Katie Wildermuth

Past Entries

Entry 1

September 13, 2004

Road trips are great bonding experiences. The whole team gets squeezed into one little bus and we all get just a little bit closer.

We watch movies, tell jokes, play games, and laugh a whole lot. I personally love to travel as a team, but the one thing I love even more than traveling is playing on our home court, in front of our fans, with our warmup musical CD blasting over sound system.

The first home tournament for me is always the most nerve racking. I thought that after playing on the same court for four years I would get used to it, but the same old nervous feeling comes back every year.

To prepare for last weekend we began practicing on our game court, getting a sense for both the lighting and the lines. Last weekend was really important. Three of the four matches were Division III, two of the teams were in our region, and the other team, Palm Beach Atlantic, was one of our biggest rivals.

Of the four matches we played last weekend, Friday night's game against Centre College was the most memorable for me. During warmups, the entire team came out with intensity. During our digging drills everyone was cheering for each other and mentally preparing for the task at hand. We were pretty fired up to play.

Our intensity from warmups definitely transferred to the court once the match started. For the entire Centre match, with only a small lapse in game three, the team just seemed to click. The whole team was definitely on the same page. The blocking, passing, defense, setting and offense all came together for us. I was smiling to myself the whole match while thinking, "This is so much fun!"

Although we didn't click as well on Saturday as we did against Centre, Friday night's game still makes me smile. The past weekend proved to our team how good we are and how good we can be. I can't wait to get better this week in practice and to play again this weekend!

Katie Wildermuth is a senior from San Clemente, Calif. She would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.