In Anchorage

We are here for the 1-2-3A Volleyball State Tournament.

What a bumpy flight! I couldn't believe how much turbulence there was! I said a few Hail Marys on the way down. What's comforting though is that the pilot knew there would be a lot of turbulence and warned us.

So we came in to Anchorage on the same Alaska Airlines flight as the wrestlers that were on their way to Juneau. I called home this evening and Amy told me that it was good that we got out this morning. There is just short of a blizzard in Nome right now. The A.D. probably won't be able to get back to Nome this evening.

This is my first time out of the airport here in Anchorage. We rented two vans through Dollar Rent-A Car and are staying at the Holiday Inn Express. It is so nice to have my own hotel room! No sleeping on the floor or an air mattress this weekend! Have me a king-sized bed.

We went to Dimond High School for our half hour of practice at 3 pm. Skagway didn't show up until 3:45 so we got 15 extra minutes. They needed it. They had some stage fright and needed to work through it. This is a big gym and there will be a crowd. The Mixed 6 State Tournament will also be held in the same gym at the same time on the next court over. They will have to be able to concentrate through it. They can do it. Now my job is to get all 12 of the girls playing time so they can play in the State Tournament. That's the hard part.

We have a coaches' meeting tonight at 6 pm that is only supposed to last 15 minutes. Then there is the Inidividual Skills Competition. One server and one hitter from each team are selected. The server must serve for accuracy into the six different sections on the court and the hitter gets clocked by radar.

We play Hoonah tomorrow at 5:30 pm.