Melody's Blog : sports

Nicaragua

MelodyA — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:37:00 GMT

Hello everyone!

I know it's summertime and ya'll haven't heard from me in a long time, but I thought I'd let ya'll know how awesome our tour went in Nicaragua! We won three of our five matches, ate a lot of great food, and had more fun than we ever imagined! I could spill all the details here, but I think ya'll would enjoy hearing about it from the rest of my teammates too. If you go to the Butler Volleyball page and read our day by day blog! Here are a few pictures I took during the trip!

I took this while we were waiting to get on the plane This is us stretching before the game Chloe finally caught the frog!

This was my favorite dish! A Nica Tamale! We had a camp day with local kids We had so much fun with them!!

There are more pictures on the Butler Volleyball page and I' putting up more in my pictures section. I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Go Dawgs!!

Melody

Time to get Down to Business

MelodyA — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:10:00 GMT

We had our last workout on Tuesday, and we don't have practice for Nicaragua until after finals. I'll still hit the weight room a few times before then, but now it's all about the student side of being a student athlete. Today after I shoot my last story for advanced reporting they're having the student athlete's appreciation event between two baseball games. I hope I have a chance to make it. They give out awards such as: MVP of each team, the community service award, and the team with the highest GPA. The weather has been so gorgeous outside that I hope I can make it.

Just a few More Weeks Until Nicaragua!

MelodyA — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:27:00 GMT

So we're just a few weeks away from our service trip in Nicaragua and Costa Rica! We are so excited especially with finals coming around we all know how much we need this trip, and a break!

The garage sale we had last weekend was a huge success, and we're so close to almost raising the rest of the money for the trip. This weekend we're playing again and doing another fundraiser.

We're working at a children's carnival in Plainfield, and since the weather has been so nice lately we're glad that we can work outside. This weekend's tournament is at IPFW and it's our last one before we go on the trip. Next week we stop practicing and it's just in time so we can focus on finals.

This is What the Season is all About!

MelodyA — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:25:00 GMT

The Holiday season is upon us!! This is one of my favorite times of the year, despite the cold! In the spirit of the season the volleyball team decided to do a few projects to give back to the Indianapolis community!! I love doing stuff like this, especially as a team.

This week we helped with a program the local police do for grade school kids to expose them to different sports. We went on two different days and it was a lot of fun!

But we didn't stop our conquest of Christmas cheer there! The team decided to donate toys to the toy drive that channel 6 was having. One of our assistant coaches and a few of us went so they could tape us doing it! I was particularly excited because I love news stations! Our coach is friends with the producer in charge of the toy drive, so I got to make a good contact about a job at the station. She was really excited to meet me when she heard I want to work in the industry!

Overall this week was a great week for sharing the Christmas spirit!! It even worked out for me as well!! We're planning on doing more clinics when we get back from break. I'll let you know if we're doing one near you!! Does anyone have any suggestions for groups or organizations that need a some help? Let me know in a comment so that others can see them as well.

Go Dawgs!! Bark Bark!!

Melody

I am so Not feeling Global Warming Right Now!

MelodyA — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:25:00 GMT

I was so excited about getting to go back home for break. You know the usual is always great seeing my family, friends, and most importantly the 80 degree temperatures! Unfortunately only two out of three of those were very consistent this Thanksgiving break. It was warm for two days, and then it was cold. Maybe not Indianapolis cold but 59 degrees on Thanksgiving is cold on the Gulf Coast!

Other than the weather, it was great to be home and see my family and friends! Thanksgiving really spoiled me for my dad's home cooking. It's just not the same eating at Atherton these past few days. Good thing I have training to keep me focused for these next few weeks. Just because season is over doesn't mean that it's over for us. It just means we don't get to play volleyball that much, now we get to run, lift, run, jump train, and oh did I mention run? Ha ha ha

Oh well, like I said, it keeps me focused. After this week I can work out on my own until January so that will be nice. Our team, both tennis, and golf teams have teamed up to adopt a family for Christmas this year. It's one of the big community service projects the whole athletic department does. We're supposed to go shopping for the family next week so that should be exciting! Service is a big part of the values Butler stands for. What are some community service projects ya'll do?

Go Dawgs!! Bark!! Bark!!

Melody

End of the Line...

MelodyA — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:07:00 GMT

We fought hard tonight, but it's the end of the season as of tonight. We finished 5th in conference, but lost in the quarter finals of the Horizon League tournament. We played Valpo and gave it our best. We were all sad that we lost, but we couldn't help but laugh on the bus at probably one of the most embracing moments in my laugh (it was also the funniest too).

During the first game of the match, yours truly went in for a substitution. I didn't realize among all of the excitement that I had stood in water that was spilled on the floor. I ran up to the line and tried to stop when my leg slipped from under me. I then found my rear smacked against the floor in front of the whole gym and everyone who was watching on the world wide web on the Horizon League Network. I was extremely embarrassed, but couldn't help but laugh myself.

