September 30, 2010

Preseason Recap

Skyhawk Volleyball fans, friends, family!

The 2010 Skyhawk volleyball team presents: the first installment of our very own Skyhawk VolleyBlog. This blog is intended to give you a behind-the-scenes look into the happenings of our team. We appreciate all of your wonderful support and love. This is what we’ve been up to from preseason to present here at Stonehill!

For our first team outing this year, our coaches surprised us with a trip to the Cape. Erin Johnson’s sister, Kaitlyn Johnson, was kind enough to let us BBQ at her house after some fun at the beach!

Before the start of each school year, Stonehill College holds an Academic Convocation to welcome the incoming freshmen and begin the sendoff of the current seniors. In volleyball terms, Convocation was a great excuse to get dressed up and spend a little team time off the court together.

As a fun team building activity before beginning the conference schedule, we did an outdoor ropes course during preseason. The course entailed many trust building exercises, some of which consisted of hoisting each other through a makeshift spiderweb, jumping from a trapeze swing onto the zippered arms of our teammates, and one infamous raccoon circle.

On September 25th, we celebrated a very special occasion. Coupling the win vs. St. Anselm was Laura “L” Huselton’s 21st birthday!! Here is L at Margarita’s, a Mexican restaurant in New Hampshire.

This week in Stonehill Volleyball

Opponents: We kicked off conference play with a blackout-themed home opener. Fans came dressed in all black as we took on the Merrimack Warriors. Next we traveled to St. Anselm’s and then Bentley’s courts. So far, we're 3-0 in the conference! Go Skyhawks!

What we’re listening to: "Ice Cream Paint Job" by Dorrough

Quote of the week: “I hate sneezing.” - Jess Frankowski

Random Fact of the week: Erin Kelly played the lead in her High School Musical, starring as Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie. Her vocal stylings have also graced Merkert Gym as Erin sang the “Star Spangled Banner” for Stonehill’s home opener this year.

Fan of the week: This week’s “fans of the week” are...drumroll...the Skyhawk Parents! Thanks parents for the everlasting support and love, you all are the best fans ever!

Special shout outs go to:

John and Rachelle Sperando: For having the team over for a wonderful lasagna and salad dinner. It takes a lot of courage to invite 13 hungry volleyball players into your home, we appreciate it!

Tom and Michele Noonan: Thank you for supplying us with the wonderful and wonderfully fresh fruit salad, it’s terrific!

Kaitlyn Johnson: Thank you for opening up your home to the team after our Cape Cod visit, the burgers were outstanding!

Kathy Johnson: For helping plan the Cape Cod excursion and the delicious cupcakes after our home opener. We truly are grateful!

Wayne and Patti Thompson: For your loud cheering and support, and the awesome chocolate cupcakes and chocolate pretzels on L’s birthday, yum!

Diane Britt: Two words, pistachio cupcakes. Oh, and AMAZING! Thank you!

And a very special shout out to Andrea Wirth’s mom, who flew in from Arizona this week. We’re so glad you got to visit! Here are Dre and her mom apple picking during some off time in Northborough, Mass.

We hope you all will enjoy our weekly blogs, a glimpse into our lives. Thanks for your support, we’ll keep you posted. Go Skyhawks!

Sydney Maxey is a freshman from Hutto, Texas. Check back weekly for new updates to the VolleyBlog.