Post 6-Blogging with Kelly Kyle

July 30th,
Monday and Tuesday were a great two days of competition for Team USA’s Women’s Indoor Volleyball team. Monday’s match was against Poland and Tuesday’s was against Italy. Both of the matches were important in helping us finish first in our pool and gaining momentum going into the next round of bracket play. By finishing first in our pool, we were guaranteed a quarterfinals match against a number 4 seed team in the opposite bracket-a highly favorable matchup.
Monday was a fairly good game against Poland. Nothing spectacular or fancy, just taking care of business and defeating opponents easily and quickly. We took down Poland with a score of 3-0. Here’s the write-up on this match: http://www.usdeafsports.org/volleyball/news/2013/jul/29/kyle-dominates-win-against-poland/
Tuesday, we took on an Italy squad that when they were on their best game, they could be unpredictable and very good. Thankfully, we were able to serve tough and put a lot of pressure on the Italians and were able to take yet another match by a score of 3-0 and finish pool play at 5-0. Here’s a brief look at what happened against Italy: http://www.usdeafsports.org/volleyball/news/2013/jul/30/win-us-volleyball-advances-quarterfinals/
Although we had some sloppy moments at times, we started off the way we wanted to: with a 5-0 record a a favorable quarterfinal match up against Mexico on Wednesday.
The fans here and at home, along with the whole of Team USA, are supporting us and vice versa.  We have a great team belief and we can’t wait for the next game!  Go Team USA!!!  Go DAWGS!!!
  Kelly Kyle #10

 

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Post 5- Blogging with Kelly Kyle

Location of the opening ceremonies for the Deaflympics 2013, as well as the men's and women's indoor volleyball games.

Location of the opening ceremonies for the Deaflympics 2013, as well as the men’s and women’s indoor volleyball games.

Picture of nearly all of Team USA athletes and coaches before the opening ceremonies in front of Arena Armeec.

Picture of nearly all of Team USA athletes and coaches before the opening ceremonies in front of Arena Armeec.

Lighting of the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies.

Lighting of the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies.

July 28th
Saturday and Sunday was when the competition really started to get going. We had a HUGE match Saturday evening against Russia, who we believed to be our biggest opponents in pool play. It was an evening game and it was nice to see many other USA teams out supporting us! It was such a great atmosphere and the gym was packed, standing room only. Both Russian and USA fans were excited and spirited and ready to see a great match… and a good one it was!
We started off somewhat slow in our match. We let Russia get a lead in set 1 but rallied point for point the entire way and ended up winning the first set. The second set, Russia rallied back and stole the second set from USA. We were able to make some adjustments and, with the support of the crowd and fans, we won sets 3 and 4 and took down Russia. Here’s a recap from that exciting match:
We had a short recovery period between our matches on Saturday and Sunday, but thankfully our schedule was set up to our advantage. Our game on Sunday was a bit easier as we took on Uzbekistan, who was new to the Olympics this year. It was great to see them put together a squad; however, we defeated them soundly with a score of 3 sets to 0.  Here’s a recap from this match: http://www.usdeafsports.org/volleyball/news/2013/jul/28/us-volleyball-takes-breather-defeats-uzbekistan-st/
It’s been a busy two days for the women’s volleyball team, but no rest yet! We are officially 3-0 in pool play and have two more matches, vs. Poland and vs. Italy. Our goal is to take down both of those teams and earn a number one seed going into the quarterfinal match-ups and bracket play.
Thanks for checking in!! GO USA!!!
Kelly Kyle #10
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Post 4- Blogging with Kelly Kyle

