The Notre Dame volleyball team just returned from an interesting trip to Hawai'i

A Long Strange Trip For The Notre Dame Volleyball Team To Hawai'i

Oct. 20, 2006

NOTRE DAME, IND.- Notre Dame volleyball team is just returning from a memorable four day trip to the Hawai’ian islands. The trip was memorable for not only the volleyball that was played, but also for the earthquake and the new culture that was experienced when the Irish volleyball team left the mainland. To follow in the journal entries below are what some of the Notre Dame volleyball players had to say about their recent trip to “paradise”.

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Freshman Tara Enzweiler

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Freshman middle blocker Tara Enzweiler (Raleigh, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons):

“When Notre Dame volleyball came to Hawai’i with the intention of shaking things up, none of us could have imagined the extent of shaking that occurred. We were all shaken up, along with the rest of Hawai’i, as a large earthquake hit the main island of Maui. The shock left us out of power, out of food and out of luck. We were faced with the challenge of finding ways to fill our time and our bellies. The latter proved simpler than the former, as we sought out hotels that offered buffets for all three meals of the day, despite the lack of electricity. Bouncing around from buffet to buffet was truly a cultural experience, as we were exposed to a wide variety of Hawai’ian specialties. Luckily, the electricity was restored in time for our two matches against University of Hawai’i. We were so fortunate to have the opportunity to play in the atmosphere of the Hawai’ian volleyball gym (Stan Sheriff Center) with the enthusiastic fans and the live pep band. Even beyond the exposure to the Hawaiian culture and chance to play great volleyball, this trip to Hawai’i gave us the chance to meet a fabulous group of Notre Dame alumni, who showed us utmost hospitality. Although our experience in Hawai’i wasn’t exactly the one that we planned, it was still an amazing unforgettable experience.”

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Sophomore Madison Clark

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Sophomore defensive specialist/setter Madison Clark (Sturgis, Mich./Sturgis):

“Although the trip to Hawaii didn’t go exactly how we had planned, it was still a lot of fun and we gained a lot throughout the trip in both volleyball experience and how to dealing with natural disasters. The trip was filled with surfing, shopping, lots of fresh pineapple and of course volleyball. Surfing was a lot of fun, although we did have a few minor injuries from rock collisions while riding the waves. It was still a very memorable experience. We definitely ate well while in Hawaii; I think we all ate at least three full pineapples each by the end of the trip. The surprise event that definitely wasn’t a part of our set itinerary was the “slight tremor” we experienced Sunday morning. I was actually in the bathroom when it hit and I had no idea what was happening, I thought it was my roommate Serinity Phillips running around in our room or a really strong gust of wind blowing our hotel. I soon realized it was an actual earthquake. The power was out the rest of the day, which forced us to pull together as a team and come up with a new game plan- well actually quite a few new game plans. Instead of snorkeling we spent our day walking around town, eating more pineapple, practicing in the natural light, and playing games in the hallways of our hotel (Outrigger Reef). So, the trip definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was a great experience that I will never forget, and I think we are all glad to say that we survived an earthquake!”

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Junior Ashley Tarutis

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Junior setter Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos):

“The itinerary for Hawai’i was all planned out for us highlighted by surfing, snorkeling, shopping and playing University of Hawai’i-in the most amazing volleyball atmosphere. However, plan A quickly turned to plan B and was catapulted all the way to plan Z when an earthquake struck. The trip began as planned as upon our arrival in O’ahu we quickly threw on our bathing suits and ran to the beach for everyone to try their luck at surfing. Some did better than others, and most escaped with some minor cuts and bruises. We also ate a fantastic dinner at Duke’s with the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Hawai’i. The next morning, bright and early I might add, everything was literally shaking around us due to the earthquake suffered by the Hawai’ian Islands. It was a rough time, and left us without power for 14 hours with only one single buffet restaurant for four meals, but we made the best of it. We all filled our bellies with pineapple and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. After the power was restored, we were able to try some new restaurants and go shopping in one of O’ahu’s malls. The best part of the trip was playing Hawai’i in two volleyball matches. The Hawai’ian crowd really appreciates good volleyball and the packed house was so enjoyable to play in front of. Although the matches did not turn out how we wanted them to, we all learned a lot throughout the trip. Overall, the trip taught us about the Hawai’ian culture while also teaching us more about ourselves individually as well as about other members of the Notre Dame volleyball program.”

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Senior Danielle Herndon

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Senior libero Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant):

“Going into the Hawai’i trip I was very excited about my first time to the islands, but I had no idea what Hawai’i had in store for me. When we arrived in Hawai’i on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 14) we immediately hit the waves to test our surfing skills. Many of the girls are from the Midwest and are not quite surfing pros, but it was a lot of fun. We ate at Duke’s that evening with the Notre Dame Alumni Club and some of the parents that made the trip with us. My uncle is in the Navy and is currently stationed in Hawai’i, so I felt lucky to see him and his family while I was there. I hadn’t seen my uncle or his family in over a year. On Sunday morning (Oct. 15) around 7:15 a.m. an earthquake occurred just off the main island of Hawai’i. My hotel room was shaking and being from Florida, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I also happened to be on the phone with my mom at the time and she was flipping out when I told her my room was shaking because the thoughts of an earthquake immediately entered her mind. For the rest of the day there was no electricity, no sun, no stores open, and no restaurants serving food. Therefore we had to cancel our planned snorkeling and picnic outing with the Notre Dame Alumni Club. We ate at buffets that the area hotels opened for people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then again for breakfast on Monday morning (Oct. 16). On Monday night, we played University of Hawai’i and lost in three games. They were all close games and luckily we were able to play Hawai’i again the next evening. On Tuesday (Oct. 17), we did not eat at a buffet for any of the meals and we lost to Hawaii again, but this time in four games. I feel like we learned a lot and we fought hard, but we came up a little short in our second attempt against the Rainbow Wahine. We then rushed to catch our red-eye back to the mainland Tuesday night. We arrived in Los Angeles at 6:15 a.m. local time and continued onto Chicago where we landed around 1:30 p.m. local time. After this trip, we saw many good things that we did well on the court, but we also saw many things we can improve on. The Hawai’i trip was a great experience and obviously a memorable one as well.”

— ND —