Monday, October 26, 2009

Plenty To Smile (And Dance) About

These past two weeks have been victorious for the Panthers. With three wins in a row, there has been a lot to celebrate. It’s nice to see everyone smiling and truly believing in ourselves. We know we can still do well in conference, and with these three wins in a row, everyone else better watch out!

One thing that has changed at the Klotsche Center this season is that we now have the Panther tunnel at our games. Our starters stand in the tunnel before the game and dance and get crazy before their names are called.

It’s funny to see Kerri bounce around off of everyone and Natalie Schmitting doing her signature karate dance moves in the tunnel.

Along with dancing before games, some of the team had fun dancing in the locker room after practice on a rainy day.

Lauren Hintze, Jena, Morgan, Anna and I all took our umbrellas and tried to do a synchronized routine in the middle of the locker room. It was short and sweet, but nowhere near as good as the synchronized swimming routine during preseason.

With almost all our future matches coming up at home, there will be more pregame dancing, along with more winning. Go Panthers!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Entry #4 - Hot Potato

This past week involved a lot of practicing and preparation for our team as we geared up to play Youngstown State Friday.

Along with a week of practice and lifting came a little bit of soreness and a few weird injuries. Mel Jansen had one injury that was serious at first, but comical to talk about now.

Mel decided to make one of her favorite foods, mashed potatoes, on a Wednesday afternoon after practice was over, and we’ll just say her cooking experience was too hot to handle. After cooking the taters on the stove, Mel decided she had to eat them right away and burned her mouth and throat pretty bad.

According to Mary Beth, who was home with her at the time, Mel looked like she was in pain and was making weird faces. Apparently the mashed potatoes were really, really hot because Mel fell to floor after taking her first couple bites. Mary Beth, who was looking on, could not believe what she saw - Mel hitting her head on the stove and passing out because of the heat of the potatoes.

Mary Beth ran to MacKenzie’s room for help (because her lifeguard training only permitted her to save people who passed out in water, not dry land). By that time, Mel had woken back up with a burning throat and unaware of what happened to her. This story may sound serious to some, but when it was retold to our team the next day at practice, it was very entertaining.

The rest of the team made it through the week unharmed, other than a few colds here and there. To make sure that Mel stays safe, her roommates Mary Beth and MacKenzie will now take turns watching her eat.

This upcoming week we play four matches on the road. Our team is very excited to show people that Panther volleyball is about coming back, fighting and proving to people how good we truly are.