Volleyball abroad: Dispatches from Europe

After a nationally ranked season in a new first-rate facility, the Seawolf volleyball team wasn't prepared to sit back and keep it low-key in 2015. Although the NCAA season officially starts September 3, Seawolf volleyball launched into their year with a big bold international tour, finishing 5-0 in exhibition games against several European squads.

After months of fundraising, the 12 players and two coaches took off from Anchorage for a tour of the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and Italy. With five games over 10 days-and a series of crisscrossing train and bus rides-the trip was a whirlwind, but still included plenty of time to take in the sights (and the intense summer heat).

Here, with their thoughts on the trip, are Coach Chris Green, senior outside hitter Katelynn Zanders and freshman libero/setter Kyla Militante-Amper.

Day 1: Anchorage to Prague

The team gathered at the Alaska Airlines Center and took off for Prague, via Frankfort.

Day 2: Prague

Green: After baggage claim, our tour guides greeted us and took us by bus to Hotel Roma in downtown Prague. When we arrived at the hotel, the mothers of two players, an aunt and uncle of one player and one UAA booster also joined us.

Zanders: We were a little swollen from the long flight. After check-in, we went to dinner at a pizza place where we had to ask them to stop bringing us food! That was a first.

Green: After dinner, we returned to the hotel via a 20-minute walk, and a quick stroll over the Charles Bridge.

Day 3: UAA vs. Prague area all-stars

Zanders: The day began at 4:30 a.m. for most of us, thanks to jet lag from the 10-hour time difference. We started out with a delicious breakfast-lots of bread and doughnuts.

Green: At 10 a.m. we left via tram for the Prague Castle, located above the city. Several of us climbed to the tower up 287 winding stairs. We watched the changing of the guard at the castle, where the president of the Czech Republic also resides.

Miltante-Amper: The ceremony is basically what the name says-the change of guards when a shift change occurs. The experience was awesome in Prague and I would want to go back there again!

Zanders: We had another delicious lunch. The food here is awesome and mostly gluten free (yay!). We had time for shopping and found an awesome local artist and got some souvenirs in the blinding heat. Then, we won our first match as a team.

In their first match, the team won three of four games against a team of area all-stars from Prague.

Green: At dinner, we sampled one of the most popular Czech dishes: beef goulash with dumplings and a blueberry dessert. Most of us went straight to bed hoping to sleep better the second night in Prague.

Day 4: UAA vs. Hradec Kralove in Prague

Zanders: There was much less coffee needed to function today.

Green: We toured Old Town Prague, walking over the Charles Bridge and seeing the famous Astronomical Clock that's kept time since the 15^th century, ticking since 1410. The architecture in Prague is amazing.

Militante-Amper: Prague was personally my favorite stop because we were able to do most of what there is to do and see all the historic buildings. Also, it was a lot cheaper due to the currency ratio of 1 USD: 25 Crowns!

Zanders: We spent the morning visiting the old town area and shopping, bought some neat paintings from an al fresco market, and enjoyed some incredible heat. Later, we played against a nice team... and won!

UAA won their second match against a team from Hradec Kralove, a city in the Bohemia region that drove over 100 km to compete. The team played five sets, with UAA taking the first three.

Green: UAA played much better the second evening, experimenting with different line-ups. This was a terrific opportunity to come together as a team. The company that helped arrange the tour did a great job matching us with quality opponents as well, so it was fun from a competitive standpoint.

Zanders: After the game, we got way too much authentic Czech food.

Green: Dinner was a home style meal sampling several different common Czech foods, such as fried cheese, beef goulash, chicken nuggets, French fries, etc.

Day 5: Prague to Maribor

Zanders: Today started with a long bus ride.

Green: We piled into our tour bus at 7:30 a.m. and began our trek to Vienna. As we left Prague, the first four athletes gave a presentation on Prague that they had prepared in Anchorage before we left. They did this on the bus microphone! Two others presented on Vienna-both groups did a very good job.

Zanders: We only had four hours in Vienna to shop 'til we dropped. Grabbed a quick lunch with, of course, some gelato.

Green: We only had four hours to spend in a magnificent city before heading to our destination of Maribor, Slovenia. Leah and Mikayla did their presentation on Maribor as we arrived in town. Tonight, we had dinner with the Croatian Men's National Team, who came into the dining room to eat dinner with us.

