Senior Davi Gordon of the Muhlenberg volleyball team writes about the experience of playing in her home state.

Hello ’Berg family and friends, and welcome back to the beginning of a great new school year! The Muhlenberg volleyball team can surely attest to this – just as most students on campus were shutting their textbooks for the weekend, we were jet setting (and by that, I mean riding on a bus for seven hours) to Ohio!

As I am the only Ohio native on the team, this trip was planned especially for me (thanks Coach!). Since my first year of college, I always hoped that I would be able to play in front of a “home” crowd, and although my family members are avid watchers of the live web stream when they can’t make it out to Memorial Hall themselves, I know they had the same wish as well. So, even though we were travelling to Marietta, a small town in Southeast Ohio approximately two hours away from my real home, I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear as I boarded the bus at 6:45am on Friday because we were headed to the Buckeye State!

We have 14 players on our roster this year, including seven returners (three seniors and four sophomores) and seven freshmen. This has allowed us to do a lot of scrimmaging in practice, which was something we were unable to do during our season last year with only nine players. The team is gelling really well, and despite a few minor injuries, we are getting better and better every day. Not only are our skills improving, but also between the paint renovation in the gym and our new uniforms, the volleyball team is looking good!

The long bus ride to Ohio was a great way for us to catch some zzzZZZzzz’s, play Catch Phrase, watch a few movies, dance to Pitbull and Beyoncé, and of course, do homework.  On behalf of the team, I would also like a give a shout-out to our bus driver Rafael because he was awesome! On the way to Marietta, we stopped at Moe’s and Panera to grab our meal of choice. 

It was here that my team first faced one of the Midwest’s hardships. After surviving a mini-earthquake during preseason and a huge power outage caused by Hurricane Irene, I think

Alexis Inselberg and Laurainne Ojo-Ohikuare are in the driver's seat.

my teammates thought that they could survive anything. However, they were totally taken aback by the humidity! I never realized how much more humid it is at home than in Allentown, but there is definitely a huge difference!

We played two matches on Friday and two on Saturday. In total, I had 13 family members attend the tournament – my parents and brother; grandparents from Florida; grandma and aunt from Cleveland; aunt, uncle, and cousins from Akron; and cousins from Pickerington. I also played against a few people who I had played club volleyball with or played against during high school. It was nice to see multiple familiar faces in the crowd, a sight that I used to take for granted. My grandpa even tried started a wave before one of the matches! 

I know my family really enjoyed being able to see me play and spend a little time with me, and I thoroughly enjoyed their presence and company. Their support and love is greatly

Seniors Brooke McQueen, Davi Gordon and Jackie Price

appreciated, and even when I’m at Muhlenberg, eight hours away from home, I know that they will always being cheering for my teammates and me!

Before we started our journey back to Allentown, we stopped at da Vinci’s Italian Restaurant, which was right over the Ohio River in West Virginia. The seniors on the team have travelled to Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas, and throughout Pennsylvania, but this was the first time we stopped in two states on one trip. The food was delicious – chicken parm, pizza, subs and pasta. After filling our stomachs, my team and coaches bid farewell to my family and hopped back on the bus for our long ride home. Even though we didn’t get to go anywhere extremely exotic or to a big city, I think that everyone enjoyed their short experience of Ohio and the Midwest!

Overall, we went 1-3 over the weekend, with our win coming from our first match of the tournament against Oberlin College. Although we suffered a few losses, our team and coaches still have a very positive outlook for the rest of our season. We were still working out some kinks and trying different lineups, but we have definitely made great strides since our first practices and our preseason scrimmage. Our motto this year is “Kickin’ it up a notch!”, and we are planning on doing that over the next two months. GO MULES!