Day 4: Seeing Truman Volleyball

Before I begin the story of the bus ride home, I would like to apologize for not updating this morning about Wackerman's progress. Right after breakfast, we had to board the bus. Sorry about that.

Anyways, Wackerman said she was doing much better. Apparently, she just had an ear infection. She had a cotton ball in her left ear, but she seemed to be in good spirits. Skoch said she should be ready for Thursday, along with Walter.

The bus ride home was uneventful. No near head-on collisions, no flat tires. It was just 13 hours of driving. Granted, we did watch "10 things I hate about you," though there was no "She's all that."

The 13 hours actually allowed me to talk with several of the players, though. Junior Christine Wagener was the first on my list.

Wagener has been playing regularly as setter since her sophomore year. Next year, the team will look to her, along with Sarah Shearman, Kelsey Wackerman and Alex Baker, to take the reins.

"I think it's going to be a group thing," Wagener said with regards to leadership next season. "I don't see just one of us individually stepping up. In a way, I don't think we need it, as long as we all can get together. That's how it's been in the past."

Wagener, if nothing else, will bring a sense of joy to her leadership position next year.

"I like to smile," she said. "I used to get yelled at for smiling. I couldn't help it."

After a quick stop at McDonald's, senior Megan Remley told me she's going to miss going on trips with the team.

"It's so much fun to be around the girls," she said.

Remley, who wants to teach physical wellness after she graduates, is the silent leader of the seniors.

"I'm pretty quiet," she said. "Most of the time, I like to sit back and take it all in."

This is in sharp contrast to seniors Tiffany Graham and Melanie Jones, who have been playing volleyball with each other since their club days in high school.

"We bring spunk to the team," Graham said.

For the two friends, however, things weren't always so smooth.

"We actually tried not to be friends," Jones said.

Now, they both share the same tattoo. They also hope to form a club team in the future.

The bus ride home was almost over, so I asked Skoch about this weekend.

"The roller coaster is still there as far as focus and intensity" he said. "For every good thing that happened this weekend, there was just something that was not good."

Skoch, however, said he still believes his team has the ability to be the best team in the region.

"If they chose to play volleyball for the whole 30 points, we easily can win conference."

At 9 p.m., we arrived back in Kirksville. About 30 minutes prior, Skoch sat with his team and talked about the weekend. Most of his comments were positive, getting the team psyched up for Thursday's second-round conference championship match.

"Do you guys think you can win?"

All of the team responded, "yes."

This weekend, I got to see every part of Truman volleyball. I got to see the team win a well-played match. I got to see the team deal with injuries. I got to see the team attempt to recover from a sloppy contest. I got to see the team goof around. I got to see the team focused.

I got to see what Truman volleyball really is. I hope the blog served as my eyes, and I hope you got to see most of what I saw.