Winning is Everything

by Jessi Greenberg

Well hello again!

As you can imagine I’ve been a tad busy with volleyball and school for the past couple of weeks, so we have a LOT to catch up on. This season has already been a crazy ride, and it’s only just begun. We’ve had plenty of highs and lows, but through them all we’ve only grown closer as a team.

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to play in one of the most well known volleyball gyms in the country, the University of Nebraska. Not only was Nebraska the #1 seed at the time of our match, but playing in front of their sold-out crowd was incredible. The gym was a sea of red, a color that my teammates and I aren’t too fond of. Although we lost in a four sets, it was a great match and one that will always stick out in my mind. Even more amazing than the gym, were the Nebraska fans that we encountered after the match. At least 10 Nebraska fans came up to us in the restaurant and complimented us on how well we played. They were extremely nice people and they really know their volleyball, so we were very glad to earn their respect. Of course, a road trip wouldn’t be complete without having to wake up at 4:30am the next morning to head to the airport in Omaha AND having one of our transportation vans get a speeding ticket along the way. Gotta love it.

The gym in Nebraska, boo all that red!

After an exciting pre-season, we’re now in the midst of SEC play, which can only mean one thing, rivalries. As any University of Kentucky fan knows, Kentucky and Tennessee are HUGE rivals. Since the final point of our victory over Texas A&M last Sunday, the only thing on my mind was beating Tennessee (I’m serious, you should’ve seen my tweets). 

Our game was scheduled for Wednesday, September 26, which also happened to be my 21^st birthday (I’ll be expecting some presents in the mail). So not only did I have the distraction of my birthday to worry about, but I also had two tests and a presentation this week. Oh, the joys of being a student-athlete. Luckily, I was able to budget my time to allow myself to focus on the game Wednesday night, and boy did I focus. In case you missed the game on ESPNU (if you did you should be ashamed of yourself), we swept Tennessee (25-15, 25-21, 25-20) for the first time since 1995. Think about it, that means the last time UK swept UT, the players couldn’t even write about it on Twitter or Facebook! Such a shame.

Man I love these girls!

Anyway, on top of the victory, my mom also got me a huge box of birthday cupcakes. Can you say best birthday ever?! I can. 

Yeah, they taste as good as they look.