Tag Archives: Volleyball

My First Visit to the Jersey Shore

I had never been to the Jersey Shore prior to this weekend. I had also never been to a beach volleyball tournament, despite living in beach volleyball mecca in Southern California. Both these facts, made for quite an eye-opening experience for me.  My biggest worries that the beach was going to be exactly how it was portrayed on the MTV hit show, Jersey Shore. I can now report, that the part of the Jersey Shore that was represented on television is a sliver of the actual “Jersey Shore”. Though the actual beach itself and the fact you had to PAY (yes you read that correctly) surprised this California girl, I was excited to be sitting in the sand to watch Dave play.

Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my nice camera to Seaside Heights and couldn’t get any action shots, but I am happy to report, that Dave, and his partner Kris, made it to the finals. It was a very long day in the sun and sand, and I now have so much more respect for these beach athletes, as they are not only playing a physically demanding game, but they are also battling the elements (sun, wind, and very hot sand).

My goal for next year is to get in good enough shape so I can try one of these beach tournaments in the future. I love how challenging the sport seems and the fact that it’s on a beach.  My first (and maybe most important) challenge… being able to walk in the sand without tripping.

NCAA Champions!

On August 30th 2014, I met Dave and that night he told me how he was going to win a national championship. He took my phone and put the NCAA DIII National Championships (April 24-26) in my phone calendar and I promised I’d be there…

Fast forward to January 2015 and I’m sitting at home bored out of my mind, wishing I was back in New York City. I had thought about booking trips to New York to see friends, interview at companies, and pack up my old apartment, but realized that I should just book a surprise visit for the NCAA weekend in April. Despite the fact that it is incredibly difficult to make the NCAA tournament, let alone win it ,in my mind, it was a win-win. I would get to see Dave, be back in the city and get a ton of volleyball in! So I booked my flight for April 23-28, which would later turn out to be a mere 48 hours after my flights for Formal. Truth be told, I wanted this weekend to be a surprise but Dave had an inkling that I’d show up so I told him.

There was electricity flowing through the air when I arrived in Hoboken on the first day of the tournament. Everybody was buzzing about the tournament and looking forward to the Ducks dominating their competition.Stevens faced off against Baruch and won in an easy three set match on Friday afternoon. I stayed for the following quarterfinal to watch the other team, while the boys “scouted” and took notes on their tendencies. On Saturday, the team took on a rambunctious SUNY New Paltz team (and crowd) in 5 sets and advanced to the national championship game against Springfield! I felt like I was holding my breath the entire match and was so relieved to see them pull of the win. Phebe and I woke up early on Sunday morning to make signs for the team (see below) and got the arena early to secure front row seats! I can’t even begin to describe the atmosphere – I felt like I was at a professional sporting event with the jam-packed bleachers and chants flowing back and forth between the opposing sides of the gym. The boys pulled off a three set win against the Springfield Pride – they made winning look so easy!

That weekend Dave was also announced as the 2014-2015 National Player of the Year and First Team All-American among many other academic and athletic accolades. Huge congratulations to Dave and the rest of his team on a fantastic year! I’m excited to see what comes next.

 

White Rose

What a weekend it’s been! I returned to San Diego on Monday for a few days (48 hours to be exact) before I jet set back to the East Coast on Thursday. Call me crazy, but I’ll tell you I’m having the time of my life living bi-coastally.

I am currently recovering from an amazing weekend spent at Dave’s fraternity formal in New Jersey.  In March, I was  invited to Sigma Nu’s White Rose Formal – this formal not only celebrated the chapter and its accomplishments but also the 115th Anniversary of the founding of the fraternity. It was a very big deal and was hosted at a beautiful resort in the mountains.

I flew out of San Diego on Thursday morning and stayed with Phebe for our typical girl’s night in the city. The first thing we did after dropping off my luggage, was grab a slice of dollar pizza. I hadn’t eaten all day and since she had yet to find shoes for formal, I knew that I needed some fuel before embarking on one of our shopping adventures. We rushed to Macy’s and couldn’t find anything, but we ended finding some cute white heels with studs around the ankles at Aldo.

The following morning, I had an interview uptown and was also able to meet up with my old bosses, which was great . I was very fortunate I had the free time to squeeze in the interview and see everybody! Later that day, Phebe and I headed to Hoboken with all of our gear ready for formal weekend. We got to the house before the boys were done with practice, so we dropped off our bags and beelined straight to the store to grab some snacks to fill up the cooler for the weekend. A cooler, you ask? Yes, you read that right. Right after Dave asked me to formal,  I came to learn that it is a fraternity tradition for a girl to decorate and fill a cooler for her date to show her appreciation. Most people know that I have close to ZERO experience or skill with a paintbrush, but I was determined to decorate it to the best of my abilities with some of his favorite things (Volleyball, Beaches, The Chargers and Bills)  and surprise him with it.  Even though I struggled tremendously with the artistic aspect of decorating the cooler, I would like to believe I excelled in filling it with goodies, transporting it 3000 miles across country, and answering a million questions from other curious flight passengers. I’m in the process of making a time-lapse video and  blog of how one should go about making a cooler – I’ll upload that as soon as I finish it!  After the boys were done with practice, Dave and I went out to 1 Republik for dinner and later to Tally Ho to play some Jenga with one of his friends. It is weird to think that it had been nearly two months since we had last seen each other, but we picked things up right where we left off.

