McKenna's recap

I had an amazing experience on the high performance global challenge trip. Starting in Czech we were greeted by a huge thunder and lightning storm on the first day there after practice. On our days there, it was great to see the castle, towers and the clock show in the city. Other than the sightseeing, we had the chance to play the Czech team and actually get close to beating them, which is crazy since they practice all year, and some have been playing for twelve years or more. We had the honor of eating at an authentic Czech restaurant and tried new foods, like fried cheese. Our bus ride to Slovenia was beautiful, driving through Austria and seeing all the green mountains and villages. In Slovenia, we had such a fun time in the lake, swimming and for some walking on the hamster balls on the water and trying to catch balance.

(on Lake Bled)

 Afterwards we had a scrimmage game against the younger Czech girls (Czech Youth National Team) who we rode on the bus with, which was another good practice as a team before we played in the global challenge. The next morning, we woke up and packed our bags for Croatia and went in the ocean first thing once we got settled in our hotel. The water was pretty and clear and afterwards were covered in salt. We played the next day for day one of the tournament and won our first match on our third attempt. We got our candy and extra snacks from the Market down the street, which we visited often. We had a great time playing each day and getting more experience and better as the days progressed. We were excited to learn that there would be a movie showing of the new Harry Potter in the Colosseum and got the okay to go.

(note the lightning bolts)

After a long day of playing, we got ready with our lightning bolts drawn on our foreheads and wands, ready to go for the midnight showing. It was a great movie and really cool to see lightning and thunder as the backdrop in the huge colosseum. The next morning we had an early match and slept after to catch up on sleep, instead of going to the beach like we would normally do. On our final day, we braided our hair for the final game. Afterward, our team watched the USA girls win the match and the tournament. In closing ceremonies, we watched the "all tournament" awards be handed out and cheered and took pictures with other girls we had met. That night, everyone had fun doing different things from giving clothes and shoes to the young Pula girls, to playing beach volleyball with the Croatian boys. It was sad to leave, but we looked forward to Italy the next day. Once in Venice, we took the train ride and visited the beautiful city. We walked a cool long way through narrow alleys next to the water. Once in the square, we saw the church and beautiful architecture. We were able to go off on our own in groups for a few hours to walk around and shop, and eat pizza and gelato. On our last night, we played and hung out in our hotel and it was crazy to know we would be leaving for America the next day. The flights were great, the only negative was the insane heat on the plane from New York! Once in L.A., we were greeted by our parents and said our goodbyes, hoping to see each other soon, with the great friendships we made. I had a wonderful experience of volleyball, sightseeing, friendships, independence, and of course gelato.

McKenna Murphy