Zanders: It was so hot that night that we all requested fans.

Day 6: UAA vs. Odbojkarski Klub

Green: We practiced from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in a sweltering gymnasium, as Slovenia-and all of Eastern Europe-was in a big heat wave. The volleyball courts are located inside the hotel!

Zanders: We took a lift up to the nearby ski resort where we had lunch at the top of the mountain. Then, we sledded down at some break neck speeds and had a blast!

Militante-Amper: I was a little nervous at first going down the slide, but after the first time it wasn't so bad and the next I went at full speed! Talk about a rush.

Zanders: That evening, we won our game against a very good team.

Green: We had about 10 parents and boosters watching as we somehow managed to defeat a very good Slovenian team in very exciting close sets.

The Seawolves barely escaped against Odbojkarski Klub, eking out a victory with razor-thin margins. The final score was 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 26-24.

Green: We returned to the sports hotel around 9:30 p.m. to get some sleep for another big match against a team that was definitely hungry for revenge tomorrow.

Day 7: UAA vs. Odbojkarski Klub rematch

Green: We left the hotel after breakfast and saw the oldest grape vine in the world. Then, we spent time just sitting and doing what Europeans do-drinking coffee and chatting with each other. Our match began around 5 p.m. and we played well enough to beat the same very good team from yesterday.

In their fourth game of the tour, UAA rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take the match 22-25, 25-19, 17-25, 25-15, 25-21.

Zanders: That night, we celebrated the win and got all dressed up. I think we almost looked like young women for once!! We went to dinner at the most beautiful winery-the Doppler winery-that sits at the top of a hill overlooking the vineyards. It was truly amazing.

Day 8: Maribor to Bled

Green: We had an early morning the next day as we traveled to Bled, Slovenia. We made a stop in the capital city of Ljubljana where we spent a couple hours sightseeing around town, which included another amazing city market.

Militante-Amper: In Bled, we went on a hike to the Vintgar Gorge in Triglav National Park and at the end swam in the freezing cold water that was literally as cold as an ice bath!

Zanders: We experienced some unpredictable Slovenian weather and missed out on a boat ride on the lake due to thunder and lightning. But instead, we ate dinner on the shore and watched fireworks over Lake Bled.

Day 9: UAA vs. Go Volley Gorica club

Militante-Amper: In the morning we went on a breathtaking boat ride to a church on a little island in the middle of Lake Bled. According to our guide there are a lot of catfish in the bottom of the lake and his friend once caught a 2.5 meter long catfish. Once we got there we were able to jump off the dock and swim in the lake that had the perfect water temperature compared to the gorge water yesterday.

Zanders: It was a beautiful sunrise with stunning views! We dove into the 70-degree water for a quick wake up, ate a quick breakfast and off we went on the train.

That afternoon, the team arrived in Nova Gorisca, Italy for their fifth and final match. The team fought back from a two game deficit, winning the last three to take the match 22-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-11, 15-4.

Zanders: We played a great team. We learned a lot. And we won.

Green: We played against another Slovenian team and we were able to win the match after struggling early. The team was down 0-2 and won 3-2. I was especially proud of some of our younger players who stepped in and played well when some of our upperclassmen were struggling. We ended the tour with a 5-0 record!

Day 10: Venice

Militante-Amper: Our last stop was in Venice, Italy and we only had six hours there. The town was A-MAZING, it was literally a maze. The only way you could get out of it was to follow the signs for your destination. In our case it was San Marco Square, where the pigeon population triples the human population and there are people with pigeons on their arms and head.

Green: Venice was incredible. We stayed until 11 p.m. We were treated to a "taxi" ride on two gorgeous boats through the Grand Canal from Piazza San Marco to the restaurant where we ate together. Pizza was the main course!

Militante-Amper: Taking part in this experience my incoming freshman year and being 5-0 was amazing! Overall the trip really helped our team on and off the court, creating a family-like bond. On the other hand, the sightseeing was incredibly beautiful and filled with hundreds of years of history.

This Euro tour is once in a lifetime and it was a great experience to have! The team got a lot closer and now we have stories to tell everyone. I will definitely be back (: