Senior Erica Jepsen sends in the final blog of the trip after the Vikings made it back to Portland on June 22. Before they left Europe, the team got to see more of Vienna and Prague.
- Blog entered June 23 at 6:37 p.m.; From senior Erica Jepsen
Hey Viking Fans!
With all our games completed all that was left was to get back home. We traveled from Maribor, Slovenia to Prague, stopping for a couple hours in Vienna, Austria along the way. Vienna is such a beautiful city with so much history. We were able to see old foundations of the city that were estimated to have been constructed somewhere between the 1st through the 5th centuries. Our flight out early the next morning was fortunately uneventful and we have now arrived home safe and sound.
As a player I want to say thank you to all of you who have supported us in various ways. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. I wouldn't have been possible without you supporting both the individual players and Viking athletics as a whole. So thanks again to you and hope to see you in the stands come fall!
- Erica Jepsen
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Senior Nique Fradella sent in another blog today around 10 p.m. Sebia time. For the second day in a row a few of the Vikings got trapped inside something. After getting stuck on an elevator for about 45 minutes yesterday, Fradella and a couple of her teammates got locked in their room this morning. Read all about it below.
- Blog entered June 20 at 2:55 p.m.; From senior Nique Fradella
Hello Viking Fans!
We had a great time in Serbia and there are definitely some memories that won´t be forgotten. Last night after being stuck in the elevator, a few of us were actually locked in our room over night until the locksmith could arrive in the morning. Lets just say we have had a lot of bonding expereince on this trip!
This morning we drove back to beautiful Maribor, Slovenia. We are staying in an incredible hotel, which is brand new and currently not open to the public. We drove out to a small city this evening and played the Slovenian University team who represent Slovenia in the World University games. We finsished our volleyball strong by winning the match and the extra game that we played after. It felt good to end on a good note after losing twice in Serbia. This game was promoted bringing in some fans and the girls we played were really friendly. After the game we had a group of girls asking for our autographs, making us feel a little special.
We look forward to our last full day in Europe tomorrow as we head to Vienna first and then Prague in the evening. Take care, ciao!
- Dominque Fradella
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Senior Erica Jepsen sends in a blog from Belgrade, Serbia, which happens to be the hometown of fellow senior Marija Vojnovic. The trip has provided Marija's family with their first chance to watch her play volleyball since she came to the United States in the fall of 2005. While the Vikings lost a couple of matches to a very good club team, they are gaining invaluable experience. Jepsen also talks about her and some teammates getting stuck in an elevator for 45 minutes, and the many great sights they are seeing. Jepsen's e-mail came thru just after 1:00 a.m. in Serbia.
- Blog entered June 19 at 7:49 p.m.; From senior Erica Jepsen
Hey Viking fans!
We have spent the past two days in Belgrade, Serbia. One of the best things that we have gotten to do while here is meet Marija's family. Many of my teammates families have had the opportunity to come and watch them play, but for Marija this was a first while competeing as a Viking.
We have played teams from the Vizura Level 1 club the past two nights. They were definitly the best competition that we have faced so far. We ended up dropping both matches, but have gained alot from the expereince of playing with some of the best teams from around the world. We have one more match tomorrow once we return to Slovenia.
The city of Belgrade has more of a big-city feel. We have been able to explore a little bit of both the past and the modern parts of the city in the form of an old city castle which has been turned into a park and the modern shopping and restaurant streets.
One evening the whole team went out for dinner at a great restaurant in the old-town part of Belgrade, but not before eight of us got trapped in a tiny elevator for 45 minutes! It got really hot in there, but eventually we got out, and we had a great bonding expereince along the way!
- Erica Jepsen
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Seniors Erica Jepsen and Nique Fradella send in blogs from the Vikings trip to Eastern Europe. The Vikings have not been around an Internet connection for a few days, so today was the first time that they've been able to send something along. The e-mails from Erica and Nique were sent around 9:45 p.m. in Slovenia. Nique's blog was written today (Wednesday, June 17), while Erica's covers day five of the trip (Tuesday, June 16).
- Blog entered June 17 at 4:21 p.m.; From senior Nique Fradella
Hello all!
It is Wednesday, Day 6, of our European tour. Man this trip is going by
fast! We are currently in Maribor, Slovenia, a beautiful resort town at
the bottom of a mountain.
This morning we were in Bratislava, Slovakia, and left our boathouse
hotel to explore the city. We discovered a huge shopping mall, and had
fun shopping at all of the local stores. We had a quick lunch and were
on the road again to see another city, Maribor. We picked up some
chocolate and snacks for the road and then headed through Hungary and
Austria, until finally we arrived in Slovenia.
