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Holly's 2006 Tour Journal
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(Photo courtesy of Holly Stein)
As time permits during the season, Holly will share her thoughts on the 2006 beach volleyball season on this page.
Journal Entry #1 Date: April 4, 2006 Subject: AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Ft. Lauderdale Open Well, our first tournament started out great. We played well our first two matches and won both of them in two straight. Then we matched up against EY and Rachel in the quarterfinals on Stadium Court. It was warm and Nicole was getting served every ball. We lost the first game, but won a very long and exciting second game 31-29. We lost in the third after a pretty good fight. Nicole went back to the player's tent to rest and hydrate and her legs started cramping. They got really bad and we had five people trying to massage the cramps away for over an hour. She only got worse and we were forced to take her to the hospital for an IV and medical treatment. Because of that, we had to forfeit out of the tournament after our third match. It was very disappointing and I have never had to do that in my 17-year career. We are trying to figure out what caused Nicole to cramp like that and take care of the problem now, in between tournaments. We look forward to a much better result and being able to finish the next tournament. Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach in Tempe. – Holly _____________________________________________________________ Journal Entry #2 Date: April 8, 2006 Subject: AVP Tempe Open We were looking forward to Tempe and improving our finish from Florida, but we struggled every match and never found our rhythm. We have had some good practices, but Nicole has lots to learn and I have to find a balance between being a player, partner and coach. I need to worry about my own game, elevate that, and her growth will come with time. None of this happened in Tempe and too many unforced errors occurred by both of us. We then tried to fly out to the event in Italy Sunday night, but the flights were delayed, we missed out connecting flight out of San Francisco, and could not find any flights home to LA to fly back home for the night. We decided to drive all night, only five hours, and sleep in our own beds before heading to Modena, Italy Monday for our first FIVB event. We are excited, but know we need to focus on the little stuff now and just try to take baby steps. The potential is there, but we need to find it! Hopefully, we will find it in Modena or at least the beginnings of it. Ciao for now! Holly _____________________________________________________________
Journal Entry #3 Date: May 22, 2006 Subject: AVP Santa Barbara Open We started out slow in Santa Barbara losing our second round match. But we showed some character in coming back through the losers bracket and beating some good teams, Hanson-Straton and the Brazilians Mimi and Tati. We played five matches in one day and showed up Sunday morning flat. We played poorly against Dianne DeNecochea and Tammy Leibl and lost to finish seventh. My partner played well at times and showed some of the promise that I know she has. I, personally, still need to play better and take some pressure off of Nicole. We took some baby steps this weekend, but I am hoping for at least one large step this week as we continue to train hard and hope for a breakthrough. Thanks for reading. See you on the beach! -- Holly _____________________________________________________________
Journal Entry #4 Date: May 29, 2006 Subject: AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open This weekend was a huge stepping stone for us! We challenged Kerri and Misty in the quarterfinals and pushed them to three games. We came back through the losers and won two big three-set matches to get to the final four. At times, we show our potential strength and at other times we are inconsistent and make some unforced errors. We are proud of the breakthrough this weekend. We have been training with the Brazilian team, Tati and Mimi, with their great coach Marcio, and they have really helped us progress! We are flying to Athens tonight to play in an international event there. No rest! Thanks for reading. See you on the beach! – Holly _____________________________________________________________
