July 24, 2011

Haleigh Hampton

We started out the day with a late breakfast followed by a walk to a local country club to do some light exercise. The staff here has been absolutely incredible. They are always so accommodating and friendly. We spent the rest of the morning watching video and doing various pre-match rituals. For some it’s napping, while others it includes getting in the zone with music. Carly Wopat was feeling a bit overheated and cannon balled into the pool fully clothed. I’m pretty sure all the other teams think we’re nuts.

We played our last round of pool play against Korea. Korea was already out of the running for a bid into the top 8, but we knew it would still be a battle. We swept them in three. We came out playing pretty even with Korea and ended up pulling ahead in the end of the first set winning 25-23. The second set we came out and stopped Korea in their tracks and snatched the W with an end score of 25-14. Korea fought hard in the last set and definitely didn’t make it easy on us. Sallie McLaurin ended the game on a stuff block leaving the U.S. winning 25-23.

After the match, we stuck around and watched some of the Peru-Slovakia match. We sat amongst the fans and we were bombarded with fans wanting pictures and autographs. Volleyball is such a huge sport here. They have fans lining around the block just to get in the door. The stadium was packed and you couldn’t hear yourself think, all you could hear was the crowd chant "PERU…PERU…PERU" and the beat of drums and vuvuzelas. The fans don’t have any personal space issues because they’ll wrap their arm around your neck and pull you in all different directions just to get a picture. People were handing their babies off to us for us to hold and take pictures with.

We finally made it back to the hotel for dinner and got the news that we have a 5 a.m. departure tomorrow morning that we are all dreading. It’s a good thing that we are going to Lima because it means we are moving on, but we are sad to be leaving this city behind. The team has really taken a liking to Trujillo, but there will certainly be different adventures in Lima waiting for us. Everyone has been so helpful and friendly here. The general population is so happy and is always all smiles. We are so thankful to have such a great staff and people taking care of us. It definitely makes our jobs on the court easier.

Haleigh Hampton