FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14

12:15 p.m.

The day starts late. That is one of the perks of winning one of the two late matches in the first round, you get to play in the late match in the second round and subsequently get to have one of the later practice times. The team will have their run through at 1 p.m. The bus leaves shortly after 12:15 p.m. and before pulling out of the parking lot, everyone checks to make sure the three seniors are on the bus. There will be no repeat of Thursday and the bus ride over to St. Thomas is as uneventful as can be with this team.

The team arrives and has to gather the uniforms together so they can give them to Willy the St. Thomas equipment manager so he can wash them and have them ready for match time. Since La Crosse upset UST, Concordia will once again be the higher seed and have to wear their gold tops for the second straight match. After getting all the top and shorts together and handed off, the team heads up the hallway to stretch and warm up in the fieldhouse. It’s a routine that they have fallen into. Warm up in the fieldhouse and then head to the gym for a 55-minute walk through. The big dilemma of the morning is when Jill Hance forgets her socks and has to borrow a pair from one of her teammates. Most of the time it is Jill helping out her teammates, now the sock is on the other foot!

The only other non-routine aspect of the warm up comes when Joann Andregg – the tournament coordinator – enters and asks Tim how he wants the uniforms done. Tim motions for Ashley Beseman to come over. Ashley trots over and tells Joann that they usually dry the uniforms on hangers and that it would be ok to use the fan only setting for awhile, just so the numbers don’t crinkle. Ashley is the expert because she is the one that does the laundry for the team, working in the equipment room as a campus job.

1:01 p.m.

The team is in the gym and getting ready to take the court for their run through. Tim and Bob went over their schemes at breakfast and are now ready to lead the players through the sets that La Crosse will use in the match. It’s a safe bet that there won’t be better prepared team for any match than Concordia. Tim and Bob know exactly how to dissect the tendencies of an opponent and always put the players in the right spot. After serving and receiving practice, the team goes through the game plan and what they want to accomplish with each player.

From there it is onto the mental imagery portion of the practice. If a person walked in to the gym when Concordia was going through this part of the practice, they might think the team had gone off the deep end. No balls are used and the players close their eyes to visualize what will happen during the match. Players spend the time playing like they would if there was a real match taking place. They slide, squat down for digs, jump for blocks and kills. After a few minutes, Tim tells the team to slowly open their eyes and remember the feeling of being successful and being in control of their own actions. It is a tool Tim uses to put the players in a position where they have already played points hundered of times and nothing that could happen against La Crosse would be new to them. The practice ploy has become routine – and the routine for Concordia is winning.

2:14 p.m.

The team is back at the hotel and will leave for their pre-match meal at 3 p.m. and then head right to the gym to watch the other semifinal between St. Ben’s and UW-Eau Claire.

While Tim, Bob and the rest of the team enjoys some down time, my world is about to be thrown into the cement mixer. I place a call to my student worker who will be taking care of the men’s hockey game at home and need him to send my some web info from my PC back in the office. He logs onto my computer and tells me that there are no files and that my e-mail account has no profiles. This is bad news, very bad news. The first thing that goes through my mind is how far it would be to the airport and to the nearest beach. I try and lead him through some quick fixes but nothing works. The files in question ONLY contain every pic ever taken at all Cobber events, every statistical file for Cobber sports and also the historical data for every sport – not that much!! I start to get really concerned and congratulate him for earning his first job as the new SID. I will be leaving and never looking back. To make matters worse, the clock is ticking towards 3 p.m. and having to leave for the meal. I still need to get ready for the night and it looks bleak. I come up with one more hail mary idea and it works. A long jump-ball pass into the endzone as the time runs off the clock and it worked! Flutie connects with Phelan and Boston College beats Miami!!!

I then tear through my room to get ready to go. I know I am going to be late for the bus and am just in damage control mode. I hear a knock on the door and a girl’s voice tells me to hurry up because I am holding the bus up. She gets more demanding and I am throwing things into bags and trying to put on pants and shirt. I finally get everything ready and fly out the door only to see Cobber women’s hockey player Alyssa Dahl standing in the hallway and laughing. She got me good. The women’s hockey team is staying at the same hotel and she was sent to tell me that the bus would wait and not to worry about being a couple minutes late. Instead she had me running around the room like a mad man.

I finally get on the bus and my heart gets back to a normal rate after five minutes.

3:12 p.m.

We file into Perkins for the pre-match meal. All of the players except for four freshmen sit at one table. That leaves Greta King, Jenna Green, Jaci Heath and Amy Sykora with the table right in front of the coaching staff – big trouble. Tim and Bob sit down and start needling the four players. Bob makes a face and the four go into convulsions from laughter.

If anyone thinks that the future of Concordia volleyball might slip because the three seniors will leave a huge void in personality and talent can rest assured that the team is all set for three more years. The four players at the table are all very talented and are all characters. Like the players that started the NCAA Tournament run in 2003 through the seniors on this year’s team, the tradition of excellent play on the court and squirreliness off it will be passed through the seven freshmen on this year’s team.