Journal Entry #5 Date: June 3, 2006 Subject: FIVB Greece Open (Athens, Greece) We got out of town Sunday night and had a long trip to Athens. We arrived safely, but late and the driver who became our personal employee during Athens 2004, picked us up and dropped us at our hotel downtown Athens. A good nights sleep was important because we had one match against another American team, loser goes home -- Tyra Turner and Makare Wilson. We played well and beat them two straight, but Nicole was exhausted from the trip and never had a chance to rest. The next day we had to play the best Canadian team and the number-one seed in the qualifier, a young team of sisters from Brazil who are in their second year on the FIVB. We dominated the Canadians and started strong against the Brazilians, Maria Clara and Carol. We won the first game, but struggled in the second and the young energetic team was able to outlast us in game 3. We did not play our best volleyball, which was unfortunate, because it was to get into the main draw, but we did earn a few points and some experience for Nicole. We are more optimistic for the next qualifier in Gstaad, Switzerland the week after Sacramento. We both came home a little early so we could train more with the Brazilian coach Marcio, and Tatiana Minello. Our goal is to get consistently better on the AVP, get Nicole's conditioning and recovery up to par, and then to do well on the FIVB. We look forward to a great week of training before Hermosa. Thanks for reading. See you on the beach! – Holly _____________________________________________________________ Journal Entry #6 Date: June 11, 2006 Subject: AVP Hermosa Beach Open After a good week of practice with a lot of emphasis on our serving, the weekend started out well, as we won our first two matches easily and served more aces then we had in a long time. We struggled against EY and Rachel who played well, and then won our last match of the day against Polzin and Johns, 2-0. Sunday morning, we played DeNecochea and Liebl, struggled and lost two straight. Teams are starting to serve my partner and trying to fatigue her because she jump serves and runs to the net. This is a new strategy and one that we need to train to face. This week I will work on my offense and on her sideout game, along with our team serving and defense. Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach. -- Holly _____________________________________________________________ Journal Entry #7 Date: June 19, 2006 Subject: AVP Sacramento Open Wow! We had a huge breakthrough this weekend. After losing to EY and Rachel in two games on Saturday, we battled back in the contenders bracket against the always scrappy Lindquist sisters, and Fontana-Dodd, who are very tough. Sunday was a new day and we came to battle. We fought hard and beat DeNecochea and Leibl in three. The match ended with three key and timely blocks by Nicole. Then we got a rematch against EY and Rachel and this time we were ready. We made some defensive adjustments and were able to put the pressure on them. I dug lots of balls and Nicole gave me great transition sets to put away for points. This is when we are at our best. With a great cheering section from Orinda, Nicole's whole family was there to support her in her first final. We did not have the best game plan and did not prepare mentally like we could have. Next time will be different! Now Nicole knows what it is like to be there, and we can just focus on beating the other team in the final. This weekend was a huge step for the team of Branagh and McPeak! Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach. -- Holly _____________________________________________________________ Journal Entry #8 Date: June 26, 2006 Subject: FIVB Swiss Open (Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Slam Event) Our third international event was a success for us. It was a FIVB Grand Slam, with double points and double money were on the line. It was very important for us to have a good finish and improve our seed -- number 30, out of 32, and earn points toward the main draw. We drew EY and Rachel in the first round, which is an awful draw, but we had just beat them in two games, two days earlier (at the AVP Sacramento Open). We were confident and played well. Nicole blocked very well, which is key for us against a top team. We won in three, but had chances to win in two. It was a huge step for us! We went on to beat the Netherlands and Greece to advance to the semis of the winners bracket. We lost a two- game close set to the top Brazilian team and then a two game close match to the big and young Chinese team. I feel like next time we will give each team a better match! We improved our seed dramatically and played very well. We are confident that we can do much better and look forward to the next chance. Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach. -- Holly _____________________________________________________________ Journal Entry #9 Date: July 2, 2006 Subject: AVP Seaside Heights Open, New Jersey Seaside Heights was a good event for us. We moved up to the 6th seed and rolled through our first 3 matches, including beating the team of Jordan and Davis who have been the 3 seed all season long. We played Rachel and EY tight, but made too many unforced errors to make a difference. Sunday morning we played the familiar and scrappy team of Fontana and Dodd and were able to beat them on a windy outside court. Our semifinal with Kerri and Misty was again disappointing. We need to work on a better game plan against them. They are playing good VB, but we can put more pressure on them. I feel like we are playing more consistently at a higher level, but still have so much room for improvement! Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach. -- Holly _____________________________________________________________
