Danielle Scott Weblog

For those of you who don’t know, we beat Puerto Rico 3-0 in the finals in front of their home crowd. Woohoo! That was awesome. The fans were great. They kept cheering to help their team each time an exciting play happened in their favor regardless the score. I think Puerto Rico played hard. We couldn’t let our guard down at any moment. I was impressed with the way our team maintained focus throughout the match. As with most teams we have a tendency to let up once we have a comfortable lead.

Our new and/or younger players received a lot of playing time and gained some experience this tournament which was one of Jenny’s plans going in the tournament. I, of course, was happy to play each opportunity I was given. I ended the match with a block. Yeah, which was rewarding for me personally because I would like to stuff block at least one ball each set. It was a good experience for me also watching the game outside of the battle, if you will. I was able to give a lot of feed back to the players on the court. For instance, weakness in the other teams defense, blocking and hitting tips and join in with the best box cheers in the world!

Well, back to training on Monday. We must win the next tournament or our participation in the Grand Champions Cup will be in the fate of possible receiving the wild card berth.

That’s if for now.
Blessing,

Danielle

Hello All,

We find ourselves first after round robin play. Yesterday we beat Canada in three and today we beat Puerto Rico in four in front of a pretty packed house. This type of environment is so much fun even though the crowd was against us. Actually team Barbados cheered for us. And we “the box” gained a few mockers if nothing else. I got to play half the third set and the fourth set. I am always eager to play no matter who the competition. Especially since I didn’t get to play against Canada. Tomorrow we will play Mexico in the semis while Puerto Rico will play Canada. Their last encounter went five games.

Well, that’s it for now.
Blessings,

Danielle

Hello All,

After two days of training in Puerto Rico, today we finally began tournament competition against Barbados. USA won 3-0. We got off to a slow start but won 25-18 in the first set. I was impressed with team Barbados defense and hustle. They seem to improve a bit each time I see them play.

I was given the opportunity to play in the final set. Woohoo! It was quite challenging to keep my knees ready to jump after standing for two set. During time out I would jog or shuffle from the box to the other side of the court before joining in the huddle. And throughout the match after scoring a point we circle up and say “point USA” with small bounces. Also with doing mini squats, those exercises if you will helped.

Tomorrow we have yet another early morning start. Breakfast at 6:30 am!

Well, that’s it for now. We will play Mexico tomorrow. Wish us well.

Blessings,
GO USA

Danielle

Boy, time is flying! It is already time to travel to Puerto Rico for the World Championship Qualifier. We will leave on Thursday, August 11. While I mentioned that time is flying actually it seems as though I have been back with the team training a lot longer than 20 days! I am training twice on Saturday, I think for the first time since being on the National team or a peculiar situation! Well, I guess this situations is peculiar enough in that we need to really improve our ball control. I am sure that Jenny wants to pull her hair out. But she is working patiently with us and giving lots of feed back.

Gosh, I am beat. I find myself looking forward to this travel date for more than one reason of getting to compete. But also because we’ll have the morning off, although we will have to wake up at that break of dawn. Literally! We meet to load the bus at 4:15 am! YIKES!
Since my last entry, there’s not been a lot going. Last night I went to a Korean barbecue type restaurant. It reminded me of when my Japanese teammates and I went out to dinner in Japan. We sat on pillows and cooked the food ourselves. It was quite tasty and we managed to NOT burn the meat.

Other than that I have not gone out much. I have enjoyed seeing my Colorado Springs church family and attending service on Sunday. It is a nice treat to be off on Sunday’s as we often have to play most Sunday’s during league.
Laundry occupies a lot of my time. I used four shirts each practice because I sweat so much. Sometimes I change my entire practice uniform halfway through practice. It’s a good thing I am staying hydrated. I drink lots during our few water breaks but most importantly I drink a lot of juice and water outside of practice. My favorite juice is Black Cherry Cranberry!

Well, that’s it for now.

Blessings,

Danielle

OH yes, It is official I will be returning to Chieri, Italy next season, which is approaching soon! So… Marta, Mamma Pina, family, friends and fans, I will see you soon. GO CHIERI!