The first off the wall moment from the freshmen table when Jaci, Jenna and Amy all start to act like subjects to Greta. They declare her the queen and spend the next few minutes, shining her shoes, fanning her face and helping her drink her water (Amy literally brings the glass to Greta’s mouth so she can suck off the straw without having to move at all). This is all a take on the headline I posted on the Cobber website last night after Greta’s tremendous 21-kill performance in the first round – “A King Becomes The Queen”. It seems that she has taken to being called the Queen and the three other players at the table enjoy going over the top with the gag. All four break into laughter at their antics. Senior Anna Tinkham looks over from the other table and shakes her head and mouths the word “freshman”.

The next episode occurs when the waitress forgets to bring out the pumpkin muffin that Amy had ordered. All four players ordered pumpkin muffins and the other three received their appetizer but Amy was left behind. The waitress comes back with an order for the other table and Amy tries to get her attention but just meekly raises her hand and whispers “excuse me” barely loud enough for Greta, who is sitting right next to her,  to hear. The other three at the table bust up and start to let Amy have it about being so loud and rude to the waitress. The waitress comes back around and Amy tries to get her attention one more time but can only come up with a little gasp. More laughter and for the next few minutes Bob and the other freshmen take turns imitating the demonstrative Amy Sykora.

From there the table takes turns reciting lines from movies and clips on the internet. They do impersonations with their voices that are very hard to describe by draw stares from the rest of the team. The four freshmen don’t seem to mind and they continue with their variety act throughout the entire meal.

One would be hard pressed to guess that this is a team about to play in the biggest match of the program. A win would put them into the region championship – farther than any Concordia team has ever been.

4:47 p.m.

The team arrives at St. Thomas and enters the gym as St. Ben’s and UW-Eau Claire are in the early stages of their semifinal match. The Blazers take the first set under the watchful eye of the Cobbers. Tim and Bob are charting the match while the players all watch intently. I go up to the press box and start setting up for the broadcast. The one thing that strikes me as I make several passes back and forth in front of the stands in order to get things all ready is that most of the La Crosse team is on their cell phones, either talking or texting, as they “watch” the match. In contrast, Concordia’s players all are watching the action and none have their cell phones in hand. Hopefully this will be a sign of things to come.

St. Ben’s ends up winning the match after a frantic pace at the end of set No.4. I happen to be right behind their bench as they earn match point. The team goes wild and piles on each other on the court. So now one MIAC team has reached the region title match, could there be an all-MIAC final?

6:05 p.m.

The teams start their warm-up process and once again I notice that Concordia is full of energy and excitement and La Crosse seems to be going through the motions. They had a tremendous 3-2 win over No.6-ranked St. Thomas the night before and I can only hope that the match took a lot of emotional and physical energy away from the team.

The Cobbers look good in warm ups. The ball rarely hits the floor and players are diving and high-fiving all over the place. Could this be the night?

7:00 p.m.

Since the first match went a little long, the start of the CC semifinal match has been pushed back by 10 minutes. I go on the air at 7 p.m. and talk through the match-ups and play an interview with Tim I recorded during the St. Ben’s match. Not that I am superstitious but I make sure to interview Tim in the same spot in the arena and ask the same questions from Thursday night. Tim is an awesome interview. I know this as does all the media in the F-M area. You only need to give Tim a little leeway and he goes into a very articulate answer that fills time quite nicely.

The interview ends and the teams are on the floor ready to go. Once again I notice that Concordia breaks their huddles with emphatic cheers while the Eagles stroll onto the court.

7:20 p.m.

It’s apparent right from the start that this is Concordia’s night. The team that lost two straight to end the MIAC regular season and start the conference playoffs has been replaced by a dynamic, aggressive, confident squad. The Cobbers are scoring at will and can do no wrong on the defensive end. They are making consistent blocks and picking the ball off the court on digs. The questionable CC front line has turned into a multi-player attack that is tough to stop because La Crosse doesn’t know where the set will go. Greta King, Jenna Green and Katie Vohnoutka all have solid matches and come up with big points in all three sets. Dana Wermers, the only non-freshmen frontline attack weapon, is once again quietly putting together a quality performance. She comes up with big hits and also reads the defense to make tip shots.

In short, Concordia is firing on all cylinders and they cut through La Crosse in three sets. It is one of the best matches I have ever seen by a Concordia team. Given the magnitude of the match, it is the best I have ever seen a CC team perform.

As the ball drops helplessly to the floor on the Eagle side of the net for the final point the Cobbers look around and break into utter joy at the match they just played. Their faces tell the story – sheer exuberance at making the region championship. They have to wait to celebrate after the awards ceremony but once the La Crosse players get their participation awards the team circles in the middle of the floor and goes wild. I am in total shock and laughed on the air at how well the team was playing. Things like this just don’t happen. You usually don’t play a career match in the NCAA Tournament. That usually comes in a non-conference match or a regular season tournament. Concordia has pulled it off in the second round of the national playoffs – amazing.

