Wow...

I can't believe it is done. Last night we had our Christmas party and that signals the end of our season.

The end of our year was awesome. The day after we won the Big Sky Conference championship, we all met at Old Chicago's to watch the ESPN selection show. It was a standing-room-only crowd as we got to hear our name called out on live TV! It was an exciting time to be a Bear!

After that, we had a chance to play #6 ranked Washington in the first round of the NCAA tournament. We played them tough, taking the first game from them. We also had great chances in games 3 and 4. Alas, we fell to the Huskies, but we had a great showing.

As coaches, we just want to take a moment to all of you who have been coming to our matches, following us on Big Sky TV, or even following this blog. We really appreciate your support. It means more to us and our athletes than you probably know. It has been a real privilege being a part of this program this year. Now, it is time for a bit of a break....some holiday fun with family, then back to work in mid-January to prepare for next season!

Make sure to keep up on the blog though! The Spring season is always full of fun little things that we do as a program. Just because our competitive season is done it doesn't mean that we go away...oh no. I think our returning players are already imagining hoisting another trophy next year!

From all of us here to all of you, have a great holiday season!

The Wagon!

This short video is from the 15' Wagon in Spokane. We stopped by the wagon for a little photo shoot after our morning practice on the day we won the conference tournament.

The picture of the girls on the slide is particularly memorable. The girls on the bottom were supporting the weight of all of the girls above, so they were getting extremely uncomfortable as the girls above kept stacking on. A couple of our kids got a nice bruise or two, but it was well worth it. We all had a good chuckle about it... Then won the tournament!

Introductions...

Thanksgiving night we had a dessert banquet where we were asked to introduce ourselves "creatively" and to tell a story about the coaching staff/team. While the other team did a basic introduction, this is what our girls came up with....

The song in from a Saturday Night Live skit with Will Ferrell. Funny stuff.

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!