The team arrived in Austin yesterday and checked into the luxurious AT&T Hotel and Conference Center. They were very relieved to enjoy an excellent buffet lunch and get some rest before it was time to head out to training. They trained for two hours and then ran a clinic for Austin Performance. About thirty-five kids showed up, ranging in age from twelve to seventeen and it was a huge success. They were able to watch the girls train for about an hour and a half and then participate in a clinic run by Stefano and his team. Stefano talked with the girls before their practice to let them know what they would be doing and that they needed to try their hardest to work the clinic even though there would be a language barrier. The "campers" had a really good time and the Italians did an amazing job working with the girls. Mauro "fisio" Proietti warmed up the kids with a "Euro" style warm up and then Stefano, with no lack of enthusiasm, put them through some drills followed by a little six on six competition.





Austin Performance sponsored a really nice meal for the Italians following the clinic. They had a BBQ meal catered in the courtyard of our hotel. It was another new meal for the team and there were zero complaints (I believe that many of the girls even went back for seconds and thirds). Following dinner they had a quick team meeting to discuss what they needed to improve on in the next days practice and then it was off to bed.

Monday we traveled from Las Cruces to College Station. With a drive on each end of the 1.5 hour flight it was a bit of a long travel day. We checked into the hotel and quickly left for evening training. It was a good opportunity for the girls to move around and stretch out. The girls were very disappointed to learn that dinner would again consist of chicken (by this point in the trip they were already sick of chicken). Everyone was off to bed immediately after dinner to rest for morning practice.

Under strict instructions from the technical coordinators in Italy, coach Stefano needed the girls to get in a lifting session after four days of strictly volleyball. Half of the girls trained for an hour and then went over to Texas A&M’s astonishing strength and conditioning facility. Thirty minutes later the rest of the team joined them to finish their workout.

The Italians girls spent about fifteen minutes chatting with Texas A& M golfer Andrea Pavan who is originally from Rome, but has been in College Station for four years now. You could see the smiles on the girls faces when they met someone who could speak Italian to them.

Lunch was at the highly recommended Italian restaurant Frittella, owned by Italians Adriano & Vancene Farinola. Again, the girls were pleasantly surprised when they were able to order their first meal in Italian. Stefano wasn’t sure if it was their ability to order or the familiarity of the items on the menu, but the girls ended up with enough food to feed an army. I think it’s safe to say that they were happily stuffed as they left the restaurant and snapped a quick photo with the owner’s niece who runs the place.



Spirits were high as we headed to the gym for the match. The girls were expecting a big crowd and were ready to play a good match. Reed Arena quickly came to life as about 1500 fans filed into the arena and were led by the yell leaders and the band. What an amazing place to play. It was a very exciting environment and started out to be a very close match with some really long rallies. One of the highlights of the match was when Stefano nearly tackled the line judge for calling a ball in that was clearly 2 feet out of bounds. The referee pulled out a yellow card, and the crowd yelled the traditional, “sit down bus driver.” The crowd got a kick out of that one!

Unfortunately, Texas A&M’s quick offense and solid defense was too much for the young Italians and they lost the match three straight. As A&M fans started to leave the announcer surprised them with a fourth “Bonus Match.” The Italians came up with some strong attacks and some tough serves, seemingly motivated by the attempted distractions yelled by the fans, and won the “bonus set.”

After the match, we headed to the Blue Baker for the promised pizza dinner. College Station was a great memory for the girls. They experienced the unique tradition that few schools offer, an incredibly animated crowd, some of the country’s best athletic facilities, and first-class hospitality.

The day of the match against NMSU started with a free morning for the girls to go shopping. Best Buy and Mesilla Mall were the two stops. The girls quickly discovered that electronic items and athletic gear are much cheaper here in the States than in Europe. No one was empty handed when we met up two hours later.

After a quick team lunch and some rest we were off to meet with the NMSU boosters who tailgate in front of the gym before every match. These are some serious fans. The boosters openly welcomed the Italian girls to Las Cruces, asked them a few questions, and then took a picture with them. Vince from Lorenzo’s Italian restaurant was very generous in sponsoring the event and delivered some of the best pizza I have ever had (Vince’s pizza was voted the best in the Bay Area when he had his original restaurant in San Francisco). Unfortunately, the girls were unable to enjoy the pizza pre-match and had to head into the gym for their match vs. NMSU.





