St. John's University Athletics
Volleyball Postcard: Greetings From Vietnam Part IX
5/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
- St. John's Volleyball travels To Vietnam
Aloha from Vietnam!!
Today is May 19, 2007, championship day. I woke up around my usual time of 8 a.m. and waited for my roommate Alanna [Rutan] to wake up once the alarm went off at 8:30 a.m. During my wait, I hopped online and checked my E-mail, MySpace, Facebook and AIM. I was happy to see people had sent me E-mails and left me comments. Since my cell phone doesn???t work out here, I have to use these other means of communication more than usual. It???s been difficult, but I got used to it after being here for some time. Once Alanna woke up, we went upstairs for breakfast.
After breakfast, we went back to our rooms. I went back online and watched as the Phoenix Suns were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs (got to love Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker), while Alanna was being the smart person she is and reading. Some of my teammates decided to go shopping with Jen [Hamilton] and Sabrina [Polidoro], but I chose to stay at the hotel because I didn???t want to get anymore unnecessary tan lines. Plus, I want to save the rest of my shopping for when we go to Hanoi.
We all met back at the hotel for lunch at 2 p.m. First, we had lentil soup and then they brought out seafood stuffed spring rolls. Toya [Blunt] and I didn???t waste any time and went right for the spring rolls. Little did we know they were still hot and we ended up burning our tongues. However, it didn???t matter to us because we were hungry. For dessert we had mango slices. Sabrina, Jen and I couldn???t stay away from it. We ate what was in our plate and I managed to get some more mango slices from the other table. We swallowed that down pretty quick too. It was very delicious.
Then it was time for me to have my last treatment and tape job from Jen. I documented it on my video camera, while Sabrina and I watched a Law and Order: Special Victims Unit rerun.
At 4 p.m., we made our way to the gym. Japan and Kazakhstan were still playing when we arrived at the gym. We ended up starting our warm-up outside. When we finally made it onto the court, the gym was packed. We played in the championship game against the national team of Vietnam. The Vietnamese fans are very loyal to their home team. They were cheering throughout most of the game. I was trying to be very focused during the game, but it was very hard to communicate with my teammates on the court because it was so loud.
We ended up losing, 3-1, but we never gave up during the entire match. I was proud of the fact that three out of the four games went past the 25-point mark. That showed great determination and fire on our part. This game was special to me not only because it was the championship game, but because it was my last opportunity to play with my St. John???s team. This was a great way to end my career. Not too many seniors have the opportunity to play with their team all the way until May. I???m glad I was able to.
After the game, there was an awards ceremony. We got to stand on a podium to receive our silver medals. I was especially proud of my little one (Lena Yee) because she won best digger, best receiver and best libero of the whole tournament. We stayed for a little bit to take pictures and sign autographs. Then we headed back to the hotel.
There was a big buffet dinner at the hotel made for us, Kazakhstan and Japan. We sat with the Japanese team. At my table, Hui Ping [Huang] was our translator; she talked to one of the girls on the Japan team who is originally from China. I had a blast spending time with them. It did make me miss my mom a little more though.
After eating, I headed upstairs to shower. I still have to pack for our flight to Hanoi. We check out of our hotel at 6 a.m. I???m planning on heading down to Dana [DeMayo] and Val [Kovaleva]???s room to hang out with them and some of the girls from the Japanese team before I pack.
But before I say goodbye and since this was my last game, I would like to take the time to thank everyone. I would like to thank my coaches for giving me the opportunity to play for such a great team. I???m glad that I was able to play for you and I will always remember this year, this coaching staff and everything that you have done for me. I???ll always be here if you need me to come help out or scrimmage.
I would next like to thank my teammates for being the best teammates ever. I really consider all of you my sisters and I wouldn???t be who I am today without you. I wish you the best of luck next year, and I???ll be in the stands cheering you on. Sabrina, thank you for doing the little things to get our team recognized. Without you, we wouldn???t be as known and as distinguished as we are. You had so much faith in us even when the nation didn???t. I???ll miss you greatly.
Next, I???d like to thank my athletic trainer, Jen for keeping me in one piece this year. Without you, I wouldn???t have been able to step out onto the court. Thank you for all the advice and for being there to help me through the hard times. Last but not least, I would like to thank my mom for always believing in me. Thank you for your constant love and support throughout my life. I know that I want to grow up and be the loving, hardworking mother that you are. You give me the strength to get through each day. I???ll always be grateful for that.
It???s been a great two years at St. John???s. I???ve made a lot of great friends and I???ll always cherish all the relationships and memories I have made with everyone. Thank yous for checking in and sharing our Vietnam trip with us.
Good night!
Patti Hardimon #22
