Sweet Home Chicago

It’s hard to sum up days when it feels like we’ve done enough activity to fill weeks. Some of these activities include surviving two-a-days, taking team pictures, traveling to Chicago, sucking up soreness, winning four matches, having our bus pulled over, seeing family, boating, beating the Trine Bridge Run, and eating a lot of food. If I were to sum up this week in one word it would probably be grit, or joy, probably a lot of both.

This week the grit has come when our bodies are telling us to rest but we have to keep working. We’ve had to push through two a days and lift when we were sore. A lot of us even retested challenges we failed the first time. In Chicago, we had a five set match that felt five hours long. When our hitters were hitting shots well but Milikan wasn’t letting anything drop, we had to be gritty. We had to push out fears of losing and focus on each point of the long match.

The joy has come in the moments of victory and rest. We beat the Trine Bridge run yesterday and celebrated with music in the locker room. On Sunday, we enjoyed a day of relaxation on Kristen’s boat after a long week. The joy came when we laughed about getting pulled over in the mega bus driving to Chicago. We were joyful when we dug into Portillo’s and feasted on Giordano’s deep-dish pizza. I especially experienced joy when I was able to see my family at our matches in Chicago and feel like I was home again. The support from our parents and fans is unbelievable and has made such a difference in our program. We felt very much at home in Chicago thanks to the best fan following of parents, alumni, and friends. 

As a team captain this year, I experience grit and joy on a regular basis, as well as pressure. There is always pressure to connect the team and coach. I also feel pressure that our team performs even better than how we’ve performed in the past. What we keep reminding each other is that we are a new team, one with a new personality and new strengths. While there is pressure to perform, our team has chosen to focus on the process and fully buy in, and let the outcome take care of itself.

With all this being said, I cannot wait for the week ahead. We have 3 conference games, school starting and warm weather. It’s exciting to get back into a routine and get to work on our goals on and off the court.

Love,

Jenna Lodewyk

Junior and Team Co-Captain