July 31, 2011

By Carly Wopat

Hello Everyone!

Our last day in Peru was amazing. We started off with our usual morning routine of breakfast, light exercise and watching video to prepare for our match against China. After an early lunch we headed off to the gym to battle China for the bronze medal, which was pretty ironic because they were the first team we ever played (they scrimmaged and trained with us for 10 days at Saint Mary’s College before we came to Peru), and now the last. We fought a tough match, but lost in four to a very talented Chinese team who deserved the bronze. Although it was disappointing to be so close to medaling, I was so lucky and proud to be part of such an amazing team. We had the best coaching staff we could have asked for and every team member was not only a great volleyball player, but simply a great person as well.

After the match, we went to the closing ceremonies and awards banquet where Natalie Hagglund (aka Nat Daddy) won the best libero award. Yep, we have the best libero in the world. No big deal. To celebrate, we went to a restaurant called Bembo’s and scarfed down some cheeseburgers. We also convinced Rob that ice cream was a necessity, so after doing a little ice cream dance and chant we piled onto the bus with only five minutes to get to the ice cream store before it closed. Luckily we had police escorts who got us there in the nick of time. The store was actually closing down, but the wonderful employees let us in anyways. It was delicious!

Once we got back to the hotel, there was a full blown party on the second floor with all the teams and coaches. It was a blast to dance and get to know other teams. I also traded my jerseys with Italy, Brazil and Dominican Republic and got some of the coolest shirts in return. One of the Italian girls wanted her hair braided in corn rows like mine, so Mo sat and braided her curly red hair for an hour in exchange for some awesome tee-shirts. We stayed up late celebrating and packing, and eventually fell asleep.

Monday morning we woke up early to depart for the airport. Our return flight home wasn’t too bad. I watched three movies and took some laps around the cabin to pass the time. Once we landed, our team said goodbyes and went separate ways. We loved Peru, but missed America and are so glad to be home. Thank you to everyone who watched and supported us along the way. GO USA!!

This is Carly Wopat (aka Carly Davidson, Carly Fries, Carly Horse, Carls Barkley, Carlsbad Carlyfornia, Carly and the Chocolate Factory) signing off.

Carly Wopat