Hello Everyone!

Our match against Thailand is at 12:30 p.m.  Instead of having practice we had a stretching and abs session before breakfast. After breakfast we watched video on Thailand. Most of their team was shorter than me and I’m the second shortest on our team but they were a tough team.  They had great ball control and defense.  However, we beat them in three.  After the match we went to the other playing venue to watch Serbia play Japan.  Both teams are in the top eight.  Japan’s passing was perfect to the setter almost every time but Serbia’s block and serves allowed them to win the match in three. While watching the little ball girls came up to us asking for pictures and autographs.  Tonight, we went out to a restaurant with the parents and the food was amazing. It was more similar to what we would eat at home though with a Turkish twist.  We were treated with nice deserts and fancy chocolate.  We bonded further with our guide Serkan.  He makes our day because he is so helpful and nice to us, answering all our questions, translating from Turkish to English and cheering us on every game. He is the best.  We will all miss him when we have to go home.  The team is excited to play Egypt tomorrow!

-Allison Palmer