TKN’ THE ATL AGAIN
Photo By: Mpu
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - Winning is so much better than losing…
Going to write this one a little backwards. We were “warming up” for the championship match on stadium court. Why do I have warming up in quotes? Well, our warmup consisted of walking to the court 20 minutes before gametime and sitting under the umbrella for about 15 of those minutes. After an exhaustingly hot weekend, neither team wanted to step out into the blistering rays. We knew that our bodies would warm up when it came time for the first service whistle. All I was concerned about was conserving my jumps – I think I jumped once pre-match. While under the umbrella, Drew, Taryn and I were just watching in amazement at the people already in their legit steaming seats. What was going through my head? “I really hope that my parents are hydrating with water instead of beers so they can make it through this match. Man, it is pretty hot, but we train in way worse, you can handle this. How long can Brandi/Mel hang? We’re sitting here about to compete for another AVP title, this is just wild. You used to be sitting on the couch watching this on TV Kristen. Holy S&*%. OMG, I really have to pee.”
Hailey Harward did a phenomenal job singing the National Anthem and then it was time for player intros. It’s such a weird concept to be sitting in a chair while someone is hyping you up to a bunch of people and again you are just sitting there like yep, cool, thanks alright smile, run and wave.
Mel served the first ball to Taryn, Taryn ran a back set, hit a beautiful line shot and away we went. I was feeling very good about our defense and our gameplan. I knew even when things got a little tight that we were going to be able to make some defensive plays either with Taryn getting a block or me making a dig. I think we did both and that is what we did a lot this weekend. When I needed help, Taryn picked me up. When T needed help, I picked her up. That is what we do. On the court, in the gym, and in life – we pick each other up (sometimes literally). It just so happens that on this given Sunday, we were celebrating another AVP title with our classic celebration of me jumping into Taryn’s arms. Like I said we pick each other up.
After a Kona Beer shower, a live TV interview, many pictures all during an absolute downpour, we finally made it to where everyone was… the parking garage across the street. When there is lightning in the area at the ATL venue, everyone must clear the premises so the parking garage across the street becomes home to everyone. After I got food from the athlete’s tent, I made my way to the garage with an eruption of TKN chants. Hearing a crowd of people chant your name is something very very special and we will never ever take that for granted. We enjoyed some time with family and friends before heading to get our post ATL champions treat with Drew and Mary… Great American Cookie and Kilwins. Yes, why get just one when you can get both?!
With a full stomach, I made my way to my cousin Jasmine’s Airbnb to get a nice shower before heading to the airport since we had to check out of our hotel room that morning. It really is so nice to have so many family members and friends come to these events to support us. Some of the unsung heroes of this event were our moms. Tricia (Taryn’s mom) who is a chiropractor provided us with treatment all weekend long (she revived me) in addition to making a couple coffee and food runs for us. Audrey (my mom) aka Mrs. Social was also at our beckon call with grocery runs. It may not have been as efficient (more to come with this) but she got the job done especially when it mattered most. And last but not least, Janna (Taryn’s stepmom) came through with the most delicious treat of the weekend… homemade, garden to table zucchini bread that was absolutely delicious and was a great treat post matches. Thank you, moms, – we greatly appreciate you guys!
The night ended with Taryn and I enjoying a nice glass of red wine while sitting on the couch and watching our finals match on the ESPN app in Louisiana… what a way to celebrate an AVP title.
Now let’s flip back to the beginning of the week – AVP ATL was a longer trip for us than normal. The AVP PR team reached out to us about getting to ATL a couple days earlier to do some press for the event. We happily agreed since we were planning on flying from Montreal to ATL anyways. We got in Monday evening, unloaded our luggage in the hotel room, and immediately made our way to Publix to enjoy the first of many Pub Subs of the week.