We might have lost tonight, but I know next year we will be better than ever!!! I'm going to really miss our Captain Michelle, but since she's a pharmacy major she'll still be around Butler for two more years. Everyone else is coming back on the team so we're all excited to see what the future has in store for us.

Thanks for the all the fans who supported us this season. It's going to be so exciting come next fall, and these dawgs are going to be ready!!!!

Go Dawgs!!! Bark Bark!!!

Melody

Success = Fun

MelodyA — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:05:00 GMT

Wow, finally a second to breathe after all of this excitement! We won both games this weekend. This puts us in a great position for our conference rankings. The information on the horizon League page isn't updated yet, but I want to say these two wins puts us in 5th place! Friday's game was a really big deal because it was out "volley for the cure game." It's a game that we use to raise *** cancer awareness.

This is a really special cause to me because one of my volleyball coaches in high school is a survivor of *** cancer. During the month of October I really think about her. It's a big deal for the team also because one of our recent alumna's mom is a survivor as well. She's actually the mom of the player who sent me close after Hurricane Katrina happened. Her and her daughter have always been part of my support system here at Butler, and I've always been really grateful for them being here for me. The feminist group on campus D.E.M.I.A even decorated Hinkle in pink awareness decor.

The night was even better after we beat UIC in 3 games, and after we beat Loyola today this weekend could really one get better if my projects would disappear! Oh....that reminds me I better try to finish up my accounting project due next week. I need to finish up a group project for my Electronic Journalism class. We need to cut some tape together in the edit bays in Fairbanks tomorrow. I better finish up this script so we can match it with the scenes we want.

Don't forget we can support the fight against *** cancer all year long by going to The *** Cancer Site. The sites very useful in helping other important charities that need your support as well. Happy clicking, and hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

GO DAWGS!! BARK BARK

Melody

Crunch Time

MelodyA — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 03:12:00 GMT

For some reason it always seems that papers, exams, and other important things are all due around the same time. We have two more weeks left of regular season play before the conference tournament in Milwaukee. That means, I have three weeks to get my life together. Since we only had the Wright State game last night this weekend is perfect for me to catch up on some work. This week went by so fast between practice and class I can see these due dates trying to sneak up on me. If there's only one thing I learn when I graduate, that's going to be time management. It's the biggest factor for success in college, and I'll be the master of it eventually lol .

Last night's game was one of the most intense this season. We fell to Wright State in three putting us in 6th place in the conference this week. We still have a chance for third and fourth place, and we are certainly going for with everything we have! This weekend is a great chance to catch up on not just work but friends too. A few of us are going to the movies tomorrow to see SAW IV! We've been looking forward to it for a long time. It made me think about Lambda Chi and Alpha Phi's haunted house.

They teamed up to for this philanthropy event to help a food bank. Some of my buddies tried to talk me into going but I just don't do haunted houses. The only reason I'm even going to see SAW IV is because I want to know what happens in the story line. Hope everyone out there has a safe Halloween!

GO DAWGS!! BARK BARK!!

Melody

Family

MelodyA — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:52:00 GMT

I'm so excited about this weekend, because my dad is coming up to see me!!! I don't get to see him or the rest of my family that much so I get really excited. It's even better that we have a game this Sunday, so he gets to see me play too!! I can't wait till he gets here tonight. I've planned a really fun weekend so he can see all the fun I get to have at Butler!! We're going to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) on Saturday. I might try and working in some shopping lol . I still haven't thought of anything else that we can do, but I know we'll think of something. I'm so excited that I can't wait to see him when the team gets back from the Valparaso game tonight!! That reminds me I better hurray up and get to Hinkle.

Go Dawgs!! BARK BARK!!

Melody

Surprise Surprise!!

MelodyA — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:39:00 GMT

This week is the reading break before midterms, and usually the team is away traveling for conference. This weekend we're in Cleveland, Ohio to defeat Cleveland State and Youngstown. We also did a little contest of pumpkin decorating. Everyone decorated a pumpkin of someone else on the team, and the rest of the team had to guess who it was. It was a lot of fun decorating a pumpkin that looked like our setter, but the winner was one of our outsides who had yours truly! I can't wait until I get pictures up of it. It really looks great!!

That wasn't the end of our fun. Our coaches surprised us with tickets to the Cavaliers and Pistons game! We had so much fun watching the game (and drooling over Lebron James )it was one of those big surprises that our coach likes to do for us. It really lets us know that she appreciates our hard work and time.

This weekend starts the second round of conference and it's a really important one for Horizon League volleyball. If we win both games we can really change our standings in the league. We've really improved and made some changes, so hopefully tonight it will pay off. I better hurray up and head to the conference room to go over the game plan tonight. If you want to see the web cast of this game go to the Horizon League website.

Go Dawgs!! BARK BARK!!

Melody