Our hotel is beautiful, sitting at the bottom of a mountain of which
mountain biking and ski resorts are abundant. This evening we rode a
gondola up to the top of the mountain for dinner. On the gondola, we
had a view of the entire city and it was amazing. We had the restaurant
to ourselves and had another great dinner. After dinner we played a
few games and some sharades, then headed down the gondola to see the
city lights on the way down. What a wonderful day it was!
- Dominique Fradella
- Blog entered June 17 at 4:21 p.m.; From senior Erica Jepsen
Hello from Slovakia!
The team spent the first part of today traveling to Bojnice, Slovakia and then had a quick turnaround and played the Slovakian Youth National Team at night. We ended up dropping 3 of 5 games but had another chance to play them the next morning. We competed at one of the Slovakian national sports training facilities and afterwards had the opportunity to eat in their cafeteria. We were served the same food that the team eats while they are in Bojnice training for the upcoming Worlds tournament in Thailand.
After the game we went on a night tour of a castle that was originally built in the 12th century. The castle contains over 180 rooms and has had several historically prominent figures living there over the course of its history. It was amazing to see such beauty and history combined in the castle. The tour got even more interesting when 'ghosts' started jumping out of dark corners and scaring us! A haunted castle night tour is definitely an experience that I will always remember!
The next day we played the Slovakian Youth team again and this time we won. It was good to be able to learn from our experiences the day before and come out the next time with a win. After the game we were able to spend some time at a spa before traveling to Bratislava, Slovakia. The spa housed a mineral pool that we swam around in to relax our muscles from games and traveling. In Bratislava the team was able to spend some quality time with Domi (Dominika Kristinikova), one of our incoming freshmen who lives in the city, and then went to sleep in our houseboat hotel!
Next country... Slovenia!
- Erica Jepsen
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Senior setter Nique Fradella sends in the first blog from a player. The Vikings are currently in Prague and enjoying the sights. They also played their first match of the trip. Her e-mail came through at 2:41 p.m. on Sunday, so it was after 10:30 p.m. there.
- Blog entered June 14 at 4:44 p.m.; From senior Nique Fradella
Hello Viking Fans!
We are currently in Prague, Czech Republic and having a blast! On Friday morning our adventure began. The 10 hour flight wasn't nearly as bad as we had thought. After watching four movies we were already on our decent into Frankfurt, Germany. It was all of a sudden Saturday morning, and we caught our connecting flight and landed in Prague about an hour later.
We went sightseeing and saw a beautiful castle at the top of a hill. The architecture is breathtaking! We found ourselves taking pictures of almost every building or statue. We then headed to practice in the evening, and despite having minimal sleep and jetlag, we were able to put together a solid practice and get used to the gym and also get ready for the match the following day. Today, Sunday, we woke up and got to explore the city. In groups, we traveled around shopping of course! We noticed that puppets are a big deal here and had fun watching them dance in all the stores. Using Czech money, or crowns, was something new and exciting to us.
We played the Czech junior national team, a very talented group, tonight. They were very friendly and gave us some European chocolate, yummmy. We won the first game and actually controlled the next two as well, but couldn't seem to finish. We struggled near the end of the games and couldn't really keep a lead. There were some great moments when we were in system and our offense was nstoppable. It was a great experience and we learned a lot about what we need to work on.
After the game we went to a really great "traditional Czech restaurant," as our tour guide Jirka referred to. We had potato pies, beef and dumplings, fried cheese, fried pork and a fruit crepe for dessert. In the morning we are driving down to Slovakia and we are playing their youth national team in the evening. We look forward to each adventure this trip brings and will keep you updated along the way. Ciao!
- Dominique Fradella
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PSU Head Coach Michael Seemann checked in this morning after landing in Prague. His e-mail came through at 3:02 a.m. Pacific Time. Prague is eight hours ahead of us here in Oregon, so it was around 11:00 a.m. there when he wrote. One of the players will hopefully be sending in a blog later today.
- Blog entered June 13 at 9:52 a.m.; From Head Coach Michael Seemann
Day 1 for me, arrived here before the team. Prague is beautiful and crowded. Once the team arrives we will be going to dinner and then to bed quickly following our meal. I did not sleep and have been traveling for 16 hours ... via Portland, Atlanta, Prague. Tomorrow we will jump right into action and play the Czech Junior National team.
- Michael Seemann