Tuesday morning, we had to wake up kind of early to head to the GSU beach courts since we were slated for a live interview on Atlanta’s morning show with Paul Miliken at 8:30am. We tried to teach him some volleyball skills on air but unfortunately, we didn’t teach him well enough… he didn’t make a single serve over the net on air, but as he informed us, “the worse I look the better it is… I am kind of the punching bag for the morning show.” At around 10 we started the 1-hour trek to the Atlanta Falcons Training Camp. Right before we walked in, I turned to Taryn and said, “I kind of feel like I am betraying the Saints.” While walking to the practice field, we were greeted by some of the Falcons media team and then we were introduced to the Vice President who just so happens to be an LSU Alum. Who Dat Nation, let it be known that I in fact told the Vice President of the organization that I am a big Saints fan. I actually made that pretty clear to everyone that I spoke with. Once their practice finished up, a lot of the players voluntarily participated in the attempt to bump a volleyball which was very entertaining. About 70% completed the attempt and proceeded to say, “ma gurl played.” After the volleyball portion was done, we somehow (and by somehow I mean I was not going to leave that field without running a route or throwing the football) made our way onto the field and I was running a quick 3 yard slant with the Falcons starting QB Desmond Ridder throwing the ball to me. I was slightly geeking out the whole time since I am a huge football fan. We wrapped up the visit with a tour of their brand-new media rooms and then headed back to our hotel with a quick lunch stop at Sweetgreen.
Wednesday morning was pretty similar. We started the day kind of early with some live and recorded interviews at the venue before we headed to the Atlanta Braves game where we would be the people to go on camera and say, “It’s time for Braves baseball. Let’s play ball.” The worker escorted us to the field and immediately Eduardo Escobar, Los Angeles Angels 3rd baseman, walked over and was amazed by Taryn’s height. He even asked to take a picture with her. After our job was complete, an adorable older man named Howard invited us to sit in his first-row seats. He has been a season ticket holder for 45 years and was just the absolute sweetest man. He informed us about the VIP club that was underground, air-conditioned, and had free popcorn. He provided us with the password to get in so after the first inning we made the decision to leave the sweltering seats and head to air-condition. On the table, we had a volleyball that we had signed and a boy around 12 who was holding a baseball in his hand approached me and asked with excitement, “Who did you get to sign?”. I awkwardly had to respond, “Us” while pointing to Taryn and me. He was clearly confused and then just walked away. It was comical. The game started at 12:20 so by the time the third inning rolled around it was already 1:15 and we were pretty hungry, so we made the decision to head out in search of food. On our way out, there were people still coming in and the less friendly female security guard gave us the most disapproving, sassy “you guys are leaving already?” It was so sassy, unimpressed, and Karen-like that we couldn’t help but laugh.
We finally got a chill morning on Thursday. The first thing we had on the agenda was practice at GSU for noon. This was the first somewhat of a practice since we lost our quarters match in Montreal. It was nice to really get moving again and get a sweat on. We followed up practice with a nice Chipotle bowl, a shower, and then a fun evening at Puttshack followed by the most delicious pizza from Antico. Carbs were consumed and we were ready for the tourney.
First match was an early afternoon start so we had another chill morning which was fantastic. Another positive was the forecast looked great. Sun was going to be out which meant hotness and that meant advantage us. We have been training in the record-breaking Baton Rouge heat… legit the hottest recorded month. Does Drew try and hold practices in the morning or evening to avoid said temps… no, we train from 3-5… the hottest part of the day. Needless to say, we were hoping Atlanta temps would just keep rising along with the humidity.
If you watched our first match you may have thought that we did not look very sharp on our game and that would be absolutely correct. The Wilson volleyball is SIGNIFICANTLY different than the international Mikasa volleyball. Guys, I was praying that I was just able to serve the ball in the court. Our goal for that match was to try to get as comfortable as possible with that ball and luckily we were able to pull out the victory. We were greeted by our families and friends in attendance and this was something super special… Mr. Luther read my last blog about watching the cheesy movie, Forever My Girl, on the plane and was like oh no, we need to have y’all watching better movies, so he gave us a flash drive that we can take anywhere that has 25 “good movies.” We are spoiled but so so thankful for all the kind people that we have been introduced to!
