Season is BACK! - FIVB Year 4

We started off our travels in typical fashion, a delayed flight and then missed the next flight which started the long list of rescheduling. We were boarded on the plane in Baton Rouge and sat in the metal tube as the clouds, darkness, wind, and rain came through. We had to find a new flight, new time to get treatment, etc. Nevertheless, we made it to Mexico. We landed and made the 50-minute drive to the player hotel and as we were standing in line for check in, the power on the entire block went out. We were unable to use the elevator or check in so we dropped our luggage and started walking the streets to get our bearings. Playa del Carmen was full of people, music, restaurants, and endless amounts of tequila. We were told that the Tequila would make us jump higher but I guess we will never know. We were finally able to check in and get some treatment to work through some of the stiffness from the extremely delayed travel!

On Tuesday morning, we scheduled our photoshoot slot with Beach Volleyball World. I was ready first and went up to the shoot and Kristen couldn’t find me, our phones wouldn’t work and it officially set in that international season #4 has begun. We finished up with the pictures and then strolled through the streets to find some breakfast and coffee and then got in the sand for our first practice. We were blowing away in the wind and knew we were going to have to work through some wild elements this week. The ocean tide changed and they were already having to adjust to take out some of the blenchers on the ocean side because the water was too high. After our practice we ran into a big beach volleyball fan that happened to be from Nebraska of all places. She moved to Cancun and gave us an incredible restaurant recommendation. The restaurant employee gave us a warm welcome and walked me through the restaurant arm in arm. When we went to order he would help us say it in Spanish and told us, “No Espanol – no food”. He was very kind throughout out dinner and at the end I went to put on my shoes for the 30-minute walk back and he got on his hands and knees to put on my socks and tennis shoes. Needless to say, when it came around for the tip to be given, we were more than happy to give him a generous one. On our 30-minute walk we heard a lot about my height but the best comment had to be – “Oh my gosh do you play volleyball? Can I please be your cheerleader?”.

Due to the Elite 16 events turning into an Elite 24 team format we now played on Wednesday. The qualifier was earlier that morning and we watched all the games to see who we would be up against and the main draw began! We were waiting around all day, we had a lot of butterflies, excitement, nerves, and lots of emotion. It was the first event of the year and we hadn’t played since December so we were curious to see how we would stack up with our new improvements. Then we walked out for our 7 pm…. Everything went out the window with the blinding lights and the crazy wind. New game plan: just get the ball up! After a 2-set victory against the Finland duo we went to search for the player dinner only to find out that it was on the pier and even more windy than the court and they had no more chicken. Kristen had to stand behind a pole because the wind was so strong it was knocking everything over. We waited for them to grill some more for us to take it to-go and then we got into a taxi to head back to the hotel. As we requested a taxi that night, we were very aware of our surroundings as we were brought into a side street and told to just wait. We have been scarred from the previous Mexico taxi disasters. We sent our location to the USA crew and hopped in and made it safe and sound!

On Thursday we were onto our second game of pool play against the new Swiss pair. Again, with the new format, if you win your first pool play match you are automatically into at least the round of 18. And the round of 18 was where we ended up with a loss to the Swiss duo in the crazy wind on court #2. We gave ourselves until the end of dinner to be upset and then we had to move on to the do or die round on Friday against Brazil.

Friday morning rolled around quickly and I was getting some treatment that morning from all the contortion we had to do in the wind. We walked to get some lunch and took the 1 pm shuttle to arrive at 1:15 for our 2 pm match to stay out of the heat and wind. We had another fun, windball game and we were into the round of 12. As soon as the match ended, we were escorted out the back of the courts and to the hotel to get some rest and most importantly, A/C. We missed the transport van by 9 minutes and we were going to have to wait for 51 minutes but after our 4th year, we learned to just ask. We were given a ride back to the hotel immediately! We were up again at 9 pm, we were typically in bed by that time but we found out that wind picked up as the day goes on. At 9 pm, Ukraine was on the other side of the court and we were in reaction mode with the court lights being very bright. We were unable to see in serve receive or defense until the ball was at the net, both teams would serve right in front of the lights as a tactic because it was impossible to track the ball until it was almost on your platform. After a battle in the night, we were onto the quarterfinals in the first Elite16 event of the year!

Our quarterfinal match on Saturday was on court #2 again, this court was much windier than center which had some blockade. We played some fellow Americans (Quiggle/Loreen) that also made the quick flight down to Mexico. We got absolutely smoked in the first set but then we calibrated to win the second and third. The goal was to just get the ball back over, we were shocked whenever there were three touches on a single side. We made it to championship Sunday, it was just the question of the gold or bronze medal match. In the semifinals we were matched up against the Brazilian pair of Rebecca and Carol – they came out on fire after the fireworks, the dancers the show, and the lengthy introductions. We, on the other hand, were flat and it just wasn’t out game. Obviously, it is never fun to lose but we had to put that game behind us as fast as possible to move onto Sunday.

We love playing on Sundays! We always say it’s a good work weekend when we have to work on Sundays! It was less windy than the previous days, however, that meant that it was blisteringly hot. The TV broadcast did not do the heat and exhaustion of us four justice. We were so overheated and there were so many points where each side would just shove the ball over the net so the other team would have to continue to exert their energy. We did outlast the other American team and walked out of Playa del Carmen with a Leopard trophy and a bronze medal. If you missed the photos, Flat Stanley did indeed make it on the podium too in his first Pro Beach Volleyball tour.

We were absolutely exhausted after the match, the podium, and the extra long week of volleyball. We immediately found guacamole & tacos to round out the last meal of the trip and then we were showered and in bed all packed up for our early morning shuttle to the Cancun airport. It was supposed to be an easy 5-hour travel day, however, with delays it ended up being an 11-hour travel day. Both of us are at ~45%, just tired, sore, and emotionally/physically drained and we are so excited for an off day in Baton Rouge – see you soon Trifecta (the best massage/recovery money can buy)! We have about 5 days to recover and then throw everything back into a suitcase and head to Brazil!

Side note: Being introduced as Taryn Brasher for the first time at an event was so special. I have dreamt my entire life to find someone and share everything with them. I am so happy that I have taken the Brasher name and share that with Eric. We are still TKN (Taryn & Kristen Nuss). Now, when Kristen gets married, we will have some new ideas, but until then TKN is alive, strong, and ready for the 2025 season!