Headed to Portland

We just got back from Northern Arizona last Sunday. It was a really fun trip... I think one of the reasons I like the trip is the same reason that it wears us out so badly. We fly into Phoenix, then drive the 2 1/2 hours to Flagstaff...then have to drive back on Sunday morning. It is a lot of travel time within 36 hours. We all really like the van rides though. Each van has its own little subculture.



The match at NAU went well. We dropped game two to them. Credit their feisty defense. They are always tough at home (have you picked up a pattern this year...?), but we found a way to overpower them in the last two sets.



The week before last we played Eastern Washington and Portland State at home. Eastern was the only conference team to beat us last year on our home floor. That wasn't going to happen this year though. The girls were fired up and took care of business in three. Portland State was a tougher match. They were the only conference team we hadn't beat this year and the match was for the conference title. We dropped the first set, won two and three, then dropped the fourth and fifth sets. It was a tough loss for us. Yet, it is all part of the deal. We need to learn how to play with that kind of pressure on us. While we played fairly well, we really didn't play at a championship level. Portland State is a very talented team. They have several legit weapons. I do think that there are a few things that we can clean up and we can take them in the conference tournament.



Speaking of the tournament, we leave Thursday morning. No Thanksgiving at home this year (or next...). That is ok though. Our team really is our second family, so we don't feel too bad about it. We will travel, practice and have a "dessert banquet" Thursday, then have a practice Friday morning around 11. We will be playing Idaho State on Friday around 5:30. If we win that one, we will play the winner of Portland State and Montana on Saturday night. Whoever wins that match will move onto the NCAA tournament. All the work, all the time, all the effort that we put in all year comes down to taking care of business this coming weekend. Should be a lot of fun!



Well, wish us luck! Hopefully we won't get caught in airport security! That would not be good... I am sure we will be fine though. Have a great Thanksgiving...I know we will!

Everyday...something new...

Wow, this was a good weekend to be a part of Bear's volleyball. We headed to Montana this past weekend to play both Montana and Montana State. For some reason, we have always struggled playing Montana at their place. In the five years we have been in the conference, we have never beat them there... Our girls were fired up to play them; but in a more business-like way this time. We struggled through the first few points, but then turned it on to beat them in three. It honestly was a little anti-climactic. We are not complaining though. We will take the win.

We then drove to Montana State on Saturday morning (more on that in a minute). We have had some solid success in Bozeman, but we also knew that Montana State is solid at home. They put up a great fight and it went four, but we ended up taking the match. I love their crowd. They always have a bunch of people there that are cheering for their team, even when they may be struggling. Great place for volleyball.

Even though we have had a tough go of it in Montana in the past, our girls still love this trip because of the food! Both towns have Mackenzie River Pizza Co restaurants in them and it is a favorite. Also, we usually go to Famous Daves after our Montana State match... This year was no exception. The picture below is Amanda Arterburn falling asleep at the table after our second match of the weekend.... she was tuckered out.

As I mentioned before, we drove from Missoula to Bozeman on Saturday morning. I love the drive because it is beautiful country. The girls usually fall asleep for a while, then pick up the conversation once we get closer to our destination. This year, they decided to play a little game called "Hey Cow!" Julie Stephenson introduced the game to them and Tom's van decided to try it out. The game consists of finding cows as you drive down the interstate, then rolling down your window and yelling "Hey Cow!" at them as you speed by. If the cow looks up, you earn points. The more cows that look, the more points you get. This is a quick look at the game recorded on Tom's phone...

Our girls are silly....and we love it.

Two more wins at home

Wow... So we tied another school record the other night...one mark that we wish we didn't get to. We played four five-set matches in a row dating back to our match against Portland State. Three weeks of five-gamers about killed me! We came out of it 3-1 which is pretty great considering that three of them were on the road, and the last one we were down 2 games to none!

Speaking of that match, Idaho State came in to play us last Thursday night.... And they came to play! They were very very good in the first two sets. We just couldn't get a ball to go down. There were frustrating two of the best hitters in the conference (Ashley and Kelley). Luckily for the rest of our team, Julie and Brittany really stepped up. Julie had a career high 17 kills and Brit added 12 of her own. Both hit in the .300's. As the match wore on, both Kelley and Ash found ways to start scoring and that put the Bangles on their heals. We came out in game three a little slow, but then decided it was time to take care of business. As the game wore on it became apparent that the Bears refused to lose the match. We worked hard and efficiently to win the match in 5. Again, credit Idaho State for some amazing defensive plays.

This marked the second time this season that we dropped the first two sets to Idaho State, then proceeded to win the match in five. We did the same at their place in September. It is like our girls need to feel that pressure before then come out and get after it... The good news is...they find ways to win. It may not always be pretty, but they find a way.

Saturday night was senior night. We had it a couple of weeks early because Ashley's mom would not have been able to make it if we had it during our last home match. It was a great night for her to be there too. Ashley got 16 kills and hit .609 on the night, which included her 1000th career kill as a Bear...only the 14th player ever to reach that mark. Abbie Howe, another senior, also had a great night posting a career high 14 digs. Our last senior, Julie Stephenson continued her great play hitting over .300 for the second night.

Ashley's 1000th kill

We had a little banquet after the match which was fun. But...it didn't quite have that senior night feel. There were several speeches, thank yous, and cards being handed around...but not a whole lot of tears. I think it is because we all know that we have a lot of work to do before we accomplish our goals. Keep an eye out...it is a great time to be a BEAR!

Another Crazy Win

Wow, what another crazy weekend. We have played three five game matches in a row! Thank goodness we came out of it 2-1.