Journal Entry #10 Date: July 10, 2006 Subject: AVP Atlanta Open at Atlantic Station We entered Atlanta as the third seed after having a few good finishes lately. We played well in the first round against Angela Lewis and Priscilla Lima, but then struggled against the No. 6 seed, Dianne DeNecochea and Tammy Liebl, and lost in the third set 13-15. Our sideout game was not consistent and we did not put any pressure on them with our serve. After a team talk, we decided to be more aggressive serving and start playing better. We beat the Brazilian team of Tati and Mimi 2-0. We train with them a lot because Marcio Sicoli, their coach, trains us together. When you know a lot about another team it helps, so we were able to take advantage of what we knew. After that, we beat Barbra Fontana and Carrie Dodd 2-0 as well. We have matched up with them a lot this year. To get back into the final four, we had to beat Jen Boss, my former partner, and Nancy Mason, who have had a great season so far. We played well and beat them 2-0. Our semifinal match against EY and Rachel Wacholder did not start well. I made some hitting errors at the beginning that put us in the whole in the first game and we could not get our rhythm back. Their defense was on and we led most of the second game, but they clinched it at the end. The truth is my sideout game was not good against them. I need to sideout better and we need to play better defense. We are playing more consistent now and want to improve our level even more. We have only three-days at home, so we will try to get a few good days of practice in. Looking forward to Birmingham and another chance to get back to the final and win a tournament! Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach. -- Holly _____________________________________________________________
Journal Entry #11 Date: July 17, 2006 Subject: AVP Birmingham-Hoover Open Overall, I am pleased with our progress. We played at a consistently high level most of the tournament and only lost to the top 2 seeds. This is where we need to focus on -- beating these two teams, EY and Rachel and Kerri and Misty. We need a game plan and attack when playing these two teams. Nicole is progressing really well and gaining confidence every week! I need to continue to improve my sideout consistency, and our defense needs to become more effective, but overall we have made lots of improvements. We have a big month ahead of us with Chicago this weekend, Paris, Austria, and the biggest of all -- Manhattan Beach. Keep cheering! See you on the beach. -- Holly _____________________________________________________________ Journal Entry #12 Date: July 25, 2006 Subject: AVP Chicago Open & FIVB French Open in Paris, France (Grand Slam) Chicago was another good event for us. We started a little slow in windy conditions, but got acclimated. We had another tight match with Rachel and EY that we should have won in two straight, but somehow we lost it 15-13 in the third. We played well against Mason Boss to get back to the final four and lost to Kerri and Misty in two. We are still looking to have a better match against them. My sideout needs to be better against them and Nicole's block needs to affect them more. After our games on Sunday we flew to Paris for an international event. We were in the qualifier, which is live or die and we played tired and flat. We now have a couple days of rest for the first time in many weeks, and we will get a chance to work on our game. I am looking forward to getting some good training in Paris before heading to Austria next week for the next event! Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach. -- Holly _____________________________________________________________ Journal Entry #13 Date: August 22, 2006 Subject: AVP Brooklyn Open Here I go again with a new partner. I am now playing with Logan Tom and am really excited about it. I have been trying to get her to play for awhile, but she wasn't ready to commit to me due to her indoor commitments in Europe. Logan has been playing with a variety of partners this year, starting with Brittany Hochevar and then moving to Brooke Niles. She has had some okay finishes, but nothing close to her real standards. We had three days of short practices before heading to NYC as the 10th seed. We played well taking the 7th seed to the third set and losing 17-15 in the third, a match I believe we should have won, but our inexperience together was the difference. This gave us a chance to play in the contenders bracket all day Saturday and improve as a team. We won four straight matches and knocked off the 5th and 8th seeded teams. We played well, but because we haven't played together very long, we weren't always on the same wavelength on defense. Sunday morning we played EY and Nicole and played them tight the first game and struggled the second game. Finishing in 5th was a nice surprise, but the truth is that we both want to finish higher. We are working hard to improve our chemistry and communication so we are ready to go this week in Boulder. Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach. -- Holly _____________________________________________________________
