Welcome to the 2010 edition of Along the Chisum Trail where you will get insight into the Texas State women's volleyball program. Head Coach Karen Chisum and her players will chime in throughout the season to provide an inside look at the Bobcats. Be sure to check back frequently to stay current on all of the happenings of the 2010 season. Eat 'em up 'Cats!
November 15, 2010 -- Senior Shebi Irvin
This week was very emotional and very surreal for everyone… especially us seniors... starting off with the announcement of Texas State moving to the WAC. It seemed very fitting that the announcement came during our last week of regular season play. Although we will not get to compete in the WAC, we know that we are a big part of why Texas State has this great opportunity, so for us, the announcement was kind of like a “job well done.”
After we settled down from the WAC announcement, the realization that this was our last weekend to play in Strahan Coliseum set in. We started off with another great win over UTSA which prevented them from being conference champs, and on Saturday, we were able to sweep TAMUCC on senior day in our last game ever at Strahan.
Thank you so much to all of our teammates, coaching staff, and fans for making our “farewell game,” and the last four years so special. It is so hard to believe that four years have already gone by and our time is almost up. We have put so much hard work into making our years here memorable and mean something not only to us but to those who come after us, and I think we did that. We always joke around and say that after we get this fourth championship that there needs to be four streets named after us around campus, maybe a statue built out of gold of the four of us to greet people as they walk into Strahan, banners retiring our numbers… But all kidding aside we know that we have done something very special in our time here, and we are far from done.
This week we have our conference tournament in Huntsville. With the move to the WAC coming after next season, this is going to be one of our last times that we can be champions of the Southland Conference Tournament, so we need to go out with a BANG! Our first round match is against Lamar who beat us in our only meeting earlier this season, so if there were ever a time to take revenge on a team, I’m thinking that it would be now. We hope to get as much fan support as we can in Huntsville this weekend, and plan on staying the whole weekend because we will be playing in the championship match at 3 p.m. on Sunday. If you can’t make it, don’t worry its televised :)
November 8, 2010 -- Senior Melinda Cave
This week started off fun with Monday being our Halloween practice and our practice where the captains get to design practice. It was a fun Monday with the freshmen and Coach Chisum dressed up as Snow White (Coach Chisum) and the seven dwarves and all the seniors dressed as the band KISS!! We had a practice full of competition, but it was sometimes hard to take others seriously while they were all dressed in crazy clothes and faces full of white and black make-up!
The few days later we had some good practices and got on the right page to get ready to take on Nicholls. The game went well, and we were able to get almost everybody on the team in to play! Friday we had practice to get ready for Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday. Saturday's game was really early (11 a.m.) so we all got a good night of sleep on Friday night to be ready to be at the gym by 8 o'clock. We didn't have much trouble at all against them and once again were able to give almost everyone a chance to play. The highlight of the game for us all was when Rachel Doyle served four aces in a row!!!! By the time she served the fourth ace in a row, the entire team was going crazy jumping up and down and screaming!!
This next week is a big week having UTSA and Corpus Christi so we will be busy all week getting ready physically and mentally! See everyone out there on Thursday for the game!! GO BOBCATS!
November 1, 2010 -- Junior Amber Calhoun
Amber Calhoun takes you on the team's journey to Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin last week with a picture blog.
Starting the week off right with a Panda Express lunch date with Amari and Matti! |
My baby, Pretty, helping me pack for our trip! I had to include her in a couple pictures, duh |
Matti is excited for the road trip!! |
Because we travel so much, we always have a couple hours of study hall in the hotel so we can get some school work done and not get behind. |
Locker room at Sam Houston! Seniors think they're so cool and they got the recliners. |
So in between our Sam Houston match and SFA match we found a park... |
Melinda picked up a tree and attacked people... |
More study hall with Jen! |
Before the SFA match Amari decided to finally clean her hair brush out.... good luck charm? |
Team picture on jungle gym! Todd, what are you looking at?? |
October 25, 2010 -- Senior AJ Watlington
After the hard, emotional week we had here in our Bobcat volleyball family we had to hold our heads high and keep the love in our hearts. It was time to focus on what we had this week. Wednesday was our home game against UTA. The team was ready for sweet revenge!!!!! We came out strong against the Mavericks while keeping our composure but having lots of fun! It was a fun, quick, three-set match with many aces (from MO), big blocks and killer hits!!
