It is raining already! It was not suppose to rain until evening. As everything I wanted to do was outside, let me take 30 minutes and give you my opinion of where we are at the end of June.
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I asked a freshmen, Megan won as she was sitting in the front of the bus as I drove, to share her insights on the day in the Queen City. With but one edit, allow me to present Megan Ashby.
"Hi all! So, after partaking in our annual educational field trip to Cincinnati, there are a few things that I think can be acknowledged. First of all: six hours is a very long time to be riding on a minibus, even with the great group of gals (plus Coach) that we were traveling with. Second of all: there was a lot to learn, from our tour of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and from the great Queen City. After actually arriving about an hour late to the museum, we were still able to get a tour guide, whose knowledge totally enriched our experience. We got to sit in a former slave house [pen], learn more about slavery and the Civil War, hear personal stories of slaves, visit a slave memorial (and an eternal flame), learn more about modern slavery, and try (with almost too much success) to fit into hiding places like the ones that may have been found on the Underground Railroad. Overall, I thought this was a great experience, and I really learned a lot. After the museum, we hiked (what we all thought felt way more than one lap around the track) over to Skyline Chili where we enjoyed a good lunch with lots of cheese and people-watching through the windows. We all know that you can’t have a volleyball trip without ice cream, so we headed over to Graeter’s ice cream for dessert. We ate our ice cream outside near a fountain where we made some wishes and took some pictures. Once we had all finished our ice cream, we were the ones melting, so we headed back to the bus where we spent the first half hour of the drive cooling off. We actually crossed over the Ohio river on the Cincinnati bridge to Kentucky, making this a tri-state day. Overall, I thought this was a great experience and really enjoyed spending time with the team." If you have not seen them, pictures are available below the "read more" break on the 6/17 post. Years ago, Coach Julie had us help serve meals in Kokomo with her church. I had hopes that we would do that yearly, but it did not work out that way. I feel strongly about doing for the community. I have kept an eye open and even asking for something to do that gives back to others. I needed to be mindful of what the girls could do safely. Well, I finally found an opportunity I am comfortable doing.
July 12 & 13 we are helping the Lion's Club with their milkshake trailer at the Howard Co. 4H Fair. We will be working 3-10:00 PM during the two days. I will be there the whole time. Girls will work a 3.5 hour shift. We will have three or four girls work a shift. The girls will have the opportunity to walk the fair grounds, they can grab a bite to eat at any of the vendors, and (ready girls) they have free drinks and ice cream in the trailer. The work is not hard and it is extremely safe. The biggest issue I need to work through is the transportation component. With people coming and going at different times and me being there all day, I can not drive them over in either one of our vehicles or bus five. The Lion's Club is a service organization that is very involved with health care (especially cancer research), Leader Dogs for the Blind and research in optical diseases, hearing impairment, and then local services such as paying for the street lights in a community, providing a park for recreational opportunities, or educational scholarships. The organization is over a 100 years old. Like every service organization, most struggle with membership issues as the "Greatest Generation" dies off and Baby Boomers and their children are much less giving with their time, much less compassionate, and much more self-centered. They need help. We want to help. Makes for a good pair. Girls, please mark it on your calendars. Details coming within a week. Our kids were very well received by the docent who showed us around. She told me that that it was one of the best groups she had ushered during the past year. Our kids were very attentive, polite, and seemed interested in the the stories she shared. Is it little wonder that she appeared to enjoy the girls. The docent was an important element as she held the kids attention. Just like last year in the Holocaust Museum, there was much to be learned as America is repeating the history of our inhumanity. Pictures available after the break.
Sorry, I am behind the curve a little on this posting of details. Here is what I think I know, what I am being told by the NURFC staff, and what I assume.
We will leave at 7:45 AM Saturday morning. We will return by sunset Saturday night. I actually hope we are back closer to 6:30, but it is better to plan with a larger window. We are scheduled in the museum 11-2. My brother who visited last year said that a group of high school girls is probably finished in a two hours. We will spend a little time along the Ohio R. as the museum fronts the river. The Roebling Suspension Bridge (1868), which is the model for the bigger Brooklyn Bridge, is located at the foot of the museum. We might walk across and enjoy the views of the river, Covington, KY, and downtown Cincy. A stop for Graiter's Ice Cream of Cincinnati on the way out of town will complete our time in Cincinnati. The Reds are out of town, so traffic should be relatively light. We will actually stop for Cincinnati style chili after we cross back into Indian at St. Leon off of I-74. Morgan is dead wrong. Cincinnati Chili is Five-Star Michelin high cuisine! Transportation is free. Tickets for an individual who is part of a group (15 minimum) is $12. I think they are normally $18. Ice cream is a couple of bucks. Worth every dime, even if it is not a Mom & Pop operation. Skyline can be less than $2.00 for a Skyliner, a coney dog buried in shredded cheddar cheese. I will order a 4-way (Morgan, this is heaven on Earth) and Skyliner with ice water. It cost me less than ten bucks. If questions, give a call or text me at 765.438.7259. My email is [email protected]. Currently we have M. Moore, J. Ebert, K. Hammond, P. Jones, M. McMains, J. Steward, M. Viney, M. Ashby, M. Ellis, H. Kauffman, A. May, M. Worl, E. Zinn attending. 1.) A. May is pretty darn good. She has missed one serve at 37-1/59= .610 (The player has hit the zone I have called minus any errors divided by total service opportunities. This is the most conservative of the serving formulas out there as the player is heavily penalized for missing a serve. I have used it for decades as I value serve that much. You miss a zone and your percent goes down. You miss a serve your percent takes a major hit.) She currently has a 14:1 ace-to-error ratio! She is hitting 8-3/22= .227 (kills minus errors divided by total attempts). She has 47 assists (a player earns an assist when a set results in a kill) and is doing okay as a freshmen setter. She has a couple of hustle points. Now, what I need her to do is hold her base position in defense, not loop a short serve, and set the block better. All correctable things when we get into practice.
2.) J. Herron's surgery and delayed recovery is contributing to some poor numbers, but her serving percent is not one of them. I have thought for a couple of years that Jil could be a weapon on serve. However, she missed too many serves in practice and matches. So far, she has missed two (23-2/31= .667). I love that percent. Now, we start to walk the line of when and how aggressive to be on serve. Her 1:1 ace-to-error ratio needs to improve at some point. But .667 looks great to me. 3.) M. McMains sophomore year is off to a fantastic start. Hitting percent is 35 points higher from her freshmen season (26-10/76= .210). She has a 2.5:1 ace-to-error ratio and serving .500 (26-4/44) to zone. The big surprise is she is passing 1.59, which is 3rd on the team (83/52 or 83 points divided by 52 receptions)! The point scale is 0 for being aced to a 3 for a perfect pass. If 1.59 is third on our team at the end of September, it will be difficult for us to win consistently. Still, understand that Makayla has struggled in passing over the past year or two, so a 1.59 is a solid start. |
CategoriesArchives
October 2023
AuthorVarsity Coach Denny Crum |