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By Maddie Mayfield
Senior-to-be, beach volleyball
10:33 AM
Waking up in Brisbane, Australia, we started out the day with a morning weights session at a local gym with the best tunes in town. We were able to get in a good workout, break a sweat and also practice our dance moves. After our workout we went back to our hotel to get ready for our day.
12:35 PM
The early afternoon consisted of a car ride to a local strip mall in South Brisbane where we were able to shop, buy souvenirs, explore and eat lunch. We were set off on our own with money for lunch and wandering minds that lead us into an Australian version of our own Nob Hill. Devanne, Marisa and Ashley Kelsey went on The Wheel of Brisbane while Julia, Mercedes, Carson and myself enjoyed some Italian cuisine. We were able to buy our family members gifts in a local corner store and then found ourselves in a local ice cream store called Cowch.
2:31 PM
After we were done eating and exploring we all met back up at our rendezvous spot and headed back to the hotel to get ready for our beach volleyball clinic that were were coaching. When we arrived to the courts, there were both boys and girls that were signed up to attend the camp. We set up drills to warm them up and then taught them the basics of beach volleyball. We then jumped in and joined them for drills and really enjoyed playing queen of the court with them. We were able to connect with them through a love of volleyball, which was really cool.
5:00 PM
By the time the clinic was over, it was time for us to play in some matches ourselves. We were able to play against some of the top players in Australia. Among our team, we were able to mix it up and play with different people which was really fun. There were even some players on our UNM team that switched partners and played with the Australian players. After we played, we all stayed after for a BBQ that let us interact with the players and allowed us to get to know them better.
8:20 PM
Today was a great day full of adventure, exploring and lots of volleyball. We have tried so many new things and we still have a week left with much more to see. We leave for Melbourne tomorrow to play our matches against New Zealand, Australia and Croatia. Go Lobos!
Fans can follow the team’s Facebook page (University of New Mexico Volleyball) and Twitter (@UNMVolley) to keep track of the Lobos during their trip.