It was a very good match with NMSU winning the first two and Italy coming from behind to win in five; 23-25, 18-25, 27-25, 25-19, 15-10. About 2500 fans showed up and created a really great atmosphere and a fun match.







Following the match, we headed back to the hotel for dinner and some rest before a big travel day.

Today the Italians had the chance to play two matches. They were well rested and recovered from their grueling 24+ hour trip, and began with a morning match against Florida State University. USF, coming off a tough five game match versus Florida and a 3-0 win against Illinois, proved to be too strong for the young Italians. FSU won in three straight; 25-16, 25-23, 26-24. Florida's Drujic served quite a few aces and really forced Italy out of their system. The Italians did improve with each set and made some nice plays throughout the match.



Lunch at Cafe Don Felix, in the Old Town Square of Mesilla, was amazing. A very cute setting and a delicious meal of homemade flautas with rice and beans made everyone forget the loss. Coach Stefano let the girls walk around the old town for 20 minutes and some of the girls bought Mexican Sombreros. They definitely appreciated their free time.





Illinois came out strong in the second match of the day and Italy struggled to put the ball away. Illinois hit .450 while Italy only hit .250 which made the difference in the match.





It was a fun match to watch and the best thing about the evening was the dinner that followed. The two teams ate together, and the girls mixed in with each other. The Americans helped the Italians understand the menu and attempt to order a healthy meal.



Stefano gave them tomorrow morning off and we will take the girls shopping. Tomorrow night they will face New Mexico State University in the Pan Am Center in front of what we hope to be 1,500-2,000 people.

By Floriana Bertone

Il nostro viaggio è iniziato all' alba di Mercoledì 02 settembre con il
volo Roma-Newark della durata di ben 9 ore in cui ci siamo sbizzarrite sulle
attività anti-noia!!!! Con il primo scalo a Newark abbiamo dovuto correre
per riuscire a prendere l'aereo successivo diretto a Houston, mentre il
successivo e ultimo con partenza da Houston è stato molto più tranquillo e
ci ha permesso di fare anche una sosta al McDonal's per una cena
ipocalorica!!! Arrivati a El Paso, Texas alle ore 22 eravamo stanchissime e
molto assonnate. Lì ci aspettavano Tim e Jo che, dopo essere riusciti a
stipare i nostri bagagli enormi in 2 macchine, ci hanno portato all' Hotel
DAYS INN . Durante questo breve tragitto, nonostante la stanchezza,
abbiamo cominciato subito a fotografare i paesaggi che ci
circondavano.Arrivate a destinazione, posati i bagagli in camera, siamo
state chiamate per una piccola riunione su alcune questioni organizzative e
poi tutti a letto. Il mattino dopo, la giornata inizia con una colazione
abbondante, per poi andare in “palestra” a fare attivazione. Entrate nel
palazzetto siamo rimaste tutte stupite dalla grandezza dello stesso.
Inoltre Tim ci informa che il torneo a 4 squadre a cui partecipiamo è stato
publicizzato e circa 2500 biglietti sono già stati venduti. Finito lo
stretching torniamo in camera per una doccia veloce, e subito si riparte per
pranzare in un locale, il Chope's cafe, conosciuto in tutto il mondo per la
bontà dei suoi piatti, per gustare burritos, tacos e tortillas.



Un po' di riposo pomeridiano e poi alle 17.00 si ritorna tutte in palestra per un
allenamento breve e una seduta pesi.



Terminata l'attività si va direttamente in un ristorante con cucina italiana “Lorenzo's", dove ceniamo con un antipasto leggero e un bis di primi molto gustosi. Questa nostra prima giornata a Las Cruces e' stata molto bella e nonostante gli impegni in palestra siamo anche riusciti a visitare alcuni locali caratteristici, quindi ora tutti a letto per riuscire a prepararci al meglio per le prossime partite.