July 31

Andrea McHugh

This morning we woke up at 9 and ate our usual breakfast of eggs, bread and butter. There were a few people on the team that weren’t feeling too great, which might have been from the cow heart or duck that we tried the night before during our Peruvian dinner. But with that said, our wonderful Doctor Denise (Dr. D) was well prepared like always and was ready to give out Tums and Pepto Bismo to anyone that needed it.

After breakfast it was time for our light exercise, but this time we were told to walk instead of jog to the park where we then stretched and took some pictures with some fans. When we got back to the hotel we all went up to the video room to watch film on Brazil and get prepared for the upcoming match. During our film session, Coach Rob showed us an inspirational clip on YouTube that ended up giving us all the chills and made us all excited for our game that night.

We then had our usual lunch at 1 and the hotel made sure that everyone on the team received a tres leches cake for dessert. After lunch everyone took naps, listened to music or watched a movie. We left for the game at 3:45 and were given a snack that included a tangerine, ham & cheese sandwich and juice.

We had a tough match against Brazil and fought it out to a fifth set, but sadly ended up barely losing 16 to 14. In the fourth game water suddenly started pouring form the ceiling onto the middle of the court. At first a lot of us thought hundreds of birds were pooping, because there are birds at the top of the rafters above the court that periodically go to the bathroom during our games. Haley Eckerman is the only one who has gotten pooped on during the game and we're all hoping it stays that way.

We are all very excited for the game tomorrow against China and are eager to make history by being the first USA Women’s Junior National Team to medal at Worlds. Thanks to all of our coaches, fans and families for cheering us on and encouraging us to ‘never say never’ (shout out to Justin Bieber) because without you we wouldn’t be where we are today.

LET’S GO USA!!!

Andrea McHugh