2014 started a
new year and a very unmotivated blogging Kayla. Between my short time at home,
travel back to Finland and getting back into my routine, blogging wasn't
exactly the first thing on my list BUT better late than never right? I hope all
of you rang in the New Year with friends and family! I'm proud to say that I
have checked "Spend NYE in a different country" off my bucket list.
After only spending one afternoon back in Finland and getting through my first
morning practice of 2014, Hanna, our newest teammate Rose (an outside/right
side from Venezuela that played at Arkansas last year...yes another SEC player
in Finland) and myself headed to Provoo to ring in the new year with Hanna's
boyfriend and some other American basketball players playing here. I'm
comparison to the last two NYE's this has probably been the best. Good music,
great American adult beverages and a group of individuals who just like to have
fun.
Once the
excitement of 2014 wore off, it was back to work. January commenced the two-month
countdown until playoffs in March. Aside from the Suomi Cup Final, there were
only five matches for the month and I planned to go undefeated. As I briefly
mentioned, we had a new addition to our team: Roslandy (Rose) Acosta from
Arkansas. She's an extremely talented outside/right-side hitter originally from
Venezuela who has Olympic experience and brought a breath of fresh, recharged,
motivated air to the team and some MAJOR relief to me. It's so nice to have
another person to carry the set load during matches. Not only does it keep me
alive - literally- it makes our offense a lot more dynamic and harder to
defend. Our second match of 2014 took us all the way to Lapland aka Santa
Clause land – but really it’s known as the “official home of Santa Clause” and
is 5km south of the Arctic Circle.
The 8-hour drive
followed by a final 2-hours on game day to compete against a team that hadn't
lost at home all season meant some business had to be handled. Besides playing
WoVo to advance in the Suomi Cup series, we had lost to them in 5-sets at home during
regular league play and were ready for revenge. From the first point you could
see our team wasn't messing around. Quite business woman-like, we followed and
executed the game plan to a T, sweeping them at home in 3. Always a good way to
kick off the second half of the season. Although I say our play was motivated
by revenge, I also think the fact that we had a 10-hour drive back home could
have contributed to our success, no one was trying to stay for four sets. The
drive back was long, crazy, cabin fever-filled but we finally made it back home
and in bed by 5:30 am. Long day with no sunshine.
Our next matter
of business was to finally play the last match of the Cup Final, which had
begun in November in
a 5-set thriller win over OrPo. The finals
would be against none other than Salo, who we hadn't beaten all season. In
comparison to previous matches, everyone seemed very confident going into the
match. There were no "deer in headlight" looks; the mood was calm but
intense. Really focused. The first set was a battle; we fell behind and had to
grind back from being down late in the set to win 25-23. The second set was a
surprising blow out, everything clicked on our side. Salo couldn't compete with
our intensity. In the last set you could see who wanted it more. As defending
Cup champions and the underdog we were expected to crumble under Salo's
reputation, but to their surprise we had been executing the game plan too well.
Even though Salo had pulled away in the middle of the third set we continued to
push back, eventually leading us to win 25-19. In my entire volleyball career
I've never won a Gold metal. A feeling of pride, accomplishment and
thankfulness surged over me. It was in that moment our entire team knew we had
everything we needed to make a statement in the post season and a great shot at
winning the league championship.
The high from
that match lasted for a few days and continues to be a source of motivation
during tough days in the gym for all of us. The rest of our matches for the
month weren't nearly has emotional but important to take 3 points from each.
HPK was our third league match of the month. One of their best hitters was out
with a knee injury, Skender from LSU, and we made sure to take advantage of her
absence. Although we didn’t play at the same level seen the previous week
during the finals match, we got things done. HPK had been on a winning streak,
beating the two top teams in our league. We ended the streak. A 2-day trip to
Kourtane marked the end of January's competition. It was an honor to play at
their facility in the home of Finland's Olympic Training Center. Something
about seeing "Citius, Altius, Fortius" gets the blood pumping and
brings a sense of national pride to the surface. They have a beautiful campus,
hotel, dining hall and brand new facility, only the best for Olympic athletes.
One thing I found unique about the campus was that it's also home to youth
training. Kids can attend school and train at the OTC, investing early on in
their professional career. With that being said, the team we played was young
but as displayed the first time we met, they have heart and are very
competitive. I didn't play much this weekend, I assume to rest my body for
other matches, but the rest of the team got the job done. Can't beat an
undefeated weekend.
January's record
(including the Suomi Cup a Finals): 6-0. Only one month left in regular league
play of my first professional season. Eyes on the prize.
Live your passion ::
Love on purpose
