University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Day 5 - Thursday, March 29
Thursday's competition schedule included a match against USC Munster, a team that inclues former Bruin women's volleyball player Alyson Randick who was a member of UCLA's 1990 NCAA Championship team, as well as playing for Coach Banachowski in the 1992, '93 and '94 seasons.
We woke up this morning around 8:30 to a strange voice making an announcement over the hostel intercom - in German of course. We made our way downstairs to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast of bread, cheese, and coffee and then were off to check out the town of Munster. Like in Amsterdam, speeding bicyclists were everywhere and we always seemed to be in the way. However, we made it safely through the day while managing to try a number of different pastries in the many bakeries throughout the town, buy bags and bags of German chocolate to take home (including a few Toblerones), and check out nearly every other store in town.
Later that afternoon we met up with two players from the USC Munster Team, Alyson Randick (former All-American at UCLA) and Pia Larsen (a Danish National Team member), whom we would be playing later that night. We ate a great pre-game meal at an Italian restaurant with very authentic Italian waiters in Munster and then were back on the bus to pick up the rest of the Munster Team. I was a bit nervous because I had heard that the German teams, in general, weren't very friendly. However, they all seemed very nice and members from each team were curious to learn about one another.
We arrived at the site of the match, the athletic training center of a military base, and were met at the gate by an armed soldier (that was a bit different from what we are used to back in L.A.). The gym was very nice and the crowd was knowledgeable and excited to see a good match. They cheered just as loud for us as they did for the home team. Our team played hard against USC Munster but they were extremely skilled and experienced. We lost the first three games somewhat quickly but both teams decided to play one more game for the crowd. The last two games were closer but in the end Munster won as Alyson aced us for match point. Immediately after the game we all lined up in the middle of the court and applauded the crowd to thank them for coming. We ate a post-game meal with the other team as well as with a few officials from the city and then were back on the bus on our way to the hostel.