Journal Entry #14
Date: August 28, 2006 Subject: AVP Boulder Open I was a little worried heading into Boulder, because Logan was complaining of a sore ab muscle, but we also made lots of progress in training and I just told her to shoot the ball all week and save it for the tournament. After her first swing in our first match in Boulder, it became obvious that my partner had a serious ab injury. Every match the injury got worse, and by the end I knew it was a tear or sports hernia like the one that Misty May suffered with me in 2000. We played the best we could, losing to Kerri and Misty in the quarters of the winners bracket, and to Dianne DeNecochea and Tammy Leibl to finish 7th. By our last match, Logan was in no shape to play, and it became obvious we were done. I knew that I needed to find a partner right away. It isn't easy to find a great partner for the last major event of the year. I was searching and searching and got a lucky call from Dianne. Her partner needed the weekend off, so I lucked out and got a very strong partner and I am so excited! We have been trying to play together since 2002 and here we are. We will finish the FIVB season this year together as well. Fired up for Cinci! Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the beach in Cincinnati! -- Holly
_____________________________________________________________ Journal Entry #15
Date: September 6, 2006 Subject: AVP Cincinnati Open Cincinnati was a great opportunity for me to play with Dianne Denecochea. Her partner chose to take the week off because she has not been feeling good, and I did not have a partner because Logan is out rehabbing her abdominal muscle. Dianne is 6-4 and a great person. We have been trying to play together off and on since 2002. She works hard and has lots of range at the net. We started a little slow in the cold and rainy weather. Our first match went three games and our second match was full of errors against Jordan-Davis, but we worked our way back through the contenders bracket beating Fontana-Dodd, Tati and Mimi, EY and Branagh, before losing a pretty close match to Kerri and Misty, finishing 3rd. We showed some moments of brilliance, and I think with some time we could be really dangerous as a team. We will play the last three FIVB events together this year and then figure out our future. This week we play the Goddess of the Beach format in Las Vegas at Caesars. We get to switch partners every match and this is supposed to determine who the best individual player is this season. The following week is our last AVP event of the year in Lake Tahoe, with only the top teams competing. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you on the beach -- Holly _____________________________________________________________
Journal Entry #16
Date: September 10, 2006 Subject: AVP Gods and Goddesses, Las Vegas, Nevada Vegas is always an event that the players look forward to. It is fun to play with different types of players, and play different roles on the court. My first pool was Nancy Mason, Dianne Denecochea and Tammy Liebl. I won with all three partners and got to play a little bit on the left side with Mason and do some blocking as well. It was really fun and enjoyable. My next pool became Misty May, EY and Tammy Liebl again. I have history with EY and Misty, so I figured that I would play well with both of them. Unfortunately, I lost with Tammy, won with Misty, but neither EY or I played well when we played together. It was unfortunate because we both had a chance to knock Misty out. The truth is Misty played great and deserved to be in the final. It was a fun and relaxing weekend, where everyone brought friends and family to enjoy the weekend. Next week is Lake Tahoe, and I qualified with my old partner, Nicole Branagh, so we have to play together for this event. The qualification is your best six tournaments together, and I did not have that with any other partners nor did Nicole. It will be top eight men's and women's teams, double elimination. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you on the beach -- Holly _____________________________________________________________
Journal Entry #17
Date: September 26, 2006 Subject: End of Season Entry The highlight to the AVP tournament in Lake Tahoe was that it actually snowed Friday after my match and during the May-Walsh vs. Jordan-Davis match. It was cold, but warmed up to about 80 the last day. Nicole and I only got one day of practice together and it showed. We were not the same team that moved up the rankings during the AVP season. We finished 4th, losing to Jordan-Davis. This is my last entry for the season as I contemplate my future in the sport, my next partner and my future goals. Check back in January for all the fun details! Thanks for reading, and we'll see you on the beach next season! -- Holly
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