University of Pittsburgh Athletics
#PittVBAbroad Blog: Emily Horner
5/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
And just like that, it was the last day.
I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all woke up this morning shocked. Shocked that this once-in-a-lifetime trip filled with amazing views, food and most importantly friends, was already coming to an end.
We ate breakfast around 9 a.m. and then headed off to morning practice where everyone seemed even more determined to get better and get in more reps as we looked for redemption in our final match against the Greek National Team.
After practice, we went to see an old theater where we met a group that was doing a restoration project for 16 months to restore the quality of the seats from the original theater. Then we headed back to the hotel for a small break before we left for our game.
During the break, I sat outside on our patio and admired the mountains and mountains of greenery our hotel was tucked behind. While admiring these miles of mountains, I had the chance to look back on the trip as a whole. Day after day, we were all amazed with views like the Parthenon, the Vatican and of course the Trevi fountain. I almost teared up over all of it.
Honestly though, the best part of this trip was spending it with my teammates. Coming from a different school first semester, I had fears of how I would fit in. Luckily for me, this team welcomed me immediately into their extremely dynamic team atmosphere. In a span of a few months, I have built strong relationships with them on and off the court. It was time to put these relationships into full effect come game time!
We took off for the gym on our bus which had a police escort in front of it. We came out with great energy in our warm-up and were hungry for revenge from last night's close loss. I really think we all gave everything we had realizing it was the last match of this training block. After losing the first three sets each by a close margin, our team asked to play one last set. Our team chemistry was at an all-time high and we killed it and won the last game.
Looking back on the adventure as a whole, I may forget how many cappuccinos I had (which were amazing) or how many metros I had taken, but I know I will never forget what this trip was like and that I got to spend it with my best friends.
H2P!
Day 1: Jenna Potts
Day 2: Angela Seman
Day 3: Ellie Watkins
Day 4: Mariah Bell
Day 5: Stephanie Williams
Day 6: Kelsey O'Neill
Day 7: Maria Genitsaridi
