University of Tennessee Athletics
Postcards from Siesta Key: Kylann Scheidt
April 16, 2010 | Volleyball
April 15, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Well, it wouldn't be a successful airplane trip if the airline didn't mess SOMETHING up!
Our day started out bright and early as we left for the airport at 5:30 a.m. and our first flight was scheduled to leave at 7:05 a.m., which it did! We then arrived in Atlanta at about 8:20 a.m. and our next flight was scheduled to leave at 9:55 which means we should have started to board at 9:25.
The only problem was that we were sitting on the runway for a good hour just waiting to get to the gate so we could get off of the stuffy plane!
I really don't understand how an airport can be so backed up already when the day just started! We continued to wait and wait and wait for the air traffic control people to find a gate for us. By now it was about 9:15 and we STILL weren't off of the plane!
So we FINALLY got off at about 9:30 and we had to go straight to our next flight, which was on the opposite side of the airport by the way. We got to our gate and the lady said that we had six minutes to spare before they were going to close the door to the plane, BUT we made it!
We got into Knoxville very quickly, went to go get our luggage and, of course, they didn't have it! But we made it home and they delivered our luggage to (assistant coach) Dani (Busboom) later in the day.
I had the greatest time at my first beach tournament! It was really fun and definitely very hard! Beach volleyball is VERY different from indoor volleyball. The weather was perfect in Siesta Key, not too hot, just right. I actually only had to put on sunscreen once and only got a little red on my cheeks and forehead. The beach was beautiful, the sand was white and I really enjoyed my first SEC beach tournament!
As the end of the spring draws near, I can say that I am really excited to get to the season! I especially can't wait for my classmates to get here! I think that the team right now improved tremendously from the beginning of the spring and I definitely think that we can do very well this coming season!
With hard work and dedication from everyone we can do things that a volleyball team at Tennessee hasn't done before! I hope that you all will come out and support us this season! Volleyball is growing in Knoxville and everywhere in Tennessee and we are for sure a big influence on that!
Go Lady Vols!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Wow. All I can say is that was tiring! I knew sand was tough but I didn't know it was THAT exhausting! Thankfully the weather turned out great for us! It was a bit cloudy but nice! Overall, Nikki and Kayla did the best out of all of our teams. They made it to the gold division semi-finals but lost to a team from Alabama. Leah and I made the silver division but lost to a Florida duo. Emily and Kylie made it to the silver semis and lost to the same team we did. Kelsey and Jasmine also lost in the first round of playoffs, and Leslie and Amanda made it to the second round of the bronze division.
Well, we are off to dinner after a long, sandy day! Overall, I had a lot of fun and the atmosphere was great! (aside from the crazy Florida parents! Haha!)
Friday, April 16, 2010
Well, after a very long day of traveling we finally made it to the hotel safely, with no direction problems I might add. (that's what happens when women drive! lol) We luckily had no problems at the airport, shockingly! We left Knoxville at 4:30 and flew to Atlanta. Once we arrived in Atlanta we had only about an hour layover! So we all just went and got dinner! Leah, Nikki, Kylie, Emily, and I went to a different terminal to go to a certain food place, and along the way some people thought we were the basketball team while some other people thought we played soccer. Haha. Our shirts clearly, I mean, CLEARLY said Lady Vol Volleyball but I guess that didn't occur to anyone!
We went back to our gate and waited to board our plane. The gate area was crazy and we all thought that there was another plane that had to leave before we could board. Well, we were wrong and all of the sudden the gate area was almost empty! haha We almost missed our next flight! (which would have been VERY VERY bad!) But we made it, and eventually landed in Sarasota!
As I sit here writing this I am just SO excited for tomorrow and hope that we all do very well! And I hope to get a nice tan going on! It's bedtime now and prepare to beat up on the other SEC teams here!! :)
Wish us luck!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Well, as our last day of spring practice is here and we are all excitedly getting ready for the Fiesta on Siesta Key, I am just so grateful for what opportunities I was given this semester! Coming into this in January, I really had no idea what it was going to be like, other than tough. The first part of the semester was mostly individual work, open gyms, and one day a week with the coaches because of the limits they had with working with us. Since I have been living at home the drive was sure getting me! We had really early mornings and because of the 30 minute drive to campus, I had to wake up REALLY early!
Coming straight from high school volleyball it was really tough on me to get used to the fast-paced system and different "type" of volleyball here at Tennessee. Thankfully, my teammates were overwhelmingly helpful to me, as were the coaches! So my transition was a lot smoother with all of their help! And I have come to the assumption that I am not strong...at all. That was a struggle in and of itself...haha. We had a lift everyday and I actually was beginning to be able to lift the bar on bench press. :) SUCCESS!
We eventually made it to the second half of spring, and began practicing everyday, lifting three times a week with cardio one day and strength/agility/quickness (SAQ) another day. By now I had gotten into the flow of the classes and making my daily visits to the Thornton Center for study hall hours and I wasn't as tired and got used to driving down here early! I didn't really know what to expect out of practice as in what drills we would do and what not. I then started going in for extra reps on my setting, which I must say, improved a lot thanks to Dani! (those first weeks were rough, it was like my hands forgot HOW to set!)
And by now we were all used to hitting, serving, and playing on the regular indoor sized court, we were now starting doubles during practice to get ready for the tournament! Might I say, it started out pretty rough. The rules are a bit different. You can't overhand set a ball, or just overhand set at all, which definitely threw me off because well, I'm a setter, and you can't open hand tip! The coaches were giving us pointers as to what is a good "beach play."
Also, it sure is different when Nikki goes up to hit the ball and there is NO block! SCARY! The tough thing for me has been actually having to pass balls. I apologize now to my partner Leah (Hinkey) for not passing very well, but we'll see how it goes this weekend! I'm not really sure what to expect this weekend. I'm sure it will be really fun for me because this is the first time I will play some of the SEC rivals! And I can't wait to get on the beach! (This will only be my third time at a beach! Crazy, I know, but come on, I'm from Nebraska! There's no beaches there!) So overall, I'm very excited to get down there and spend some quality, fun, time with the team! Which, by the way, it's a GIRLS WEEKEND! Dani will be our only coach! And she got us some awesome tanks to wear during the tournament!
We're all stoked to get down there and play us some beach volleyball! (imagine that last part with a southern accent haha) Well as we await to have our FIRST practice outside this spring, (which is tomorrow), I better go get me some sunscreen and sunglasses! I am hoping to get a good tan! :)
Goodbye for now!