July 26

Friday night was an experience not many get to say they have been a part of: an Olympic opening ceremony! USA was decked out in matching blue USA polos, khaki shorts, and either tan shoes if you are a girl or Crocs-sandal shoes if you were a guy. The funny thing is: I usually wear a size 11 women’s shoes and the tan shoes didn’t go up that high in sizes so I was one of a few women athletes who also sported the Crocs-sandal shoe. We left the hotel in several giant buses carrying 50 people per bus. Before we departed, the entire USA squad of athletes, coaches, trainers, and personnel gathered in the lobby of our hotel to anxiously await the news of who would be flag bearer and who would make of the group of 12 athletes who would walk when the United States was called. The location of the opening ceremony was a bit smaller than normal so only around 10 percent of each country would be walking. The flag bearer was a woman for the first time since 1983. This was her fifth Olympics and she had represented the US in multiple sports, earning multiple medals. This young lady also happened to be the daughter of our assistant coach. Everyone was excited about the pick for flag bearer and thought she was a great representation.
  As we arrived at the Arena Armeec where the opening ceremonies were held, the entire USA squad gathered on the steps outside in front of the arena for a group picture. It was tough getting everyone together but I think after a half hour or so we managed. After this we spent quite a while getting pictures together with new friends, acquaintances, teammates, and others. It was such a memorable experience for all and we wanted to make sure it was well documented. Once enough pictures were taken we filed into the arena and sat in the designated USA section. My parents and many other fans filed in wearing their Red, White, and Blue and were energetic and ready to cheer on our nation. The ceremony opened with the traditional carrying in of the Olympic Torch. After this, the torch was used to light the Olympic Flame which would burn during the duration of the games. This part gave me goosebumps and it was just such an awesome moment. Once the flame was lit, the Olympic flags were raised and the ceremony began. The actually ceremony included many dancers, drummers, actors, and performers that were captivating to watch. I don’t even know how to describe the scenes that were in front of me. Acrobatic performers and performers in crazy and native costumes were some of my favorites.
Some moments that really stood out were when the countries worked together to get the wave going around in the arena. Another fun moment was when our coaches two young boys ran around the arena collecting flags from all the different countries. I swear, after they were done they probably had 20-30 small flags in their hands. Athletes from other countries would come up to some of the American athletes in order to take a picture together. It was just such a captivating experience and at the end we must remember to take care of our minds and bodies in order to go after the Gold.
Thanks for tuning in and checking out my experience during the opening ceremonies! The next report will include our results against a very tough Russian squat. Look for the results soon!
Go DAWGS…..Go USA!!
Kelly Kyle #10
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Post 3-Blogging with Kelly Kyle

July 25th
I know it has been some time since I last was able to blog and update you all. The amount of free time is definitely limited now that we are over in Bulgaria, making it difficult for me to update everyone as often as I would like to.
Since I have last blogged, I enjoyed my first international flight to Europe. Since I have to return to Indiana for preseason on an earlier flight, I didn’t get to fly over with all the team, but just two other teammates who need to return earlier for various reasons. The first leg was 7 hours on Air France so our layover was in Paris for about 5 hours. Just enough time to try a French croissant, catch up on zzzzzz’s (this was 5am to 10am Paris time) and do a little bit of souvenir shopping. Although it is not the Paris experience I wish to experience someday, I can now officially say I have been to Paris!
The second leg of the flight was on Air Bulgaria, a much smaller plane and a much shorter flight. It was about 3-4 hours long and Payton (my teammate and a newbie like me) and I were asleep nearly the entire way. It was on this flight was where my deaflympics international experience really began. We flew in with parents of other USA athletes, a USA beach athlete, as well as athletes from Brazil, South Africa and a few other countries. This is where the uniqueness of this experience started to hit me. Never have I experienced before so many different cultures coming together in friendly (but fierce) competition and it is truly amazing!
As we arrived in Sofia, the three players on the separate flight were surprised to see our teammates going through customs nearly right in front of us. They had trouble with their flight out of Washington D.C, had a 6 hour delay, and instead of a layover in Moscow they now had a layover in London. With a bit of luck, we all managed to arrive on time and it one piece. After 10+ hours of flying and traveling we made it to Team USA’s very nice hotel in Sofia at around 4pm in the afternoon. To adjust to the time change, the team wasn’t allowed to nap but had a light training session consisting of jogging and stretching to get loose and get rid of the jet lag. This proved to be very helpful for me and I really haven’t seemed to have much problems with jet lag thus far.
The second day in Sofia, Wednesday, was spent adjusting to the time, food, and playing venue. We had a morning practice that would introduce us to the court and let us get adjusting to the lighting, court surface, etc. Unlike many gyms, international courts allow plenty of surrounding space for things like serving and chasing down stray balls during live play. After a morning practice, we got to rest before a team meeting in the afternoon and meals interspersed throughout.  All of the volleyball teams’ breakfasts and dinners are held in the hotel banquet hall and we are usually joined by USA athletes, coaches, and personnel which makes dining a unique and enlightening experience. Meeting athletes and people from everywhere in the USA, each representing different sports is a very enjoyable part to every meal. Lastly on Wednesday we had a final meeting before heading to bed for that night.
Thursday was the day we had been preparing for for a long while. We had a short 45 minute walkthrough/practice that morning, a team lunch and before I knew it we were heading to the gym ready to take on Canada in what was my first international competition. The big arena is unfortunately being used for the men’s indoor competition; however, women’s volleyball still has a very nice facility in the Training Hall which looks to be a volleyball only gym off to the side of the main arena. Women’s medal rounds will be held in the big arena so I look forward to that opportunity. The game before USA vs. Canada was Germany vs. Belarus, which went into 5 sets, with Belarus pulling of a very close win over the Germans. Neither of these countries are in our pool but it is nice to scout out what type of competition we are up against this year. Once the match ended, we took the court for an even 30 minutes of warmups. Before I knew it, we were taking the court for the match. I had some major butterflies at first, but a few points into it and after I earned USA the first kill of the match I started to relax and play volleyball like I know how.  Here’s a link to a very nice write-up by the USA Deaf Sports Media team on our win against Canada.
Other results for volleyball and every other sports, as well as a medal count can be found on usdeafsports.org.
That’s all the major news from my first few days in Sofia and at the Deaflympics. Look for my next blog to include my thoughts on the opening ceremony tomorrow and results from our match against a tough Russian team. Thanks for your patience as I keep you updated. As always, GO USA and GO DAWGS!!!!
Kelly Kyle #10

