Sensational Sophomores

Hello followers!

Today marks the next installment of our fall blog. With our season in full-swing and classes having started, hear from our sophomores who are now seasoned veterans of Dartmouth. Enjoy!


The volleyball team has been on campus since August 18th. With a schedule consisting only of eating, sleeping, and playing volleyball for a month, it’s hard to swing into gear for classes, which finally started on September 21st. Our team represents a variety of majors including biology, engineering, psychology, English, and government, and this term we are collectively taking courses in a number departments such as African American studies, sociology, and earth sciences. Personally, I am on the pre-med track, so this term I am taking Biology 12- Cell Structure and Function. I also am taking a course in the philosophy department (Reason and Argument) and one in the Women and Gender Studies department (Sex, Gender, and Society) to get some distribs (distributive class requirements) out of the way.
BUT the most exciting part of classes starting this fall is that Ivies are also starting! This weekend we played Harvard and won in an exciting 5 game match. We play Penn and Princeton next week, so we are really excited to get two more wins on the road at the start of our season! Go Big Green!
- Rose Dicovitsky '14

I believe that one of the greatest challenges for a student athlete at Dartmouth is developing a strong sense of focus on the task at hand. During preseason, all we are responsible for is playing volleyball. All we need to focus on is becoming stronger, better players. However, once the term begins, life becomes much more complex. There are classes to attend, friends to see, and work to finish. In a single day, aside from volleyball, I may have three or more hours of class as well as any daily errands, meetings with professors, extracurricular activities, or time that I have to spend in the library. Sometimes I am rushing around doing so many things that I barely have any time to breathe. Yet I know that as soon as practice time comes, that is all I can focus on. When I step into the locker room, all the other aspects of my life fall away, and I am just a volleyball player once more. In the gym, I do not think about what homework I need to finish or what test I need to study for. I only think about what I can do to better myself and better my team. This concentration is a skill that I believe directly results from being a student athlete and that will greatly benefit me in my future endeavors.
- Meghan Cooney '14

THE LODJ
It’s a motel from the ‘60s. It’s off-campus. The Lodge (or the LODJ as we affectionately call it) is not the most sought after upperclassman housing, but it has character, and for that its inmates, I mean residents, love it. My roommate, Rose Dicovitsky, and I find lots of ways to keep occupied in the LODJ when we’re not playing volleyball or studying for our Women’s and Gender Studies class. I’ve recently discovered the TV show Dexter, which is a new obsession. Even though he’s killed and dismembered dozens of people, I’d still probably marry him because he’s a nice serial killer and has some rockin’ abs. Rose and I also do fun arts and crafts. We painted wooden letters of our initials to put above our beds so we don’t get confused when we come home late at night from away games. The other night, Rose and I started an invite only two-person dance party. When that got old (which was pretty fast) we decided to film a documentary of our lives in the LODJ. We predict an Oscar in our future. We joke about the LODJ, but all in all, it is what you make of it. We also get our own full bathroom, shower and all! Not too shabby if you ask me. See ya Mid Faye[rweather dorm].
- Vivian Snider

Classes have started, and it’s time to be the student part of student-athlete. In a matter of a few days, things go from your life revolving 100% around volleyball, to having to buy over-priced textbooks and getting to class on time. While things can get pretty hectic, fall term is still one of the best. The campus is beyond beautiful, all the leaves are changing and it’s getting cooler outside. But the very best thing about fall term starting is that we are finally into the Ivy part of our season. All the hard work that we put in the past year – trudging through the snow to winter lifts, waking up early in the spring for sprinting, working hard all summer – is finally getting put to use. We played our first game away against Harvard. Playing in the Ivy League can be a battle, the teams are all fairly even and every point counts. Against Harvard we played 5 tough, tough games. It was a scramble for every point, but we pulled it out in the end, coming home with the W. Focusing on the little things, even when classes make life difficult, is making us better every day. All of the work we’ve done motivates me to keep pushing a little harder, no matter how tired I am. Fall term can be a stressful 10 weeks with so much going on, but keeping my mind on the goal (that ivy ring) reminds me to keep pushing through, keep remembering the little things, and keep going strong.
- Elisa Scudder '14

And We're Off!

