We Did It!

For all of you out there that may be following this, but have not heard, we won the conference tournament last night! It was a great match between us and Portland State, and we beat them in four. Our girls did a great job this weekend. I have a bunch of video and photos that I will be putting up on the blog soon...just don't have time right now. We are headed out to watch the selection show on ESPN to find out where we are playing next week in the NCAA tournament!

Keep an eye out...lots of great stuff coming. We had a really fun weekend...

Senior Night Video

This is the video I put together for senior night...at least the first half of it. I couldn't make the file small enough while still retaining a good quality. So, here is the first half, which is a look back at our senior's trip here at Northern Colorado. You will notice that there isn't any volleyball in this, which was on purpose. Our girls do so much more than just volleyball... enjoy.

Bears Win on Senior Night

As we entered the match on Saturday night, we were really trying to keep emotions at bay. It was tough though as we knew that four of our athletes would never compete on our home floor in a Bear's uniform again. It was tough though, as we choked back tears during their introductions. It just goes to show how much we care for our athletes.

One we were on the floor though, the girls got to work. Minus a bit of a hiccup during game three, we took care of a very feisty Northern Arizona Team. It was really fun to watch as all of our seniors contributed to a great match.

After the match we had a celebration for our seniors and family (about 50 people) in the High Plains Club in our football stadium. It was a great time of sharing memories of the seniors' journey and contributions to our program. Then, we showed a video of our seniors (I will try to get it posted today...). Good times.

Now, it is back to business. On Friday night we are going to be taking on Eastern Washington back on their home court. No one ever said that winning a conference championship was going to be easy... and the road we are about to travel is rough and winding...but if our girls can muster the courage and fortitude to forage on, we have a great shot at bringing to tournament trophy home to Greeley.

Tough Weekend, Bright Forecast

Yes, it is true that we had a really tough weekend (if you saw the scores, you know it was REALLY tough). Every teams has their letdowns and we are no exception. What really matters is how we handle the situation and how we are prepared to change it the next time we are faced with the same circumstances.

With the losses to both Eastern Washington and Portland State, we are probably going to finish third in the conference this year. The top three teams traded blows all season, and with the two losses last weekend we are in a tie with Eastern at 11-4 with one match to go. If the record is still tied at the end of the year, they beat us on the head-to-head to claim the second seed in the tournament. Either way, we are going to be playing them again (on their home court) the Friday after Thanksgiving.

This week has been a great week of growth for the girls. We truly believe that we have the talent to win this conference, it is just a matter of putting it together on the court. We have been giving a lot of focus to a Championship Attitude this week, and our practices are reflecting it. All 16 girls are working extremely hard because they want it so badly.

With all the effort and time that our athletes and coaches put in, we are all confident and hopeful that next week will be exciting... All I know is that it is a great time to be a BEAR!

Bears keep streak going!

Well, we just came off another successful weekend! Montana came to town last Thursday...and for all of you who don't know, Montana tends to be kind of a rival for us. There just seems to be tension in the air whenever they are around. The last time we saw them it was at their place...where we had our "usual" results. We ended up losing in four, and we just didn't play well while doing it. So, when they came to us, it was time to exact our revenge! And we did... We ended up beating them on our floor last Thursday in four. It was a great win for the bears. With the win we solidified our place in the conference standings. And I don't know that we are done yet with Montana this year. There is still a good chance we could play them at the tournament!

Montana State came in to play us on Saturday. We went five with them last time in Bozeman, so we made sure to be ready for them this time. The preparation paid off with a 3-0 win. Montana State had a rough go as we served really tough and kept the pressure on them the whole match.

We are now headed to Eastern Washington and Portland State this week. As of right now, Eastern is in third place with four losses on the year. Portland State and us are tied with first, each with two losses. It is going to be the battle of titans! We figured it out...if we can beat Portland State at home (a tall, but do-able task), we can afford one more loss and we would still be able to win the conference. If we lose to Portland State, we will more than likely take second place in conference (maybe third if we lose to both, but that won't happen).

However you look at it, this is going to be an exciting weekend of volleyball in the Big Sky.

OH! Forgot to mention that Taylor Smith was Co-Player of the week for the Big Sky. Sweet.

Unbreakable

We showed this to our athletes right before the Weber State match last weekend... The theme is unbreakable.

Lee's Mongolian BBQ

Ahh Lee's. It has become a tradition for us to eat there while we are in Ogden. This trip was no exception.

Like I have mentioned previously, Lee's in a hole-in-the-wall place that one of our former assistants found randomly about four years ago. We have been going every year since. Here are a couple of pictures from our trip last week.

Dramatic Weekend

Here, at Northern Colorado....we like to give the crowd their money's worth....or so it would seem. This weekend we played two five game matches...TWO! Luckily we came out with two wins.

The first match against Idaho State was crazy. I don't know that we have even lost a game in their gym the past two seasons...but they had a different idea of how the night would go. We took the first two games (both won with Kelley Arnold tips to the middle of the court). We went into the break pretty happy and confident. After the break, Idaho State came out with a little different line-up and a vengeance. They were on fire and the took the next two games. The fifth was a thriller. With a lot of ties, the game was close until the end. We earned two or three points as the game progressed to give us a tiny cushion at the end, which we needed. At 13-14, we sided out for the win. The other coaches and I felt as if we were going to pass out. Sometimes it is tough being a coach.

Going into Weber, we were ready for a match that we could get over quickly...which almost happened in the wrong way. Weber State's momentum was a tidal wave in the first two games. It felt as if we could hardly breath. We just couldn't match them. Then, out of the break, we got down again. During moments, we could score a few points in a row, but then they would come back a score a few of their own. At one point it was 23-20...then they scored another point to be up 24-20. We sided out to make it 24-21....then the magic happened. We came out and scored three straight to tie it at 24. It went back a forth a couple times before we scored three straight to win the game 28-26. Game four was another very close game. We finished it strong to win 25-22. The fifth game was all bears. We won it 15-8. Once again, the coaches felt as if we were about to collapse...

We are very proud of our kids this week after an emotional weekend. The seniors really came through to guide us through some tough matches. It was very fun (and tough) to watch. My heart still starts to race as I think about it.... Good times.

I am waiting on some pictures of our adventure to Lee's...that will be the next entry!