states. It is so much fun to go out and compete against the different teams and be forced out of my comfort zone during game play.
I have never truly realized how spoiled us NCAA athletes are! Every gym that we have played in has no air conditioning. Yes, I said NO air conditioning, which means they open up windows and doors, which flows in all the nice summer heat from outside. I don't think I ever again will complain about the temperature in a gym back at home! Anyways, game play has been awesome.
The first week in Milan we practiced and scrimmaged two times a day with the Italian team and then the last day in town we played a formal match against them and lost in a tight five set match. I had a few aces and dug some hard hit balls from their starting outside hitter, which was such an exhilarating feeling! When we got here to Pula, Croatia we played Russia, England and China in pre-tournament matches that determined everyone's placement in the tournament. We won all of our matches so we played an Italian team in the first round, which was a quick win. This morning we played England again and then battled Slovenia for a win to send us to the championship match tomorrow night. We are all super excited to play and fight for the win!!
Sightseeing:
In Milan we took the evening after practices to tour the city as a big group. It was so fun, we stopped at this huge super market close to our hotel to get snacks then we rode trolleys into the city area. When we got close to the city we hopped on these bikes that you go online and rent for the day (super cool and convenient) and rode through this huge park and then through a really big castle that I sadly forget the name of. We then rode down to the Duomo, which is the big church next to the huge historical shopping area. It was all so beautiful and breathtaking.
The entire time in Milan my diet consisted of pasta and gelato. We had most afternoons to ourselves so many of us often ventured back to the city to enjoy the sites, shopping and gelato of course. I could go on and on about Milan but long story short, it was absolutely beautiful and I could definitely see myself living there for a year or two when I'm older.
The next day after leaving Milan consisted of traveling to Pula. We took two trains and had two long bus rides (10 hours of travel). The Milan train station was just as beautiful as the rest of the city. We hopped on a train there then took another and then got on a bus and drove here to Pula. The bus ride seemed to fly by because all of the scenery we drove past was so beautiful. As far as sight seeing here in Pula, our opening ceremony was held in the town square, which was a very cool atmosphere and then we went to the coliseum…SO COOL! Other than that we haven't done very much more sightseeing other than the beach (Adriatic sea) at least I think that is it's name. We are going cliff jumping tomorrow so that will be another awesome experience! Tomorrow is our last day here in Pula then we venture to Venice for more fun!
I really have no other thoughts other than how amazing this trip has been. Like I stated before, you could have never told me that I would be doing something like this! I am beyond grateful and can't wait to be able to share more after my trip is over!
Note: Jazzmine and the team play China tomorrow for the Global Challenge Championship. They then head back to Italy and sightsee in Venice before flying back home.
