AND THAT’S A WRAP ON OUR ROOKIE AVP SEASON
Wow! What a trio of three great tournaments these last 4 weeks. Kristen and I have been go, go, going. All of it has been well worth it! As soon as we made it out to Chicago on late Thursday morning I could finally breath again knowing that we could make it to the tournament and compete. One of our favorite people, Clark Brinkman, the Chicago native was waiting at the airport to pick us up and get ready for another weekend of cheering. As soon as we checked into the hotel, we had to check out downtown Chicago. Of course, the food chroniclers, already had a place or two in mind from our own research of the area. We had to hit Wildberry Café and it did not disappoint! Breakfast food is our favorite and we were ready to go. We returned to our rooms to get settled in and watch some of the qualifier games. The number of people that I have met over the course of a year in bouncing from tournament to tournament is endless! I love getting to know them and cheering for them! After the qualifier had wrapped up, we took a nice little walk down to the venue to check in and look at the courts. Oak Street beach was already full of so many people! We went back and had some dinner, did some recovery, and hopped in bed. I always end the night saying, “dream of winning”.
The first morning, our matchup was against Cannon and Turner. Our TKN crew cheered us through a nice three set match win. We were off to a nice start with our first win of the weekend. That win set us up against the ‘A Team’, aka the Olympic gold medalists. This was the second time we were able to play them, the first being at the MBO tournament. We were bound and determined to put up a great fight and that we did. We set the record for the longest match going a staggering 40-38 unfortunately favoring the A team. We did have some chances to pull out the win but the fight that both sides had was thrilling for all the fans to watch. After the first set battle in the slight drizzle of cool rain, we did not have much left in us and ultimately dropped the second set. It is so incredibly difficult to come out and perform again after losing a back and forth set that goes extra points. We were disappointed not to come out with a win, but the crowd absolutely loved watching the grind. That’s what we live for… playing great teams and battling every single point. It’s incredible to see those opponents’ multiple times to keep learning and getting better. We were sent into the contenders bracket for Saturday morning.
📸: Matt Greer
Our first game on Saturday was against Kan and Rice. They are tremendous athletes and great people. It was a fun match. Next up, the other Olympic team, Sponcil and Claes. This is always a fun match up for us. I think all four of us walk onto the court knowing that you must play some pretty good volleyball to pull out the win. We had lost the first set, but we were not going to back down. We fought through and ended up taking the second game. All coming down to the third, again this is the stuff we love! Thankfully, we had Drew on the sidelines that would give us critical keys about the game and more importantly smile and remind us to have fun. This is a key factor for me! It is very easy to fall into the competition trap and put all the focus on one match and lose sight of the fun in the game of don’t let the ball touch the ground. Third set we won! We are onto to Sunday. It was an all-out battle! As soon as the game ended, and I got off the court and gave my family hugs. I melted to the sand. I had noodle legs and was exhausted. We had made it to Sunday!
📸: Nikolai Zychowicz
Sunday morning rolled around, and we had Schmerhorn and Rice on the schedule. We were able to take the game in two sets. I know everyone was very concerned for my foot when Kristen and I had a collision late in the second set. I really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers. We are both good to go! Just a bit of an ankle and foot injury but we played through. There was no way we were going to quit. We took the medical timeout, tapped it up and finished out the game. We were into the semis in the Chicago AVP. The backdrop of skyscrapers and Lake Michigan made the event very aesthetically pleasing and I can see why everyone loves that stop so much. Next up, round 3 with April and Alix and we lost again. They are good, like REALLY good but we thoroughly enjoy competing against them every time.
We are done with our AVP tournament stops for the year. Drew made a great point after our final match; we had some great success for our first year. It’s tough to recognize that right after a loss being the competitors that we are, but it really was a blast. We hugged our families and spoke with some beach volleyball fans that enjoyed watching the game, packed up, and went up to shower.
We had to celebrate a great freshman/rookie season! It was truly an incredible last couple weeks that I will never forget, and I am grateful for each one of the challenges that we faced to make us better. Our friend from Chicago showed us around the Wrigley Field area and we hit the battling cages and hung out with some other AVP athletes. Kristen will be happy to tell everyone, but I am not the softball player she is, so I think I will stick to beach volleyball. It was a great night full of laughs and fun. We met some more new people and found ourselves leaving Chicago on Labor Day with more experience in the game and a laundry list of ways to get better! We are going to take a little break for our bodies to heal and then we will get right back to training. We are headed to Charleston, SC. How did we pick this destination you might ask? Kristen and I both had the idea to pick two different locations and then share them on the count of three. First up on both of our lists, you guessed it! Charleston, SC was the answer. We will enjoy some rest and recovery and get right back to our training. The final event that we have on our schedule is an AVPNext on Halloween in just a few short weeks!
By: Taryn Kloth
