May 23, 2005
Nearing the end of its four-country European tour, the Notre Dame women’s volleyball day spent one final day in Pesaro, Italy, on Monday. Sophomore-to-be Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos H.S.) chronicles the action, which included relaxing on the beach and playing the team’s final match of the trip. On Tuesday, the Irish were scheduled to head south to Rome, their final destination.
The team will spend two days in Rome before returning to the United States on Thursday. Check back to und.com for further diaries chronicling the trip, as well as a photo gallery of the sights of Italy, to be posted once the travel party returns home.
Monday, May 23rd
“Today we spent another day in Pesaro. We experienced all types of weather; we had rain and fog in the morning and had beautiful sunshine in the afternoon. It was supposed to be a relaxing day, and we really had no planned activities. Due to the weather, laying out was not an option until about around 1:00, so in the morning most of us walked around the small beach city or read books in our rooms. Around lunch time the sun began to shine and all of us went and lay on the beach for a good two hours.
“We left Pesaro at 4 o’clock for our match against an Italian club team in Ravenna, which is a city about an hour away. We matched up against this team really well. We were starting to play the 5th game when the match was called because the gym was already scheduled for someone else. Apparently in Italy, you cannot set the ball over the net if you are a back-row player in front of the ten-foot line, and also balls that land on the line do not count either. The ref was a bit shaky on the rules of volleyball, but we were playing a good match. The facilities were a bit rocky, also. The toilets were literally holes in the ground, with foot pads in front of the whole. Many decided not to use them and hold it till we went to dinner. However, [Lauren] Kelbley managed to do the unthinkable.
“After the match, we went to dinner with the Italian club team members. Only a couple of girls spoke English, so the language barrier was a bit hard to get around. When dinner was over, we got back on the bus and drove back to Pesaro. Everyone is excited for tomorrow and for the sights of Rome.
“GO IRISH!!
“P.S. – The real updated score is [Kelly] BURRELL=9 [Lauren] BREWSTER=10 and KELBS [Lauren Kelbley]=65”