Tulane Tennis: That's How We Roll :: Complete Success
Nov 11, 2008 | Women's Tennis
Nov. 11, 2008
The trip to Purdue was a great learning experience for the Tulane tennis team, and not to mention a lot of fun. Everyone played really well throughout the tournament and we gained a lot more match experience. For only our second tournament of the year, I think we did a really good job and we will only continue to improve. Not only did coach do a great job keeping us motivated and having fun but we were also very fortunate to have Mariam (Kurdadze) and Anna (Bartenstein) helping to coach us. They really contributed a lot to the team and I'm really glad that they were there supporting us. We were also very grateful to have Anne (Smallwood) there. She is a great athletic trainer and really helped us out a lot. Luckily, Anne didn't have to treat any of Marcela's famous cramps, or "cromps" as Marcela likes to call them.
Everything went smoothly in the airport on the way there. We made our connection with plenty of time. However, this was not the case on the way back. Our plane left later than expected and we wound up having to run through the airport to catch the next flight. We expected to have time to use the restroom but of course that wasn't possible. So, once we arrived on the plane the entire team started to argue over who got to use the bathroom first. Apparently, the passengers thought it was quite amusing when everyone started to form a line in the back.
When we first arrived in Indiana at the tournament site, Caroline had a surprise for Coach. She forgot her tennis shoes back at school. Luckily, Mariam happened to be the same size and came to the rescue! Caroline seemed to be forgetting a lot of things because when we were about to leave for the tournament on the second day, she realized she didn't have her contacts. This was when Coach decided to play a little prank on her. We were all waiting for her in the car, so we drove off behind the bushes and waited to see her reaction when she came outside. We finally drove back around to pick her up and she told us that her contacts were in her pocket the whole time.
It was nice playing indoors for a change, except the weather outside was much colder than what we are now used to. It even started to snow a little on the last day. The only problem with playing indoors is that the yellow fuzz from the tennis balls gets everywhere. Jessica and I were talking about how we had fuzz all over ourselves and apparently Marcela didn't know what it was called because she continued to call it "fluzz."
We ate at very nice restaurants over the course of our trip. The second night we had a great dinner at Olive Garden, which seems to be our team's favorite restaurant. Mariam especially liked it, due to the attractive waiter. She kept asking for more cheese on her food just as an excuse for him to stay at the table.
The trip was a lot of fun overall. Our team bonded a lot, especially on the way back to the airport. We arrived at the airport when Coach realized she forgot to fill up the tank of the rental van. We drove around looking for a gas station for quite awhile which Mariam seemed to think was hilarious. At least we finally found a gas station and made it to the airport in plenty of time.
The trip finally had to come to an end. It was a lot of fun and I had a great time with all of my teammates. Everyone contributed a lot to the team, and considering that we have such a young team, I think we are really going to do great things in the future. I'm very proud of everyone and I can hardly wait until the next tournament!
Roll wave!
-Sharon
