HWN #1

It has been a long 4 1/2 days. Nick, Phil and I flew out of SB early Wend. morning. We stopped over in Denver and continued on to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I had dinner with a local promoter and friend and then went and spoke to a local college program. The next morning I woke up and went to the second biggest YMCA in the nation. The thing was huge. Had a great weights workout before I had to do some media stuff. Before the actual playing started we all had a clinic to do as well as several autograph sessions. The women competed first and Angie Akers ended up winning. On the men's side Casey Jennings won in the final. I played with Nick first and we lost 15-9 to Phil and Casey. Then Casey and I lost 15-13 to Phil and Nick and Phil and I beat Nick and Casey 15-9 with me running to the net the whole time and Phil playing defense. In the finals Phil picked me and I ran to the net again. We lost 15-13. It was actually pretty fun and everyone had a good time.

The next morning I had to get up and catch a cab at 5:30am for a 6:50 flight to Kansas City. Kerri Walsh was flying with me and we went through Milwaukee on our way to KC. We got in around 8:30am and were picked up by the local promoter. She took us to the hotel and Kerri had to go do media stuff. I tried to sleep but was unsuccessful. I had to go do an interview with FOX at 12:30 so was picked up at noon. Everyone went over to the gym around 3:30 to eat and get ready. We had a big meet and greet followed by a clinic. The women played first and Diane Denecochea won. On the men's side Phil won all 3 games and he again played defense with everyone. Instead of having a final for the men and women we played co-ed 4's like we did in Brazil. Everyone had a blast and the fan's loved it. We played on a women's net though and the men passed, set and played defense. The women hit and blocked. We all had a lot of fun and all the fans I spoke to said they liked it better than the 2 on 2.

The next day Kerri and I had to get up to catch a cab at 4:30 in order to get to our flight at 5:45. We again flew through Milwaukee and got into Indy aroun 9:30. We grabbed a cab to the hotel and this time I was so exhausted I pretty much passed out for about 3 hours. I got up and did 30 minutes of running on the treadmill to shake off the lethargy and stretched out for a bit. Then we went to the gym for round 3. We did several meet and greets as well as a clinic before we played. The women went first and Diane and EY tied for first but Diane won the coin toss to decide who was declared the winner. On the men's side Casey won. He and Nick defeated Phil and I in the first game and then he won with Phil and with me. We again played 4's to end the night but had the men hit and block this time. It was a bit unfair as Phil is just to big at the net for Nick and I to stop him. It was still fun though. We went out for a very late dinner but it was at a nice steakhouse and was very good. Went to bed late and got up this morning at 5am to catch a 6:40 flight to Denver. And now I have been sitting in Denver for almost 4 hours waiting for my connection to SB. Hopefully it will be smooth and I will be home in about 4 hours. Sleep has been pretty minimal on this trip. I didn't realize what a grind it would be and I get to do it again all next week. If you are in Minneapolis, Omaha or Cedar Falls I hope I see you next week.