DVB takes Spring!

The snow has melted! The Green is green again, and students are outside throwing frisbees and studying in the sunshine. I couldn’t be happier to see the sun, but experiencing a real winter for the first time was great too.

As Lottie mentioned, about half of our team came back a couple weeks ago from being off last term. Hearing about their experiences abroad has been amazing—it’s made me so excited for this summer, when Holly (one of the ‘15s) and I will be studying in Santander, Spain. We’ll be taking three Spanish courses and living with a host family, but we’ll also have time to explore the country. Luckily we’ll be able to work out together and make sure we’re prepared to head straight back to preseason in August.

Classes this term have started picking up. Most of us have midterms this week, so we’re all busy studying. With the beautiful weather, it’s hard not to ditch the books and go hang out on the Green, but we’re managing to balance everything. There are a ton of outdoor spring sports, so it’s always fun to head to the fields to support all of our teams.

Despite the beautiful weather and busy class schedule, we have definitely not been slacking on the volleyball front. In addition to our team practices, we condition and lift every week. We tested last week (we ran the sprint test and maxed at lift), so now we’re ready to increase our numbers and keep working.

The past two weeks were spent preparing for our first spring season tournament, which was this past Sunday. Before heading over to the gym to play in the morning, we had our team banquet at the Hanover Inn. It was bittersweet; we got to celebrate our season, but we also had to say goodbye to our two seniors. Both of them had a huge impact on our team both on and off the court, so it will be sad to see them go.

Almost all of our parents came up for the banquet and the tournament, so we had plenty of dedicated fans at our games. It was so fun to finally compete again! We all worked hard throughout last term and the beginning of this one, but this was the first time that we really had a chance to show how much we’ve improved.

Because we have a big team, we broke up into two groups to play. After playing the other schools at the tournament, the two DVB teams played each other. We ended up splitting, but just seeing the level of competition and drive throughout the game was great. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the spring brings!  

Getting back into the Swing of Things

After spending the past three months in South America and then abruptly returning back to Hanover, I have come to realize Dartmouth offers the most incredible and unique opportunities for its students. One minute I was putting on sunscreen before walking to bus stop and then subway station to make it to the university in Buenos Aires and a week later I'm putting on my sweater, scarf, gloves, ear muffs and winter coat for my three minute walk to class at Dartmouth. Being away for so long made me miss Dartmouth-- the atmosphere, the people, the volleyball, the weekends, and the english language. I really missed my Psychology courses after taking three classes all taught in 100% spanish. The biggest adjustments I had to make in Buenos Aires was having to take multiple forms of public transportation every day (coming from a small southern town and Hanover doesn't exactly prepare you for that), standing out like a sore thumb (being taller than 5' 3" and blonde was equivalent to being an alien), and the lack of efficiency. In Buenos Aires, you had to jump up and down and wave your arms around to get the attention of the waiters and nothing was open before 10 or 11 AM except for Starbucks and McDonalds. 

Going to sporting events at Dartmouth and going to sporting events in Buenos Aires was also night and day. For example, today I went with a couple other DVB girls to the baseball game. We calmly sat and chatted and occasionally  shouted "Woo Hoo" whenever someone hit the ball. When we went to go grab a hot dog, we all left our backpacks on our seats with our laptops and cellphones in them. But when a group of the students and I went to the River Plate soccer game in Buenos Aires, they have several check points where security guards patted you down and kept you in separate sections like herds of cattle. I have never seen so much security in one setting. In the stadium, they had metal fences all around the seating with barbed wire on top so the fans couldn't get on the field-- I felt like I was at the game in The Longest Yard surrounded by thousands of convicts. Apparently, at the end of the game, nobody is allowed to leave the stadium until the opposing team has boarded their buses and departed because there have been a couple of instances where the fans tried to kill the players. Luckily I learned this after I had already survived the game. 

Eating dinner was also a very different experience compared to at Dartmouth. In Buenos Aires, I would sit down with my host mother and sister at around 9:30 PM (or 21:30 as they would say) for dinner. A typical meal consisted of milanesa (thin fried steak basically) and potatoes and cantaloupe for dessert. We would finish eating around 10 but then sit at the dinner table until 11:30 or 12 just talking (this custom is referred to as "sobremesa"). Here at Dartmouth, the team usually heads to Foco around 6 pm and then we are out of there at the lastest by 7. I must admit, I miss the laid back atmosphere at times, just shootin' the breeze and unwinding for three or so hours, but at Dartmouth you don't exactly have the time to do that. 

Seeing my teammates for the first time once we all got back on campus gave me indescribable happiness. We literally all screamed and jumped around like 5 year olds for a solid 10 minutes, which I'm sure those around us really appreciated. Its crazy how being away for so long made no impact on the relationships with all my girlies :) Glad to be back with the people I love. ¡Chau!

DVB . . . .Assemble!

       

         A slightly tanner (or in my case, more sunburned) Dartmouth Volleyball returned for spring term from various adventures around the world. We heralded from Orlando, Buenos Aries, Barcelona, Texas, and San Francisco; eager to delve into new classes and prepare for spring tournaments.

          Our first night back together on campus, the 16s celebrated Kaira’s 20^th birthday and then met up with the 17s to tell us all about their LSAs. Language Study Abroad terms, or LSAs allow students to totally immerse themselves in a foreign language through homestays and classes in a foreign country. Our 16s spent time in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Barcelona, Spain improving their Spanish and gleaning an invaluable, first-hand look into South American and Spanish culture. They gushed about their host families, great food, and funny run-ins with the language barrier.