After the UTA victory, it was time to focus on Central Arkansas. We left Thursday at 11 pm…. Yes I said it, 11 P.M. Everyone climbed on the bus that night with pillows, blankets and even mattress pads for the big “slumber party.” Haha. No party though, about an hour later the bus was silent. It was about 8 o’clock when we were all woken up for BREAKFAST! Now, it wasn’t the best sleep, but when I wake up to the smell of Cracker Barrel in the wind all is forgiven! Haha! :)
We arrived in Conway at about 10 am; some of us got some more rest in our nice hotel beds while others studied before we were off to our practice in the Sugar Bears’ gym. To me, it seemed like everyone felt pretty good about the practice, and we were ready to take on UCA!
The next day we had a wonderful breakfast / pregame meal at the hotel. A few hours later, it was game time! Needless to say, it was not our best game at all. Serve receive was a little shaky, and we made unnecessary errors. It was not our day. No one likes to lose, especially us! But, this should only make us stronger.
"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail." – Confucius
Now, back on the road to Sam Houston and SFA! The Bobcat and I are so excited for the Halloween weekend and hungry for more wins! MEEEEEEOWWWW!
October 18, 2010 -- Senior Mo Middleton
It is safe to say that this last week was one of the toughest many of us have been through as a Bobcat. Volleyball, on top of every other event that happened this past week, comes second to one that changed many lives.
Sometimes life takes the turn for the worst and problems arise, losses occur, and time seems to be the essence of your suffering. This blog is directly dedicated to Coach Seitz and his wonderful family. The unfortunate event that you have been experiencing is one that many of us cannot relate to, but we want to support. You Sir have been one of the most amazing people in such troubling and stressful of times. Many tears have been shed for your loss, but more so because of the fact that even with such grueling pains, you have exuded more than love to the people who care about you, but words of wisdom, “don’t fart around” and even more, an endless faith. There are no words to provide you with that might evoke the emotions that have come over us because of the event, but LOVE, HOPE, SUPPORT, FAITH and FAMILY are a few of the thousands of words that specify what we can give to you. You and yours are a monumental part of our Bobcat family and with us, no one is left unremembered.
Monday, October 11, 2010 was filled with more than the average schedule: Breakfast, school, and lunch, practice, and sleep because something amongst the familiar took place. We lost one of our Bobcat family members Monday night. We prayed for strength coach Leo Seitz and wife who lost their innocent and agile child, Leo Seitz V. A boy who lived a much loved, adored and anticipated life is one who will not ever be forgotten amongst the athletic family at Texas State.
I purposely kept the volleyball aspect of this blog for last knowing that some things in life, like the lives of those we love, are more important. Texas State volleyball did take both matches this week over Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. We will go on to play this Wednesday at home. Come support and see our remembrance shirts dedicated to Baby Seitz V. (Thanks to the Caves (: )
I want to leave you Seitz with one last quote that is one of my favorites and seems to be the epitome of you.
“Strength is getting up when everyone would understand if you fell…”
Rest in serenity dear Baby Leo. You are always in our hearts.
October 4 -- Senior Melinda Cave
September 27 -- Junior Amber Calhoun
Although we have had a lot of fun getting to travel and play in some great places against major schools, we finally got to start conference this past week!! After a short practice here in San Marcos on Thursday, we hit the road and headed to Corpus Christi to play the Islanders.
Because our match on Friday was not until 7 p.m., we had a lot of downtime that morning. We stayed in The Holiday Inn which is located right on the beach, so after breakfast, we had two hours of study hall time where we could work on homework either in our rooms or out on the deck on the beach… then it was play time! On top of being right on the beach, the hotel had an indoor swimming pool, hot tub, ping pong table, shuffle board and a play ground, meaning we kept ourselves entertained until we went to the mall for a little while before pregame meal. We ate a good meal at Chili’s before heading to the gym to get ready for the match against Corpus Christi. Using everything we had talked about in scouting their team, we took care of the Islanders in 3 sets!! It was an awesome feeling to start off conference with a “W”!
But there was no time to dwell on that win… we hit the road again and drove to San Antonio that night!! We got into our rooms around midnight only to get up and watch film on UTSA the next morning at 10 a.m. in preparation to play the Roadrunners that day. We left the hotel and had a delicious brunch at the Sanchou’s home where Mr. and Mrs. Sanchou cooked us an abundance of food!! I’m voting them as our new official cooks. We had spaghetti, meatballs, lasagna, tortellini, rolls, hoagies and lots of fruit. It was awesome!
