This week's blog is written by senior outside hitter Janet Beckerman of Bellevue, Wash.
This past weekend our team experienced our first road trip of the season. Traveling to Arizona excited the majority of us due to the fact that many had never visited the state. The challenge of playing away is one that we are going to be facing quite a lot this season, so we were antsy to get this first road trip started. As soon as we got off the plane we were hit by an intense wave of 108 degree heat, resulting in an instant sweat from those of us used to our cooler northwest weather; heat aside though, we were ready to compete.
Our first match was against Pac-10 team Arizona State, we took them to four sets but couldn't quite finish it. Next we played Utah State, resulting in our best match of the weekend. We pushed them to five sets, but still ended in a loss. Finally, we played San Diego State. This was a tough loss for us to endure, but we learned that to be successful, it truly is a team effort, which we implemented in our next match against University of Oregon.
After having a day off during which we traveled home, we returned to a home match the very next day. It's a hard enough task in itself to come back from a road trip to a home game, but on top of that the competition being against the 19th-ranked team in the country is a daunting task. Coming into the match, there was a noticeable sense of focus by our team, after the last match we played in Arizona, we knew that all of us had to do our part for our team to be successful. Because of that focus, we ended up taking this highly ranked team to a fifth and deciding set. Even though we lost the match, the energy and excitement throughout was something I am sure that every one of us will remember for the rest of our lives. The fans were a huge part of our success, we truly are all so appreciative of their support.
This match is what we hope to be a turning point in our season. Even though its still the beginning, we are hopeful that the intensity and focus we brought to this match will continue on through our next road trip to San Jose, California. Go Redhawks!!