Puertorican Men's Pro Volleyball

So- this was one CRAZY experience. The coach from La UNE actually called the owner of one of the teams in the finals (la gigantes de carolina) and he put us on the list to get in free! The guy at the door was expecting us and let us right in with no tickets. We got there at about 8, the match didn't start til 8:30, so seeing their warm-ups was so cool.

The crowd was ROWDY. Gisela says that's pretty much how they usually are. There were instruments like loud drums, tambourines, horns, all kinds of noise makers. They were doing tons of different chants throughout the match, sometimes back and forth at each other. That was a really big eye opener- the fans were SO into their volleyball, and you could tell they knew their stuff.

The two teams were very different. The visiting team had two incredibly athletic outside hitters. I mean, sick athleticism, jumping, quickness, blocking. The home team was so different. They had one main weapon, their left outside hitter- Jose Riiiiiiiiveeerrrraaaaa- as the announcer said about 40 times. They set him everywhere. He just got the job done. He found holes and tooled blocks, but could also sky and hit over the block.

The home team won the first two sets, and then the fun began. The visitors won the next two sets, the fourth set was 28-26! It was so intense. Anytime there was a long rally, it ended with the crowd on their feet screaming. In the US- the crowd would be clapping, here, they were screaming and pointing. It was really fun.

So- 5th set, and we were about asleep in our seats. The visitors jumped out early, up 3-6, 4-7, and 6-9. The home team came back and took the lead 12-11. It was a great finish as the home team won 15-13. The place went crazy and people even stormed the court.

After the game, most of the girls went onto the court and got pictures with some of the players from Carolina (home team). As we were waiting for them to leave, one of the players starting talking to the rest of us (me and Coach K). "How much longer are you staying?, what have you been doing? What conference do you play in?". He was really nice. He actually went to IPFW- and said "I'm so old, when I went ther Lloy Ball was my setter". Yeah he was old for a pro volleyball player.

So, all in all, it was crazy, awesome, and well worth staying late to catch the whole match.

More players will write tomorrow!
Coach J

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