November 28, 2014

Kristina's Khronicles: November 28, 2014

My apologies for the late update! Sad news is, this is my last Khronicle of the season, good news is, we had a beautiful journey as a team all the way from August to November.

In August, we moved in two weeks before the official move in date of Carson-Newman. We had many different emotions surging through our heads: excitement, homesickness, anxiousness, and frustration that we were there before any other team on campus. But I think it's safe to say it paid off. When we flew cross country to San Francisco we got our first taste of success and a glimpse of what we could achieve together. Moving into conference play, it all became real and we saw the sacrifices we made over summer and the hard work from spring season pay off! With each loss we took, we came back stronger. We were like boxers who took a left hook right to the kisser and came back swinging full force! Whether we chalked up a W or an L, we saw ourselves growing closer and closer to reaching the goals coach set for us this season.

1. Finish top 3 of our conference
2. Beat Wingate
3. Make the NCAA Tournament.

And voila we accomplished all three! I shouldn't say it like it was a magic trick though. We soared to new heights this year because of the group of girls God blessed our season with. Day in and day out we pushed each other and held the girl next to us accountable for what we did on and off the court. Not a day went by when we weren't thinking about the next opportunity we would get to lace up our game day shoes!

When we found out we got into the NCAA tournament, it was like the icing on the cake to our season. We got the opportunity to be treated like princesses! We did everything together from last Wednesday through Saturday morning. We saw the new Hunger Games movie, went to Olive Garden and had movie nights in the hotel conference room. All of these are pretty normal things, but when you are with 14 of your best friends, every minute is eventful and memorable. Did I mention we ate at a Brazilian Steakhouse? I know I didn't, but I thought it deserved its own sentence. As we strolled up to the restaurant in Asheville on Wednesday night, we quickly made the observation that we were underdressed. All of the other families and businessmen were in collared shirts and there we were in our warmup pants and Nike zip-ups. But nothing was coming between us and those juicy steaks. We had little to no experience in those kinds of places so the waitress explained to us that the waiters walk around with different selections of meat (ex; prime rip, pork loin, filet mignon, chicken wrapped in bacon and so much more I hope your mouth is watering) and we could pick and choose what kinds and what parts of meat we wanted. On the tables in front of us, there was a circle shaped card with a green side and a red side. When the green face was showing, that meant we want to continue getting served, but if the red was up, that meant we were finished. I am pretty sure we all died and went to heaven that night. There was a point where most everyone at our table was finished, but nope, not Kiayna, she was going strong and kept that red circle faced up for all of us when we were all holding our stomach's. Now that is taking one for the team. Coach let us each get our own dessert that night. I'm pretty sure the bill was ungodly, but that night we ate like queens.

The first day of the regional tournament was so thrilling! We all came in focused on beating the No. 3 seed and continuing our season onto the next round. As a program we studied up and watched game film so we would know them inside and out and nothing could surprise us on that court. Little did we know we would sweep them! That match turned out to be one of my favorites of the year. I felt truly unstoppable with the girls to my right and left. They had some great players but we matched them point for point with our momentum and passion. The second game was freaking ridiculous. We were down 9-21 and I remember Kristen saying, "Okay now we play for each other. So you play for her and you play for her". From that moment on, USC Aiken had no chance. Nothing beats that comeback feeling!! We took that game 29-27 because we became relentless, fighting for our seniors and our season. Unfortunately, the next opponent we faced, beat us. The Eagles placed top 32 in the country, which is the farthest level our program had reached in the NCAA tournament.

Our overall record was 27-7 and 20-2 in conference. This was the most successful season in Carson-Newman History. It's hard to explain the feeling of accomplishment I feel from just being a part of this team. Our record breaking, top 10-team-beating, award winning team of sisters is something we might only get the privilege of experiencing once in a life time, but one thing is for sure this was a cornerstone year for the Carson-Newman Volleyball program. We had seniors who showed amazing leadership that were complimented by underclassmen who were willing to follow. It seems so simple, but it's so rare, and it all started in just back in August. Looking back on all we have achieved, I can do nothing but praise God for joy he has given me and my team through this journey. I wouldn't trade a single girl on my team for any one of Wingate's or the No. 1 team in the nation for that matter. This season is something we will store in our memory banks forever! Locked in a box and sealed with the blood sweat and tears we shed together.

I want to thank you on behalf of my team for supporting us through every jump, dive, and swing of the season. Everywhere we traveled, we left knowing we had an army of supporters praying and cheering for us either back home or awaiting us in the next gym. We couldn't have done it without you! Thanks a million and hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!! Hopefully you feel as stuffed as we were leaving the Brazilian Steakhouse.

'Till Next time!

Thanks for reading,

Kristina (Tina) Hill

God Bless!

Throughout the 2014 volleyball season, junior libero Kristina Hill (Lake Orion, Mich.) will write about her experiences at Carson-Newman. A new installment will be released each Monday afternoon.

- CN -