The best way to describe what happened is from the text of a text message I receive from Larry Papenfuss, the Concordia Athletic Director, immediately following the match. It succinctly states, “Wow.” I text back that he may not come to the match tomorrow night. He has been busy with other Concordia athletic items the past two days and hasn’t been able to watch the matches in person – something I know that kills him because he is the biggest backer of every team at Concordia there is. I also know how superstitious he is and already know that he won’t come on Saturday and will make sure he is in the same place he was on Friday night! He writes back that he is one step ahead and will not be able to make it and that I should continue to represent the department.

Meanwhile the players have broken from the team meeting and are in the stands talking with their parents. They are positively glowing from what they just accomplished. It is a neat scene to witness and puts your faith in all the good things that athletics can bring to athletes and people.

I am busy trying to text back all the people that wanted to know the score, send out the post-match e-mail blast, call the media to see if they need anything and get a couple of pictures from the photographer that was on hand at the match. I finally pack up all the equipment and head down to the court. First order of business is to give Tim my phone so he can talk with Forum reporter Eric Peterson. I then track down Katie Vohnoutka so she can also talk with Eric. She finished with a team-high 11 kills and gets to be the poster child on the front page of the web for the night. Greta King’s reign as Queen will last 24 hours!

The players are too excited to head to the bus right away. They mill about and just soak up the atmosphere and the realization that they will be playing for a chance to get to the Elite 8.

Finally Bob rounds everyone up and they make their way out of the gym and to the bus. Concordia is now 6-0 at St. Thomas this year and as Anna Tinkham starts to head out the door she exclaims, “I love this place.” One more night will tell if she might want to consider Grad School at UST or just permanently move to the gym.

The NCAA rep tells Tim that the team will practice at 10 a.m. tomorrow due to basketball practice and another event taking place in the gym. Tim and I walk down the hallway – the last to leave the arena. He looks at me and just laughs. That is the great, and ulcer-inducing, thing about being a coach. You never know when the players will completely shock you with a tremendous performance. And tonight the Cobbers completely shocked their coach at how well they played and how they handled all the pressure of the situation. They are a completely different team from two weeks ago and that will help them in the region final when they play St. Ben’s.

8:49 p.m.

The match took only 1:05 and that will help as far as getting something to eat and then getting a good night’s rest. The bus pulls over to let everyone out at Subway to grab a quick dinner and then head back to the hotel. The players stand in line and are all smiles. Most are busy texting family and friends and finding out who is going to come to the match tomorrow. They all tell each other who will be there once they have received the message on their phone (what did we do before the cell phone?). Players get excited about who is coming and who has written to say congratulations. The four tablemates from Perkins are beside themselves and are even more squirrely. They tease Ashley Beseman about the new nickname they have come up with. Beezer has been replaced by Boom Boom – a name that Ashley doesn’t particularly enjoy. The other players start to sing songs that have that name in them and they dance around Subway.

The bus has pulled into a parking lot across the street and the players have a hard time finding it. They are too happy to care and just walk around looking. Bob then tries to start the rumor that Abby Scheel got on the wrong bus. Players start to hear about it and all ask “really? I can’t believe she did it” Bob has once again gone fishing and come up with a stringer full of gullible players.

Every one gets back on the bus and as we head to the hotel someone from the back of the bus yells, “Sweet 16” (as in the team is now one of only 16 teams remaining in the tournament) and the team erupts in a huge cheer. They will celebrate for a little longer but know that come tomorrow all will be forgotten and another match will be directly in front of them.

They all head off to their rooms but instead of falling to sleep right away like they did on Thursday night, you hear laughter and talking coming from all the rooms down the hall. What a feeling!

12:46 a.m.

I am working on getting all the info posted on the web. The Concordia is ridiculously slow tonight and I am having a hard time posting even the simplest statistics. This makes me change my plans as I will be unable to post much about the men’s and women’s hockey teams and wrestling dual meet. In short – women’s hockey beats Hamline 4-1 in their conference opener, wrestling blanks Itasca CC 41-0 in their season opener and men’s hockey outshoots Hamline 34-30 but loses 9-3. Good, good, go figure.

As I work I hear my phone go off with a text message. I wonder who can be trying to get a hold of me at this hour. I look at my phone and I stare at one of the best texts I have ever received. It is direct, to the point and tells exactly what the team will feel tonight. It is from Anna Tinkham. Since she works in my office in the winter and spring, she knows my hours and knows that I will be the only person up.

The message reads, “How am I supposed to fall asleep when my biggest dream could come true tomorrow? Training, practice, JO’s (Junior Olympics), camps, 13 years of volleyball have all led to this game!

I know the feeling she is going through and know that she will remember it for the rest of her life. And win or lose, it will be something she can look back on with joy. The rest of the team is going through the same thing as is St. Ben’s.

It will be a long 19 hours before the match starts. For me it will be fun to see how the players and coaches handle the situation. I have a feeling that with this team there will be more laughter than silence and they will be completely ready to play come 7 p.m.