On Saturday morning we got up relatively early to head to the resort so we could make our tee time at noon. We carpooled with one of Dave’s fraternity brothers, Chris, and his girlfriend Lexi, who also happened to be our golf partners for the day. We arrived at Mineral Springs about 20 minutes before our tee time so we headed right to the club house instead of check in. To be honest, I was pretty worried about my golf game (or lack thereof), but I was assured that we would be playing best ball and it would be fun. Much to my surprise, we had A BLAST on the golf course playing the first nine holes. By the end of the round, we had a little less than two hours until we had to be on the buses headed to the formal venue. One quick cat nap later, we started to get ready and hopped on the bus. This was my first formal fraternity function, and I was beyond impressed with everything! I loved seeing the guys and their dates dressed up and looking dapper in suits, learning about the tradition, and meeting current and former brothers of the fraternity. In addition, the Gamma Delta chapter (Steven’s)  was awarded the Rock Chapter Award  for excellence in pretty much all that they do. Congrats guys! Overall, the weekend was magical – we had perfect weather and danced the night away – a perfect ending to say the least!

Sunday morning, I returned with Phebe to the city, while the boys practiced. I decided to meet up with my former roommate Erin in the park after grabbing bagels from Tompkins Square Bagels – it had been months since we had caught up. After the boys finished practice, I headed back to Hoboken to meet up with Dave and grab some dinner. As some of you know, I LOVE trying new restaurants, so Dave took me to this great hole in the wall called Tony Baloney’s . I’m not the biggest sandwich fan, but between Vito’s and Tony’s, I think I’ve changed my mind. I ordered the Kaka Sub, while Dave munched on the Revel Boy and split the Shitfaced fries (absolutely delicious). Tony’s is one of my new favorite restaurants and definitely recommend trying it!

I headed back to the airport on Monday afternoon, but unfortunately my flight was delayed nearly four hours and I didn’t get home until past midnight. On a positive note, the flight attendant that I bonded with over the cooler (on the original the trip over), sat next to me before boarding and asked about my weekend!

I had a great weekend at formal and can’t wait for this upcoming weekend, where I’ll be catching Dave and his team, the #1 ranked Steven’s Volleyball team host and compete in the NCAA Championships.

 

 

Surprise!

If somebody were to ask what the three most important things about me are they’d be (in no order of importance): 1. I love to workout   2. My friends and family are the most important thing in my life and 3. I LOVE surprises, both being surprised and surprising other people.

Long story short, I bought myself a plane ticket to NY to surprise my old roommate, Erin, for her birthday, celebrate Galentines Day with Phebe, and see Dave play some volleyball. It was a whirlwind of trip, but a much-needed trip back to frigid temperatures to see my closest friends.

Here’s some  quick highlights of my long weekend in the city that never sleeps:

Saturday: landed at JFK and headed straight to Phebe’s in the East Village.  After indulging ourselves with See’s Candies, we headed over to my old apartment to surprise Erin. SURPRISE Erin! Cue lots of hugs and “Is this real life?”  a la David After Dentist. Head back to Phebe’s place and get ready to go to Hair of the Dog on the LES.

Sunday: Wake up and engage in our old “habits”. We head to Coles to workout and watch the men’s basketball game, then I head to Hoboken see Dave.

Monday: Brunch with Erin at Cafe Gitane followed by a workout at Coles with Phebe. Cafe Gitane is a cute French Moroccan place that is most known for its Avocado Toast. It is absolutely divine – a must try on my list.

Tuesday: Erin’s Birthday!  Lunch with my former marketing professor, Ted Philipakos, at local Greek restaurant, Ovelia,  in Queens to catch up.

Wednesday: Head to Hoboken to hang with Dave. Grab lunch at my favorite Italian Deli, Vito’s (I ordered the Vito). Watch Dave and the rest of his team destroy SUNY New Paltz in three straight sets with Phebe.

Thursday: Breakfast with Phebe and Etan at Hoboken Gourmet Company. Head back to California. Cue tears and nostalgia.

 

It was a quick trip, but I’m so glad I was able to see my friends and surprise Erin! Hopefully I’ll be back before graduation!