Our starting point for the first league event was a little different. We were the keynote speakers at the J.P. Morgan Emerging Family Leaders’ Summit in Chicago on Thursday which is why our travel story starts with an Uber Friday morning from our Chicago hotel to MDW. Our driver was a cute older woman who was absolutely jamming in the car. Taryn and I had to hold back some laughter as we were getting a full-on concert.
Our connection in the ATL airport was TIGHT, so we got our workout in the for the day by speed walking through the airport into the lounge. Let me tell you, that is a calf burner. We had to fill up waters, grab a coke 0 and get a little snack which consisted of carrots and black bean dip. We hustled to the gate right as our zone was boarding. The flight was smooth, but our second Uber of the day was not. Due to traffic, it was going to take us 40 minutes to go 17 miles to our hotel. We decided on our dinner spot and even what we were going to order since we were ravenous while in the car. We were about 2 minutes away from the hotel when our Uber driver decided to get in the turn lane without looking over his shoulder. With Taryn clenching everything, we encountered a nice like bump from another car. Our driver was in the wrong, but he got out the car and started yelling at the younger male driver. In the meantime, Taryn and I just sat in the car watching this whole situation unsure of what to do. Thankfully, they agreed to finish the conversation right in front of our hotel so we could get out, check in and head to our chosen dinner spot a 5-minute walk away.
We of course decided to split two options for dinner: roasted chicken wrap & Autumn bowl. After, we hit the nearby Winn Dixie for my Sprite 0 craving and purchased some fruit for snacking. When returning to the hotel, we picked up our evamor water from the front desk which is so nice. (Shoutout to evamor for shipping to everywhere we go!!) Before bed, we had to finalize and print our clinic plan for the following day and look up some handshakes for our Austin team.
Saturday morning came quick, but our plan was in motion. I head straight to La Boulangerie Boul’Mich to order breakfast and Taryn heads to Pura Vida for coffee and then meets me. Everything was in order until Taryn walks into the café looking frazzled, and coffee is sprayed all over the to-go cups. She proceeds to tell me when making the sketchy walk down the back-alley area that a man was following her in a car and staring to her while he drove past slowly, so she just started running.
We strolled into the clinic and were greeted by a volleyball tunnel which was a first for us. The great 2-hour clinic was capped off with a sweet couple from the Ukraine gifting Taryn and I with some sweet treats from a nearby Ukrainian bakery since they knew I like food. Dave, the club director who setup the clinic, drove us back to the hotel but of course we had to stop on the way at a Publix for a pub sub, coke 0, and fruit which he so graciously let us devour in the car.
When retuning to the room, I was immediately greeted with goosebumps due to my drenched clothes from the clinic, but Taryn was up first for the shower which gave me the opportunity to try all four treats. My favorite was medovik which is a honey cake. Weird because I am not even a huge honey fan, but it was delicious. The layers… unreal. Look it up.
Before Team Austin all Ubered to the venue together, we set up a time to practice our handshakes. We wanted to be different from the other teams and we were fully embracing the team dynamic. We even had shirts made to show our alliance with Billy and Paul. Do you get the shirts?
After grabbing some food and Bobby, the CEO, having a little intro chat with all the players, it was time for warmups. Having the first match was nice since we would be able to fully use the court as opposed to finding a spot off the court to do so. To be honest, I was nervous for that first set for a couple reasons. 1) It was the first league event so just something new 2) Based on seedings, we had to win that since our men’s team was going up against the top men’s team seeding wise 3) we are not only playing for us but for Billy and Paul too.
We did not come out clean in that first match but decided in both sets down 13-10 that it was time to turn it on. We luckily came out unscathed and put up the first win for the Austin Aces. The rest of the night consisted of rooting for our men’s team which was a lot of fun and then mingling with fans in attendance.
Day 2 – I slept till 9am which showed I was exhausted. Taryn even made it to 8:30 which is just crazy for her. We stayed relaxing in bed until our stomachs told us to get up around 10 and then we were off to Pura Vida for coffee and breakfast with my parents joining.
Chauffeur George Nuss dropped us off at the courts where lunch was provided. We were slated for the second dual of the day, so we were in no rush for warmups. I of course set up shop in the player lounge to catch the beginning of the Saints game. Trevor and Paul were also invested in the games, so we each had our phones set up watching different ones. I take the blame for the Saints L since I only got to watch the 1st quarter before I had to get some treatment and warmup Billy and Paul for their match against Trevor and Theo.
We were cheering heavily for our men while also trying to warmup and prepare for our match shortly after their conclusion. The adrenaline from watching their back-and-forth battle had me fired up so a lot of warming up was not needed. The A-team otherwise known as April Ross & Alix Klineman otherwise known as gold medalists were our opponents and we were 0-3 against them. That changed on Sunday as we were rolling and started stronger than Saturday which allowed us to put another W on the board for Team Austin.
And that’s a wrap on our league debut. Beach volleyball is heading in the right direction but it’s going to take some work and help. We need people watching and we need people to attend. We know the format is different, but all the players are super excited, so we need all of you to hop on board and help us grow this great game!!!!! See you in Austin Oct. 5-6 :)
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