Oct. 9, 2008
This weekend was probably the single most exciting weekend of the season thus far. Fortunately, none of my team members, including me, was infected by the norovius so we were the only team able to escape the outbreak and set off towards what would be quite a fantastic weekend.
We left at 6 p.m. Thursday evening and arrived in Morgantown, West Virginia around 10 p.m. The next day, Friday, we opened up play against West Virginia. They had heard about the norovirus spreading across our campus and took every precaution to keep their school safe. First we were told that we would not shake hands with the other team before or after the game and they would wipe down our benches after every game. In some ironic way, it was quite humorous, especially when some students sitting behind our bench started covering their faces with their sweatshirts in "fear" that they would be infected. Unbeknownst to them, the virus cannot be spread merely through coughs; it is not airborne.
Against WV, we lost the first set 24-26 but came out to win the last three sets. Although it wasn't our best performance, we were able achieve a win, on another team's home court.
That night, we set off for Pittsburgh. Last year, Pittsburgh was our sole win in conference and this year, we had something else to prove: that last year's win was well earned. Unfortunately, we lost the first two sets. During our ten minute break, we took time to recharge and it was well needed. We came back to beat Pittsburg in the last three sets. It was an amazing win and quite exhilarating.
After our two wonderful wins this past weekend, we were able to achieve many team goals we had set earlier in the season. We won not just one, but two "road" wins, we are currently 10-7 overall and 3-1 in the conference. But best of all, we are tied for first in the Big East with Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and St. John's. Not only were we able to beat West Virginia and Pittsburgh, we were able to show other teams in the Big East that we are a completely different team from last year, that we are strong and that we are a team to be reckoned with.
