Jayhawks in Europe: Tiana Dockery
From May 18-30, Kansas volleyball embarked on a European training trip aimed at combining cultural education with intense practices and competition. The team played seven matches, went an impressive 6-1 in those contests, and hit travel destinations in Italy, France and Spain. The Jayhawks graciously accepted the task of keeping their fans, family and KU volleyball supporters in the loop on what the team is up to on a daily basis. Four-year Jayhawk Tiana Dockery wrote about the final day of the trip.
Day 13 – Barcelona, Spain to Miami, Florida to Lawrence, Kansas
Sadly our trip has come to an end. After a nine-hour plane ride from Barcelona to Miami, and a quick flight to Kansas, I think we are all excited to be back. We would like to thank KiKi for being a wonderful tour guide, we have developed such a great relationship with her. We would also like to thank everyone who followed along with us on our tour and all of the teams that gave us an opportunity to play and provided us with their great hospitality.
We were able to play at a high level and become better with each match we played. I absolutely love this team and believe we will achieve our goals and continue to grow through the upcoming season. Overall, I believe that this trip helped our team become closer, I mean we were together every day, all day for two weeks – it couldn’t get any better!
We were able to bond with one another during our sightseeing, learning each other’s interests in shopping, of course, and with the types of food we were daring to try. Maggie Anderson explains our relationship as sisters because our bond will forever be unbreakable. I think I can speak for everyone on the trip when I say we appreciate this opportunity and the people we met along the way. We had a great time experiencing the culture and, of course, experiencing the food. Our memories will last a life time and our bond will only become stronger. With that being said, let’s rock out in Horejsi in the fall – hope to see you all there!
Coming up: Kansas volleyball will release its 2015 schedule on June 1.
Associate athletic director Jim Marchiony, the volleyball senior administrator on the trip, added historical highlights throughout the trip. As the team’s time in Europe came to a close, Marchiony shared some final thoughts.
Elevators: Europeans believe in elevators that can hold a maximum of two people; one if he has luggage. One elevator per hotel.
Soap: European hotels don’t believe in providing a “bar” of soap larger than a postage stamp. One “bar” of soap per bathroom.
Showers: For the most part, the shower is a third the size of a European elevator.
Electrical outlets: European hotels don’t believe in wasting money on electrical outlets. Usually there’s one in your room (plus one in the bathroom). And usually they put it in the most inconvenient place they can find. If you’ve got more than one electrical device that needs charging, you have to budget your time. And so maybe, instead of spending time on your device, you can actually talk to one another; and maybe, just maybe, that’s the point.
Tissues: None. Well, in Mataro the hotel room included a small plastic packet that contained three tissues.
We landed at KCI at 10:45 p.m., about 23 hours after our alarm clocks went off to get us started on this return trip. What an enriching 13-day adventure – an adventure we’ll always cherish. We are all very fortunate to be involved in college athletics, and fortunate to be at the University of Kansas.