Greetings readers! This Fall we've decided to split up our blog entries by class. Every few weeks you will hear from a different class about what is going on in their worlds and in the world of Dartmouth Volleyball. First up, we have the Juniors!

When I walked into my first volleyball workout at the beginning of this summer, I was so nervous that I could barely talk. Seriously, Alissa probably thought there was something wrong with the ’13 who had decided to switch from basketball to volleyball. So, needless to say, there were some butterflies in my stomach on August 18th when the rest of the team joined us here in Hanover. I didn’t have too much time to worry, though, because we started right in on volleyball and workouts. After meetings and an impact test on our first day, we all woke up bright and early and got to show off all the work we had done over the summer by running the fitness test. Once we finished, we jumped right into those lovely preseason two-a-days, accented with lifts and yoga sessions. We even squeezed in a team photo shoot, during which Alissa and I established the 13’s as the class with by far the most swag. Between all of that and the fact that Alissa and I were still in classes, my days felt pretty jam packed. Without realizing it, however, the fast pace at which my life was moving was actually preventing me from being affected by all those nervous thoughts. I didn’t have time to feel anxious! Before I knew it, I began to feel like a part of the amazing and tight knit group that is Dartmouth Women’s Volleyball. All the girls and coaches are so welcoming and caring, and they all made my first preseason unforgettable. I can’t wait for the rest of our season and to see what we all can accomplish together!

- Kylie Kufeld '13

'13 swag:

This past weekend, September 2nd and 3rd, we played our opening tournament at Bucknell. First tournaments provide just a taste of what is in store for the rest of the season. It’s a great chance to see how your team’s offensive and defensive systems match up against other teams.
After 2 and a half weeks of team practices, I was really looking forward to this tournament and excited to see a new opponent on the other side of the net. On Thursday morning, we started off the 7, questionably 8-hour bus ride watching the classic series, Friday Night Lights (season 5). After about three hours into the bus ride, we bombarded a Chipotle for a nice team lunch somewhere in Connecticut. After a few more hours on the road, we finally made it to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (which I discovered a few years ago is neighbored by Amish towns). We woke up Friday morning to prepare for our match later that day against Manhattan. We had a short team practice in the morning and went over film and a scouting report on our opponents.
When it was game time, we came out strong. Our nerves were calmed by our confidence in our preparation. We swept Manhattan in three games! It was an exciting start! Our momentum carried over to the next day, and we recorded two more victories over Fordham and Bucknell. We didn’t drop a single game all weekend! We left the Bucknell campus as tournament champions. Yannis (Annie Villanueva) and Scuddle (Elisa Scudder) were named to the all-tournament team. It looked like it was going to be a smooth bus ride back to Hanover. Boy, was that assumption wrong.
It was all giggles and smiles, until….our bus decided to struggle: THE STRUGGLE BUS. The power went out about one hour into our trip and we were stuck somewhere in Pennsylvania. We coasted at a bicycle pace until we got off the freeway and pulled into a gas station. We were stranded there for a few hours waiting for a new bus to arrive so Kendall and I decided to enjoy a nice 11pm breakfast at Twin Rocks Diner. We were joined by several other teammates and later by our assistant coaches. Besides being a tad frustrating, this whole dying bus situation turned out to be a great opportunity for a little forced team bonding. You really get to know people’s goofy sides when it’s some unreasonable hour and you're sitting at a diner in the middle of nowhere. Finally our new bus arrived and we made it back to Hanover by real breakfast time. All in all, it was a pretty funny situation and a good story to tell; besides this little mishap couldn’t have happened at a better time.
Aside from the drawn out journey back to campus, bringing home 3 Ws was a great way to start out the season, but the most exciting part about this past weekend was realizing the potential of how great we can be if we keep putting in work and continue to prepare with intensity. We saw the '15s off on their DOC trips and the rest of us are back, getting after it in the gym, preparing for our big weekend at West Point.