Then, everyone retreated to the upstairs game room where there happened to be a ping pong table… leave it up to our team to come up with a system of play that involves six paddles, eight people and shuffling around the table! Needless to say, we were sweating and ready to play!!!
We went into the UTSA gym and beat our I-35 rivals 3-1! The first set was point-for-point almost the entire time until we pulled ahead and won 25-22, but it was our defense that really won us the match.
We went out and took care of business this weekend and made a statement when we came home 2-0 in conference! Coming back to San Marcos with those two wins feels great and gives us great momentum as we’re away yet again this week. We head to Lamar on Thursday and turn around and play McNeese on Saturday. We’re fired up!! LET’S GET ‘EM 'CATS!!
September 20 -- Senior AJ Watlington
After starting off the week with a good win over UT Pan America, we were then off to the Arizona Invitational in Tucson. We flew into Phoenix then drove two hours to Tucson. The drive was long, so some of us used our time to play our favorite dice game called Farkle on Sean’s iPad, while others slept or listened to music. As soon as we arrive at the gym, we got taped and ready for practice. After practice we headed to our hotel. The Lodge in the Desert was awesome!! The beds were great, and the rooms were very relaxing.
Rise and shine! We got up early Friday morning for the tournament. We had a great breakfast at Bruegger’s Bagel then set off to the gym. Our first game was against U of A. We started out strong but failed to finish on top. After that game, it was time recharge and refocus for the next game against New Mexico State. We took on New Mexico State in three straight sets. I know I can speak for all the girls when I say, it felt really great to get a good significant win in three!! That night, we had Oreganos for dinner. Yummmy! Those calzones were a hit. :)
Saturday morning, we started off the day just like the one before, breakfast at Bruegger’s and then off to the gym. The Pepperdine game was tough. They are a good, solid team. We played very well against them, but it didn’t go our way. The surprise of the game was in set three when suddenly the fire alarm went off, and we all had to evacuate the building. While both teams were sprinting up the stairs, it was fun to hear all the giggling coming from us and Pepperdine, especially when Melinda shouted, “First team up gets a point!” :) After the tournament, I was happy to hear that Shelbi and Caleigh both made the all-tournament team. They did a great job!
For lunch we had Pei-Wei. It was so nice to sit and enjoy the company of the families and friends that traveled so far to cheer us on. That afternoon was our time for relaxation and study time. Since it was so hot outside, some of us made our way to the pool to cool down and others made their way to the bed for a much-needed nap. It was nice to have that time to catch up on study time and, of course, watch football. :)
Arizona was a lot of fun! Even though some things did not go our way, it was a great tournament, and we left with a win! It is so nice to be back home in Texas! Now, it is conference time, and I couldn’t be more excited!
GO BOBCATS!!!!!!
September 15 -- Senior Mo Middleton
A tough CenturyTel Premier tournament ended with second place, and a new week began with a trip to Mexico - or 20 miles from it at least. Five and a half hours is what our bus trip to Edinburg took. Some chose to pass their time within the silence of their own dreams while others buried their heads into the used pages of their school texts or blasted their eardrums with beats and melodies of all genres. I, on the other hand, with a pen, newspaper and fellow bus mates filled in the blank, numbered and black boxes with words and phrases to complete a crossword: a new found love within the mobile travels of Texas State Volleyball.
Pulling up to Springhill Suits was something rather familiar as all hotels look and seem the same on the outside. With one step into the lobby, my eyes were in a party with the bright blues and red tones; this hotel was by far more modern and urbanized, not to mention more eco-friendly than the rest. The beds were clouds of heaven that equipped me with a perfect night's rest.
A good morning started at 8:45 a.m. with a wondrous breakfast (hotel supplied) and a "brisk" walk to wake those of us who were still mentally asleep. A two hour session of study hall and a pretty amazing McAllister's lunch prepared us for the three-set match we won with time to spare.
After thanking our missed faces like old trainer Alana Shay and chest bumps with supporters which may have injured a fellow teammate's father, we sealed the victory with short celebration... that and showers for the long ride home.
The trip back to San Marvelous was one very similar to the one towards Edinburg, except our departure from San Marcos did not incline being pulled over by INS Boarder Patrol. The security guard boarded our bus and suspiciously asked if we were all students. I feel the appropriate question should have been something along the lines of: "Are any of you immigrants?" Either question would have gotten him the same outcome, seemingly unfortunate to his expression. And poor Madeline desperately needed something from her bag in the below storage was forced to reside sole on the bus while the guard, who most likely sensed something questionable, pulled out his nose dog to sniff out our luggage. Soon after the sniffer discovered nothing, Madeline was fortunately able to grab her stuff.