Sacramento State has a reputation for being very good on their home floor...and they did not disappoint. From the first point of the match they came out swinging. It took a little while for our girls to come around, but eventually we did. In the fifth game, we were up most of the game, but then couldn't come up with the plays to finish the match. We were up 13-11, then suddenly down 13-14. We sided out with a tip from Kelley, then made a couple plays (and took advantage of a couple of their errors) to finish the match. Sac State is a solid team, especially at home. I definitely credit them with some very hard play. We fortunately came out with the win.

Of course, no trip to California is complete without a visit to In-N-Out. Brittany, Marissa, and Tom are all California natives, so it was a little slice of home-heaven for them. Everyone else on the team took the opportunity to enjoy a burger you just can't get here in Colorado. Although...on our trip to Weber State this past month, we did see an In-N-Out nearing completion in Salt Lake city...

Over all it was a good trip. Girls were tired (as were the coaches) when we got home.

Bears Split on the Road

We just got back from a pretty tough weekend. We headed to Portland State on Thursday afternoon and played Portland State Friday night. As expected, their crowd was what their usual selves. They can get...how can we say...a little rowdy. They always have a group of guys that are a bit obnoxious, but in a lot of ways, it creates a fun atmosphere. They had two guys dressed head to toe in green spandex...you couldn't even see their faces. They were pretty funny. Thank goodness we practiced for it the whole week before...(no...I didn't wear spandex during practice, but I did taunt them). The match didn't work out in our favor as we dropped the match in five. That is OK though...we have never even taken a set off them in their gym, so it shows our girls that we can not play our best and we can still beat them. Plus, if you are going to pick up a loss, five games is the best way to do it.

Saturday morning we headed to Spokane to play Eastern Washington. Their record isn't great this year, but they have been very good at home. Having to fly between the two cities and being kind of rushed from one place to the next is tough on the team...let alone losing a five game match the night before. Our girls were in good spirits though. We came out a bit slow, but turned it around by game four to win in five...again. Ten games over the course of two days! That is a lot of volleyball!

I attached a short film of us at Eastern right before our practice. Because the conference tournament was there last year, we almost felt at home in their building (minus the yelling and taunting from their crowd). We sometimes do the "hit the roof" challenge. Their ceiling in their gym is ridiculously high. So much so that we challenge each other to hit the roof with a volleyball. That may seem like it isn't too hard...but like I mentioned, the ceiling is WAY up there. This is Amanda and Jenny going after it...

Homecoming Week

Sorry this is once again delayed. Although we have been at home for the past weeks, we always seem to find a way to stay very busy...

A few things have happened since I last updated this blog. The team walked in our annual Homecoming parade, which was very fun for the girls. It seems to be pretty rare that we get to be around for our homecoming week. It was great to be able to take part in the festivities and attend the football game, even for a little while.

As far as volleyball goes, we have been having quite a nice stretch. As mentioned above, we have been home for three weeks for a total of five matches. One of them was against Colorado State, who, we found out, is ranked 18th in the country for a reason. They are definitely a talented team, but I think we all feel as if we didn't play our best.

The other four matches were against Big Sky opponents. First, we beat Sacramento State in four games. Then, two weeks ago we beat Northern Arizona in three games. Last weekend, we faced off against Montana State on Thursday night (we won in three), and Montana on Saturday night. The Montana match was great because they were ranked in the pre-season pole above us. Anytime you can beat someone ranked above you it is a good thing. Plus, after we got out of the break between games 2 and 3, we started putting it together. After that point we outscored them 46-18. They are a solid team, but our girls really stepped up to the challenge and beat them.

The interesting thing about that last match was Julie. During our passing warm up I saw her on the sidelines with a water cup pressed against her head. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was getting a migraine. Not such great timing. Katie (our athletic trainer) called the doc, who rushed to Julie's aid. During the national anthem, Katie and the doc pulled her from the lineup to administer aid to help her head. In the video I am attaching, notice that she is missing when her name is called, but she runs in RIGHT as we run out to exchange hand-shakes. Again, timing is sometimes everything...

Crazy weekend!

Wow, another crazy weekend for the Bears! We ended up escaping with two important wins against Weber and Idaho State...

The Weber match was not terribly pretty. Our girls came out fairly strong, but then kind of fell into a lapse. Weber capitalized on it to take the first set. After that, I think our girls were a little upset and decided it was time to play. We finished the match out in four against a young Weber State team. They were playing almost all freshman and sophomores, so we expect them to improve a lot by the next time we see them at our place.

The Idaho State match was crazy. They have had an excellent pre-season with some very good wins. Both teams came out swinging and it was close most of the first game. Then, Idaho State took advantage of a few of our errors to beat us. Then, in game two, we came out strong to take a 5-1 lead...only to watch Idaho State creep back into the game and tie it at 16. Again, they took care of the ball better than we did to go up two games to none. During break, Coach Benson really challenged the team to step up to the challenge. Idaho State is a very solid team and we fully expect them to be in the conference tournament this year. Our girls came out on fire. This time, we took advantage of their mistakes to take both games three and four. Game five was back and forth until it was 11-11. Then, with the help of some great defense and the offensive play of Ashley, we pulled out the win. The crowd fell silent as Ashley and Natalie blocked the final ball.

One of the best parts of the Weber/Idaho State trip is the food. About five years ago, one of our assistants (Paul Richardson) found a small restaurant called Lee's Mongolia BBQ. We go there every year. Our travel roster included four girls who had never been before so it was quite the adventure. I took a couple of short videos on my phone so I could put them up on the blog.


Next up is Sacramento State here in Butler Hancock Sports Pavilion. We are excited to be home after a couple of weeks on the road. We are hoping to have a great crowd out some come check us out!