- Alissa Santa Maria '13

Twin Rocks Diner:

"...and the granite of New Hampshire is made part of them till death..."

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind! I left Dartmouth a few weeks earlier than my classmates to head to Houston, TX and start training to be a teacher with Teach for America. Flying back for graduation weekend was an emotional and bittersweet experience, and it felt sort of surreal saying my official goodbyes to Dartmouth. But luckily, I've been distracted by a busy schedule and haven't had much time to be sad about leaving my friends and my home for the past 4 years. This summer has been an incredible experience for me, and I've already learned so much and met so many new and wonderful people. Next week I'll be moving to Fort Worth, TX, and beginning in August I'll be teaching 10th grade Chemistry and assistant coaching the women's volleyball team at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School! I'm so excited to be doing what I'm doing, and even though I'll miss Dartmouth, I love knowing that the experiences I had there are benefiting me every new place I go.

- Jessie Hartman '11

The Dartmouth Volleyball Family would like to wish the class of 2011 the best of luck with their future endeavors!!! Congratulations Jessie and Kelsey!

Back in the States!

After five and a half months of 90 degree weather and lots of Pad Thai, I arrived back at Dartmouth on the Thursday of Green Key. The first place I went on campus was Floren for an early morning reunion with my teammates. It was so good to see everyone. Later that day I was already suited up and in the gym dusting off some of the rust with our new coaches.
Being back on campus was amazing. You really don’t realize how much you miss Dartmouth until you’re gone. What also amazed me was how easy it was to come back to the people at Dartmouth and feel like I haven’t missed a beat. I think since it is a common thing for Dartmouth students to be off for a term or even abroad, it is easy for people to relate to how you are feeling when you come back and it really eases the culture shock. The welcome back to Dartmouth was more than I could ever ask for.
After two individuals and observing a lift and participating in one, it was very evident that the team has worked extremely hard this term, harder than I’ve ever seen in my past two spring seasons. I was also incredibly impressed with the new coaches and all of it makes me so excited to get back to Dartmouth next August (August 17th to be exact).
Now I am back at home and enjoying the time I am able to spend with my family before I fly out to California to start my summer internship with a pharmaceutical/biotech company. Luckily, this summer I won’t be far from a few of our incoming freshmen and hopefully I will be able to visit Annie and Kendall since they will also be on the west coast. I can’t wait to get back into a routine of working and working out and really getting ready for next season.

- Amber Bryant '12

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

It’s finally here: the end of my freshman year. It seems like it has flown by, but I have so many amazing memories. All of my friends from home repeatedly ask, “How do you like Dartmouth?” and I only have one answer: “I absolutely love it!” So now that the year is coming to a close, I have been reflecting on some of my favorite memories from each term.

Fall: My first term was pretty busy because we were in season. We traveled almost every weekend, so we spent a lot of time together as a team. Some of my favorite memories from fall term were on the bus. A few of our bus rides were pretty long, so our team started watching the Friday Night Lights television series. We would all (even our coaches) get really into it and yell at the characters. We even started looking forward to bus rides because we were excited to watch the show.

Winter: Winter in New Hampshire was a completely new concept for me because at home, it doesn’t get below 45 degrees. Elisa and Vivian started laughing at me the first day it snowed because I was so excited. My favorite day in the winter was when we went iceskating! Elisa, Vivian, and I went to Occom Pond with some friends, and we rented skates. We spent all afternoon skating around the pond (I struggled a little bit) and watching some students play pick-up games of ice hockey.