All in all, the trip was an exciting one different from the rest, but nonetheless we came back with a win and are ready to move on to Arizona!
Go Bobcats!
September 7 -- Senior Shelbi Irvin
After a second place finish at the Hofstra tournament in New York, we were excited to go out and play good competition and hopefully win our second tournament of the season. Our first match was against UC Davis, and it was a dog fight from the beginning.
We went into halftime tied 1-1 and came out with a purpose taking game three, 25-13. We had all the momentum going into game four. It was a hard fought game, but we eventually fell, 25-23. And after trading points throughout the fifth set, UC Davis was able to pull away at the end and take the fifth set, 15-10.
The loss was hard because we knew that we were in control of the match but let it slip away from us; and that carried over into our night match against SMU where, other than in the third set, we were never able to get into a good rhythm and fell in four (23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 20-25).
We went back to the hotel that night, cleared our minds and prepared to take on Texas Tech the next afternoon. After a very flat start, we were down 0-2 but quickly turned things around and found ourselves heading into a fifth set. We knew that we were 0-2 so far in five-set matches, and after grabbing an early lead in game, we felt confident about finally winning a fifth set. But an impressive string of points by Tech and tightness on our part prevented that from happening as we fell 13-15 in game five.
Although the weekend did not go as we would have hoped, there were still plenty of laughs and good times with AJ’s photobooth application on her iPhone. It takes a picture of someone and enhances their features to make them seem physically A LOTTTT larger than they actually are! And almost everyone had their picture taken (even Coach Chisum…I personally think hers was the best).
And since we didn’t get a win over the weekend all that means is that we get to celebrate Coach Chisum’s 700th win TONIGHT at HOME when we take down Prairie View A&M at 6:30 for our home opener. I know she would much rather be celebrating her 700th win in Strahan Coliseum rather than any other place on earth!! So come out tonight and support us and Coach Chisum! I hope to see you there :)
August 30 -- Senior Melinda Cave
Hello Bobcat volleyball fans! We are fresh back from our tournament at Hofstra University. We arrived to JFK airport in the afternoon on Thursday after a relaxing flight filled with making music videos and farkling (a dice game ;)). We started off by heading out to the gym for our pretournament practice. It was only a few (or a lot) of u-turns later that we finally made it to the gym and had a great practice to pump us up for the three matches we had.
We started off Friday morning going to a local deli to have some breakfast before heading to the gym. After watching some of our opponents play each other, we changed and started to prepare for our match against Missouri State at 3 p.m. We went into the match pumped up and won the first two games, but then we weren’t able to pull out a win and lost in five.
There wasn’t much time to think about that game when it was over because we had to prepare for our game against Hofstra at 7 p.m. We used the loss against Missouri State to pump us up for Hofstra and came out and beat them in three! Many of the freshman Bobcats got a chance to play which was an awesome opportunity!
On Saturday we had one game at 3 p.m. against Canisius. After a good pregame meal, we headed to the gym and beat them in three. We ended up second in the tournament, and Madeline Gaffney was named to the all-tournament team! She had a great weekend and even hit 1.000 in the final match! If you’re wondering, that means she got kills on all of her attempts that last match!
That night after we played, we went to eat in Long Beach, N.Y. The restaurant we ate at was really fun with a live band that we all sang to and just a fun atmosphere to relax with teammates and family. After we ate, we walked down to the beach. It was beautiful out there, and I only fell down the stairs once on the way down to the water which is pretty good for me!
We woke up the next day and headed to New York City! We stopped and looked at the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero, and then it was off to Times Square to enjoy the city for a few hours and do some shopping. We split off into groups and tore up the city Bobcat style! Time flew by and before we knew it we had to head back to the airport. We arrived two hours early for our flight that should have taken off at 3:30. At 6:15, we finally started boarding our plane which they had to get out of a hanger because our original plane ran into a bunch of technical difficulties.
It was funny to look around and see all the scattered Bobcats asleep all around the JFK airport just waiting for our flight. Some people took naps while they waited, some read, some farkled and some watched movies. Everyone had their own way of passing the time. We finally arrived in Austin at 10:30 and made it back to San Marvelous at 11:15. We went back to our houses to get ready for classes and practice the next day, because it is ALWAYS A GREAT DAY TO BE A BOBCAT!!!