           

             Dartmouth Volleyball is unique because we are allowed to take off-campus terms. Most D-1 programs deprive their athletes of that opportunity in exchange for more reps in the gym. While visiting a foreign country may not improve our hitting percentage, it has the potential to make us better people. Allowing athletes to go abroad speaks volumes to the value placed by the Dartmouth Volleyball program on our well roundedness as people and athletes. The 17s are applying to abroad programs in Barcelona, Argentina, France, and India. Personally, I am extremely excited to go abroad (assuming I get into the program), but I’m really going to miss the team next winter.

              We could have listened to the 16s talk about their LSA adventures for hours, but eventually we returned to our dorms to prepare for the first day of classes. Many 17s are taking their first language courses at Dartmouth in preparation for their LSAs next winter. Kaira and Emily Astarita geared up for Physics 14, a course about electromagnetism that frankly, gives me a headache just to think about. Holly and Maura are taking a class about Russian theater and both have roles in a Russian play at the end of the term. As a whole, DVB girls are spread throughout a variety of academic disciplines. When we do homework together, the tables are covered in readings with topics ranging from psychology to econ and chemistry to Latin.

            This term, I am taking Intro to Judaism, Intro to Archeology and my freshman seminar about letters written by Beethoven and Mozart. Having never taken a music class at Dartmouth, I was apprehensive about my seminar selection. With the professor’s help I’ve been able to keep up despite my musical illiteracy. Archaeology so far is my favorite class because I’m a huge nerd about old stuff. We are learning about dating methods, mapping the dig site, and different archaeological discoveries around the world… I’m in heaven! To make the academic part of the term even better, my classes only fall on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which has been lovely.

           

           After the first few days of class, we started spring season practices. The spring practice load falls somewhere between that of fall and winter. We have conditioning, lift, individual/small group practice and 10 whole-team practices. Later in the term, we will have two tournaments-- one in Albany and one at home. Spring season emphasizes a return to game speed after a slower, more tactically focused winter season. With help from the specialists at Dartmouth Peak Performance, we are continuing to work on goal setting and mental toughness.

            Looking forward, we are excited to use this term to improve on the court, kill it in the classroom and make more great memories with each other… some warmer weather will be nice too…!

Lottie MacAulay ‘17

Hola de España

March 10, 2014

Hola de España! With less than a week left of our term abroad, we are doing all we can to see, taste and live Barcelona. What an incredible opportunity we've been given! It has been the trip of a lifetime.

We have experienced much since Katie's blog. We've had the opportunity to see some of the famous architecture of Antoni Gaudí, like La Sagrada Familia, which was the most beautiful place I've ever been.

The intention for this basilica was for it to appear as a rainforest inside and Gaudí achieved this and more. I have never seen anything like it before. I am rendered speechless by how his buildings appear to be moving, like waves especially with La Pedrera. 

Next, a visit to Monserrat! It is a mountain in Spain famous for its incredible view, and yes it was breathtakingly beautiful. 

After we explored for the afternoon and took lots of pictures, we drove to Freixenet, a well-known vineyard that specializes in cava, the "champagne of Spain". We toured the facility and learned about the entire production process (in Spanish of course) and it was very interesting!

It's incredible all of the fun and historic excursions that the Dartmouth program offers us. We always ask, "Are we really in school?" The answer is a definite yes. I have never learned so much in three months in my life. At the end of the tour we got a free tasting of the cava!

This weekend my parents came to visit and I showed them the beautiful city that has been my home for the past three months. 

They fell in love with it like I did! We went to dinner with my loving and hilarious host mom, Carmen, and I translated the entire conversation. 

I am amazed with how my Spanish has improved and I am determined to continue. This has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have met so many friends and made the best memories. I will miss it greatly. ¡Hasta pronto Barcelona!

Alli Brady '16

The Big Green Family

Winter term is slowly coming to a close and everyone is eager to retreat back to the warmth of their hometowns, which for most of us is a place that never sees temperatures below 40. Until then, Dartmouth Volleyball has decided to use this opportunity of a lax schedule to branch out and support other teams. Our time is often limited to our own sport in season, so when we do have the time, we like to support other fellow student athletes.

            This weekend we all went to the Track and Field Heptagonal Championship. We supported the Big Green as they polevaulted, long jumped, and sprinted their way through the meet. We are lucky that we even had the chance to see the event because it rotates Ivies every year.

I can speak for all the girls when I say it was very interesting to see other student athletes compete doing what they love. We spend so much time focused on our sport to the point that it becomes easy to forget what unites us with other student athletes: the love of our game. It was almost refreshing to see the passion and desire that the track and field team had for their sport. The way they cheered when teammates beat their personal records and meet records was electrifying. They believed in each other and more importantly they believed in Dartmouth. I believe that is why Dartmouth is so special. Despite our different sports or hobbies, the love that people have for this school is unparalleled. Students here thrive on building community, which is why Dartmouth has become a cultivation center for relationships, teamwork, and cooperation.

As we are about to enter into the spring season, which entails much more training than this term, I believe it is good to reflect on why we do this. It is not just for ourselves, but it is for the bigger picture. We want to represent Dartmouth because it is our home. It is where we learn and grow as people. Our team is an extension of campus, which is why we love doing what we do so much. It doesn’t matter how early the lifts are or how hard the conditioning is. At the end of the day, I know when I look to my left and my right that my teammates are there supporting me. Together we work for the common good and most importantly to represent the school we love so much, which is why I’m proud to call myself apart of this college and this team.

Danielle Glinka '17