Spring: Now that the weather is starting to warm up, everyone is taking advantage of being outside. It seems like whenever the sun is out, everyone flocks to the Green. On this past Thursday, it was sunny and 75 degrees. Being from southern California, I miss the sun, so I spent all day outside! After conditioning in the morning, I had breakfast outside Collis with Meghan, Annie, and Alissa. Then while they had class, I did some of my reading on the Green. Eventually Elisa came and joined me, and we took a nap under the sun. We later even took our lunch outside to the Green. In the afternoon, I went to my seminar, and our professor allowed us to sit outside for class. I’m happy to say that my arms and legs got a little darker that day (even though they still look pretty pale from being covered up all winter). Hopefully summer will take care of that!

- Rose Dicovitsky '14

Bday with the Besties

Tuesday, May 3rd, was my birthday: turned the big two zero. Yes, believe it, I made it through those teenage years. As every college student comes to realize sooner or later, spending a birthday away from your family can be tough- missing the overwhelming love and birthday dinner traditions. (I heard Annie’s family even shoves a little cake in her face on her birthday every year.) However, being able to spend this day with my team, who has undoubtedly become my second family/best friends made it an extra special one. Celebrating with this group of girls was more than I could’ve asked for.
On the day of my birthday, I walked into the locker room to see my locker decorated with streamers and stuffed full of balloons, not to mention my picture of dreamy Ricky Rubio was even touched up with a little graffiti. After practice, the entire team took me to my favorite restaurant in Hanover, yummy Yama, and then we headed to the Collis porch for a little Lou’s chocolate cake and some public birthday singing. Maddy’s makeshift candles constructed out of wooden coffee stirrers made for some extra excitement. To remember this day, I will always have my birthday card that has Coach Hirsch’s (aka Mayo’s) birthday rap recorded inside.
Having my teammates do all these memorable things for me on my birthday made me realize that sometimes I take the Dartmouth Volleyball team dynamic for granted. I could not name another team on campus that is as close as our team. Maybe it is due to the fact that there are only nine of us, or maybe it is due to the forced, close proximity in our van rides to spring games, or maybe even our unified goal to PTD on the reg (aka regular). Whatever it is has created irreplaceable friendships and bonds that I treasure. Everyday, I look forward to the locker room dancing, the trash talking through the net and the (not always) friendly competitions in the weight room just as much as I look forward to the life updates over impromptu Collis dinners, the team blitzes of whatever youtube video is making Vivian laugh at the time, the continuous facebook pokes from Kendall, and the occasional texts from Annie asking me to do little favors for her “on my way to the weight room” (which are really starting to add up). All these little nuances, on and off the court, make our team dynamic so special. We know each other so well that it can get a little creepy at times. Occasionally, outsiders even question the way we interact sometimes.
All in all, I want to say thanks to the team for making my 20th birthday a memorable one, but more importantly thanks for being my teammates and best friends. Like Drizzy Drake says, “Man I love my team and I love my team. I would PTDie for them …”

- Alissa Santa Maria '13

Sunshine and Spring

Now that we’ve finished all of our official spring games, and team practices are coming to a close, the Big Green is moving outdoors – to volleyball on the Green. The men’s club volleyball team has been setting up a net for some outdoor volleyball, and we’ve been all too happy to play against them. It’s finally getting consistently warm, and it’s the perfect sunny spring temperature for some grass volleyball. After a long day of conditioning and lifting, there is no better way to relax and prepare myself for the library than getting some sunshine and playing volleyball.

We even had a guest visitor to our game yesterday – Dartmouth’s president, Jim Yong Kim. We were playing a friendly game of the women’s team verses the men’s team when President Kim walked by, and offered to serve the ball in for us. After giving the men’s team a tough serve (and after winning the point) he high fived all of us and went on his way.

Most other Colleges are getting out of school, but I couldn’t be happier to have more time on campus, and have the chance to really enjoy the New Hampshire spring. I look forward to more outdoor activities, but especially to being on the green with my team.

- Elisa Scudder '14