While navigating a handful of perils—fish heads, layovers, drooling flight-mates, knockoff designer purses, strange electrical outlets and a lack of Ranch dressing—the Tech volleyball team bonded over a 10-day summer excursion to Europe.
As an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Texas in 2004, Tonya Johnson organized a European trip for the players and coaches that combined training matches with sightseeing. She saw a close team become closer, and Texas went on to have a deep run in the NCAA tournament that season.
“It was one of the first things I wanted to do when I got here,” said Johnson, now Tech’s head volleyball coach.
After raising funds for the trip, the team took off in May (on the last day of finals, no less) for a tour through Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. Johnson slated an intense playing schedule—they practiced almost every day and scrimmage against top European teams—but she also planned activities to bring the Yellow Jackets together.
Her players had to room with a different teammate each night, forcing them to break out of their established friendships.
“I wanted them to interact every day without the distraction of cell phones and boyfriends,” Johnson said. “The volleyball was just the icing on
the cake. They got out of their comfort zones.”
Bailey Hunter, a senior, was pushed out of her comfort zone on the flight over. She shared a row with a man who fell asleep on her shoulder.
“After he was twitching and drooling, I finally had enough and woke him up,” she said. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
The team’s first destination was Split, Croatia, which was a homecoming for Ivona Kolak, a junior who grew up in Croatia.
“Watching Ivona’s family be reunited was a very emotional moment,” said Susan Carlson, a senior. “Getting to see her at home with her family and experiencing a traditional meal really opened my eyes to her culture and where she came from. The worst part was leaving and saying goodbye to her family. It made everyone start crying.”
While in Croatia, the team played against a Croatian professional team and the Split junior national team.
European teams play with a ball that is slightly smaller and heavier than those used in the United States, which makes for a tougher serve, Johnson said. One of the benefits of playing European teams was exposing her players to a slightly different style of play.
Hunter said at first she struggled serving with the different ball. And she wasn’t accustomed to silence across the net.
“[European players] don’t talk at all, which we aren’t used to,” she said. “Here, we’re coached to talk all the time. And they just had big girls who would hit the ball as hard as they can. Defense was not a focus.”
Monique Mead, a senior All-American, said the more experienced European teams used expert shot placement rather than overpowering athleticism.
“They just kill you with their shots,” Mead said. “It showed us that we needed to be developing different assets.”
While in Croatia, the players also became acquainted with the country’s culinary peculiarities. A fish served whole—head included—almost broke
Hunter of her resolve to try everything she was served. The players also bemoaned the lack of Ranch dressing for salads, and once during the trip they snuck off to a McDonald’s.
Their next stop was in Slovenia, where in addition to volleyball they spent a day on a mountainside ropes course doing team-building exercises. Several players fearfully recalled a climb up a telephone pole that shook more violently the higher they climbed.
The tour continued into Italy, where the team visited Venice and Milan. While in Venice, Jen Percy, a junior, recalled stopping during a sprint to catch a train when she saw a street vendor selling Louis Vuitton purses.
Percy haggled with the vendor and came away with the purse for a measly eight Euros. It was only once she was on the train with her teammates that she took a closer look at the name on the bag: “Louvista.”
“Needless to say, I won ‘Biggest Tourist of the Day,’” Percy said.
While in Milan, the team played two matches against the Italian junior national team, made up of the country’s top players. The matches were close, though Tech eventually fell in both.
Despite the losses, Johnson said she was thrilled with the trip.
“It was absolutely incredible, the experience of a lifetime,” she said. “We took advantage of every single minute.”
Hunter said she went into the trip skeptical about whether it would work in bringing the team closer together. But she came away with a new mindset.
“It’s a rare opportunity to get exposed to each other so much,” she said. “By our last game, it felt so easy [to play as a team].”
Mead summarized it simply: “It was a sense of chemistry developing.”
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