We had a couple hours before our next match, so we walked back to the hotel to rinse off before enjoying another pub sub pre-match. In warmups for this second match against Kraft/Muno I could just feel my body was not feeling 100%. The legs were not feeling very springy or explosive and that definitely showed. I was getting picked on rightfully so. I was struggling to get the ball to the sand in large part to Zana’s defense. Remember when I talked about picking each other up… here comes Taryn. She started making key blocks and getting them in trouble serve receive wise. I hoped on her back, and she carried me through that game and us into the final round of the winner’s bracket.
Saturday’s rematch with Brandi and Mel was scheduled at 3:15pm which was perfect timing for us… hottest part of the day. When you walk into a match knowing you have somewhat of an advantage you feel so much more confident and that showed. For me, I felt like I could do no wrong in that game and that is a fun place to be mentally. Even when things were tight my mindset was you better not let me touch the ball because I will put it away. When we played them in Montreal only a couple days prior the mindset was not like that. I could not put the ball away and I was making error after error. It’s crazy how a different environment or even just a different day can change the scope of the match. Our foot was on the gas from the beginning and quite frankly we never took it off or even attempted to brake for the rest of the tournament.
The feeling I had during that match is one of those where you are like dang, I don’t want to go to sleep or wait till tomorrow to play. You want to go play another game right away but sadly that was not the case. We had to go shower and then fuel up for championship Sunday. I was covered in sand so I wanted to get in the shower ASAP so I called upon my mom to see about making a quick pit stop into Publix to which she said absolutely. Remember when I said she is not as efficient as Mrs. Tricia… she was sent on the Publix mission at the same time I left the venue. This meant that I had to walk to the hotel which is about an 8min walk then take a shower which takes a little bit of time to scrub sand off (say 20min). I figured by the time I got out my mom would be somewhat close to the hotel with the much-needed food I asked for. After another 10-15 minutes, I called her about 3 times… no answer. So, at this point I am getting a little concerned. Something must have happened. Did someone take her? Another 10 minutes go by and still nothing. Finally, she walks through the hotel room door, but she is wheeling in a freaking Publix cart (or court to some people ha). She had to purchase a case of beer for the group and didn’t want to carry it. And this is why she is Mrs. Social. (p.s. she got yelled at later on about having the Publix cart on hotel property). Anyway, that night I knew I needed to carb up again, so I decided to hit the same spot as Thursday night, Antico. It was just too good not to go back a second time. After dinner with my parents and the Uzee’s, I made my way back to the hotel room for some nice chill time to watch the Food Network knowing that Sunday was going to be an early morning.
I woke up Sunday feeling a little groggy which is never fun to wake up to especially on a day when you are trying to complete for a championship. My plan was to use caffeine to really wake me up and get going but unfortunately the Atlanta Midtown coffee shops had other plans. Mrs. Tricia tried to hit the coffee shop across the street from our hotel… closed on Sundays. She walked a little way to the Starbucks that said it opened at 8am… the morning worker was going to be late so they could not serve anything till 9am. Caffeine just wasn’t meant to be. However, when the whistle blew none of that mattered. That same feeling from the previous night was back. I was locked in and wanted to punch us a ticket to the finals.
Photo By: Stephen Fitzgerald
What a crew :)
The finals match was a quick turnaround so as soon as the game was over, we tried to book it to the hotel room with Drew trying to express to fans that we needed to get going. We again tasked our moms with a pub sub order and a coffee order to which they both delivered very swiftly (Audrey with some redemption). Again, we are spoiled and VERY VERY thankful for our moms. Sorry for talking trash about you mom, but hey it’s a two-way street… side note – after our match against Zana/Kraft the only question my mom asked me was, “so why did you hit that one ball that wide out of the court? Were you trying to do that?” And that is typically how most post-match talks with Audrey Nuss goes.
Except when you win in dominating fashion, then she will give you the, “I am just so very proud of you two.” And that’s what we got Sunday afternoon, so I would say that means it was a successful weekend.
By: Kristen Nuss