Now it’s time to prepare for our tournament at SMU this next weekend!! Bobcat volleyball players are on our grind this week! See you out on the court!
August 20, 2010 -- Head Coach Karen Chisum
It’s week #2 of volleyball workouts, and I do believe I can say with sincere honesty that this is the most athletic group that we have put on the floor in a long time. We have 17 quality student-athletes with excellent work ethic and great focus who I think will certainly compete for another championship.
We went to New Braunfels to Newk’s last Friday for our annual off-campus team retreat. We did several team building activities, personality testing (yes, I’m a “lion”!!!!), and then hit the high ropes course. The players had some amazing experiences, including climbing up a 50’ telephone pole, standing upright, and jumping off to catch a “ring” and stepping of a platform, again…50’ up, and free falling and swinging until they stopped. It was by far a high for many of them and certainly a “first” for several. And, as much as anything else, they did it for their teammates and the team! (Check our facebook page and you’ll see some pictures of this.)
We have alternated 2 practices a day and a single practice so allow for as much recovery time as possible. The day is filled with other things if they are not on the court. Trust me, since Aug 10th, every day has been filled with Bobcat volleyball challenges, on and off the court, and/or creating and building relationships.
We also took the players out to Wimberley for the two sessions of CAT CAMP and the spirit rallies. This was a great experience to be able to share our Bobcat Pride with 300 new freshmen Bobcats and to personally invite them to our matches. Personal relationships go a long way, and I do expect to see those kids at our first home match Sept 7th. And……………if someone couldn’t get “pumped” up to be a Bobcat at those rallies, they had to be dead!!!!
We have, of course, experienced some injuries/sicknesses that have and is keeping some players off the court. Of course, this is an expectation, but I HATE It! You’ll see for the first couple of weeks of play that Shelbi won’t be on the court as we allow the stress fracture in her foot to heal. Melinda is back on the court with us, and that’s great to see!
Our captains were elected today and those are Amber Calhoun, Melinda Cave, and Shelbi Irvin. Being a captain is not easy…it involves tremendous leadership, excellent communication skills, a great deal of personal sacrifice and setting the example! These three will certainly fill the roles of the 2010 Bobcat captains, and I look forward to having that special relationship with them.
“Meet the Cats” was last night. If you missed it, we did an hour and a half of intra-squad scrimmage and then did team and staff introductions, shared stories, met and mingled with our fans, and made new friends. The Bobcat volleyball family continues to grow! I think all who were there enjoyed hearing from the players and getting to know them personally while enjoying some refreshments and being indoctrinated with Bobcat volleyball! We emphasized again, our first home match: Sept 7th at 6:30 against Prairie View A&M. We hope to have another 2,000 fans in Strahan Coliseum as we begin our season and repeating our 2009 goal of being SLC Champs and top-35 nationally in attendance.
Please mark your calendar for Sept 7
th……….6:30pm in Strahan Coliseum. I’ll see you there.
August 1, 2010 -- Head Coach Karen Chisum
Aug 1st is here and all of our summer camps are behind us. I can personally say that all three of our camps went very smoothly and we had lots of compliments from parents and campers alike. Our camp staff, including our current Bobcats, did a terrific job! They not only did a great job on the court teaching but they made it a lot of fun for the campers. And if you weren’t around to see Melinda and Sean perform their “Evolution of Dance”, you missed it. Maybe we can get it on YouTube!
Tracy, Sean, and I are scurrying around this week putting the finishing touches on our “fall camp” plans as well as all the other prep things that go into starting a season. I do know I AM EXCITED!!! We will be welcoming 8 newcomers on Monday, Aug 9th, and then 9 returnees the following day. To my three 4-year seniors, Melinda, Shelbi, and AJ……….I wish them the very best fall camp ever and look forward to seeing them lead their team to hopefully their fourth consecutive championship!
The first opportunity to see the Cats in action before our season opens will be on Thursday, Aug 19th , for our annual “Meet the Cats” event. We will have an intrasquad scrimmage from 6:00-7:20 and present the 2010 Bobcats to you at 7:30pm . Light refreshments will be served.
I look forward to the season and hopefully, with your support and your “cheeks in the seats”," we will have a lot of success and fun! Last year we finished 35th nationally in attendance and certainly hope to continue that precedence. If you haven’t renewed your Maroon & Gold Digger membership yet, I hope you will certainly do that. And if you aren’t a member of our M&G Diggers, please join us. Contact me at 512-245-2983 and I’ll personally get you an application.
See you soon along the Chisum Trail……………………
