Riddle Me This

Who attends every sporting competition, knows every varsity athlete, is at the office later than anyone else, can name the top scorer on every team while tracking every school record in history?

DAVE HOLDEN!!

Our amazing SID, whose in charge of every thing from game write-ups to website management to statistics to team photos, has been helping us get our player profiles online one-by-one. Dave can (and does) do it all for the Missionaries and if you get a second to send him a quick note (holden@whitman.edu) about how much you appreciate his hard work and the efficiency with which he gets game write-ups online, I know it would make his day!!

Family Weekend

Okay, parents, this post's for you! Family Weekend is only one day away and if you haven't already heard we are having our Parents Get-Together at àMaurice Cellars on Saturday from 1-3pm. Whitman has many events set-up for the weekend. Rather than list them all, the link below will take you directly to the weekend calendar.

http://www.whitman.edu/content/residence_life/calendar/family-weekend/

Note: Friday. 7pm. Volleyball. Don't double-book.

There are many fun things listed on Saturday between the hours of 1 and 3, but avert your eyes!! Don't get distracted!! You have a prior engagement!! You are going to be hanging out with the coolest folks around!! (ahem.....us!) And don't worry about missing the Whitman Cookie Contest. That's at 3pm on Friday.

So far, the weather is staying true to forecast. Plan on cool but dry. I know a few flurries won't keep you away, but just in case, here's to no snow on the passes. Safe travels and we will see everyone tomorrow night!!

Fri Oct 23		Showers	60°/44°
Sat Oct 24		Mostly Sunny	56°/40°
Sun Oct 25		Cloudy	52°/45°

Phour-Day Photos

As fabulous as four day weekends are, if you are a long ways from home, even four days is not enough time to justify a trip outside the continental United States (as would be the case for three of our freshman). But the generosity and hospitality of Sydney and her family meant that her long-distance teammates would not only have somewhere to go, but somewhere FUN to go :) Carrie, Corie, Olivia, Amara and Sydney spent last weekend in Grandview, WA roping steers, riding horses, ducking through corn mazes in the dark with flashlights, milking cows, picking apples, and eating delicious homemade food. (I'm not actually sure if they roped and rode livestock, but I know they did tear up the haunted corn maze while wearing ankle braces to circumvent injuries!) Always the athletes :)

The Drought has ended

So, there was an unintended blogging fast these past two weeks. We can blame it on all the travel. Or we can blame it on Four-Day weekend. Or we can blame it on "technical difficulties." Or we could even stretch the blame way out and include global warming. But the simple truth is I forgot :(

So here's a quick update.
-We've had four matches. (I know, I know, I've missed a lot of updates.)
-We've been to Portland (and back).
-Four-Day Break came and went (more about this below).
-We have had a lot of rain. Winter has arrived in Eastern Washington.

As for the four matches, although none of them are technically wins, we achieved many things we set out to do. We are reducing our service errors. Our passing numbers continue to climb. And we are recognizing, reacting and expanding our defensive range. Our daily and weekly goals focus on the little details, and in spite of the natural tendency to focus on wins and losses, we are improving daily.

We traveled to Portland last weekend for a Friday match in Forest Grove. Today, we head out for Portland again. The drive is beautiful; last week most of the drive was done in the daylight so we were able to enjoy the Columbia River Basin, Hood River and downtown Portland. However, this week we are leaving after practice, so the drive is dark. But this drive is nothing new, so looking out the window has become obsolete. Linfield Friday. Willamette Saturday.

Four-Day Break was last weekend. Every fall, Whitman students, faculty and staff take Monday and Tuesday off in October for a mini-break. Most of the girls headed out of town, some back home for some R & R (read: home-cooking and sleeping in their own bed) while others headed out of town for some fun (read: anything but studying). Hopefully, pictures of the various fun-ness that occurred will follow soon...

Rain. We have had a lot of it. Break out the boots and scarves; winter is here!!

Please don't give up reading our Whitman Volleyball blog. Keep us bookmarked. Set us as your homepage. Refresh as often as you'd like. We will not have a blog-drought of that magnitude again.

Live Feed Link

The link below should take you to site where you can catch the live feed for today's match.

http://www.whitman.edu/whitman/index.cfm?objectid=CA5EA8DC-97AE-4982-338CA06434956414

Attacking the Bleachers

There will be a live stream tonight, but until then, you can watch this short clip over and over again.

It is Rachel.
It is Rachel going for a ball.
It is Rachel going for the ball that is headed towards the bleachers.
It is Rachel going for the ball that is headed towards the bleachers without hesitation.
It is Rachel going for the ball that is headed towards the bleachers without hesitation and running into the fans.
It is Rachel going for the ball that is headed towards the bleachers without hesitation and running into the fans all the while never taking her eyes off the ball that is headed towards the bleachers.

While she doesn't get the ball up, she sets a tone of relentless pursuit that the Whitties grabbed onto. This play was the last point that WWU ever scored in set 4. Whitman went on an 8-0 run to finish out the set and win the match.

The live stream will start at game time, 7pm. Check the Whitman Athletic website shortly before then for the link. Hopefully, you'll be online soon enough for starting line-ups and introductions. (We thought about asking one of the players to toss their game ball to the camera in honor of our online fans, but the tech crew wasn't in favor of that.) So, feel the love through the lens and know that we love our far-away-fans!!

What did you have?

Winner. Winner. Chicken Dinner.

Years ago every Las Vegas casino had a 3 piece chicken dinner with potato and veggie for $1.79. A standard bet back then was $2.00, hence when you won a bet you had enough for a chicken dinner.

Don't get me wrong, we're not in Vegas; we didn't place a bet on the match, and $1.79 won't even buy bowl of chicken soup, but last night, we were winners!