Aug. 29, 2005

In my experience with volleyball I have played on two kinds of teams. The first being the kind of team that looks good on paper; tall girls, girls that have experience under their belt, you know the kind. These are the kinds of teams that sound great during preseason, and get picked first in the coaches preseason listings. But that is not the kind of team ISU is this year. We are a team that has more heart than height, and that will be working for us this year. Many teams that do well in this conference hit hard and get kills often. Thanks to our developing defense, those big hitters won't be as difficult to deal with. With our focus on defending this year, our heart will come to bat for us big time.

In our first game this last week we showed off a lot of that heart. The game was full of great surprises. With Zoe (Beltz)(#6) getting some sweet kills from the middle, Bri (Beal) #16 flying all over the court both on defense and offence, and Felice (Yocopis) #15 passing more nails than you'd find at home depot, our team decided to show just a little preview of what the Big Sky will have to contend with. As I have said before, I am absolutely honored to play with these girls. Every last one of them shows more heart on the court than any coach could ask for. And we all love each other so much that we could do nothing less than our best for one another on the court.

There is a fine line between teammates and friends, this year that line has been crossed. The lady bengals share a connection that we could not be happier about. Keep up the good work sisters, I love you all.

See you in Reed.... You bring the noise, we'll bring the fire.... Nikki Havens

may all your days be more beautiful than the last....