 

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Post 2: Blogging with Kelly Kyle

July 18th

The last three days have been filled with intense on-court team and positional training sessions, off-court workouts, team bonding, and our first scrimmage since we have arrived at training camp. Our coaches have put a lot of thought into our training schedule in order to optimize the time we have together on court before we fly overseas. With the weather as hot and humid as it has been lately here in the DC area, it takes a lot of cautious and careful consideration by both coaches and our trainer Jenny to make sure that the conditions on the court aren’t too dangerous for us to practice. On just a moments notice our schedule could be rearranged and practice times switched for the safety of the team. Team practices are now usually in the morning from 9-11 or so and then a practice later in the evening once it has cooled off some from 7-9. CORE is usually in the afternoon and individual practices are spread out in between team practices when there is available court time. The girls have seemed very flexible so far and we are all excited to head over to Bulgaria and take on our first competition which happens to be the USA’s neighbor to the north, the Canadians.
On Wednesday a local pizza joint, H & Pizza sponsored a free meal for the USA deaf women’s volleyball, men’s basketball and men’s handball teams. It was a nice chance for us to leave campus, bond as a team and see a bit more of the downtown area outside of Gallaudet University. After pizza some of the team walked down the block to Rita’s Frozen Custard. So it was easy to say we were fed well that evening. It was a nice change from the monotony of the campus cafe food.  After our adventures downtown the team went back to the Fieldhouse at Gallaudet where we had a team meeting about our team goals. To sum it all up our goals were: To communicate better, to get excited and cheer after every point, and to GET GOLD. I found it extremely intriguing that the last time the USA women’s indoor volleyball team brought home the Gold was 1993 in Sofia. 1997 Copenhagen Olympics USA brought home bronze, 2001 Rome Olympics we brought home Silver, 2005 Melbourne Olympics we brought home Bronze, 2009 Taipei Olympics USA brought home Silver, and 2013 Sofia Olympics… TBA. That little history lesson was just motivation for us all. It’s been 20 years since the USA women’s volleyball team has brought home gold and it’s easy to say we are hungry!
Thursday evening was our first scrimmage. I was told that we were going to be scrimmaging George Washington University’s “intramural” team. (GWU was in the A10 with Butler last year) Once we started to warmup it was easy to see that this was no intramural team. I recognized some familiar faces and after the scrimmage found out that the team contained a setter from Temple, middle from Howard, an outside from George Washington, and an assistant coach from George Washington which were all faces that I saw just this past season with Butler in the A10 conference with the exception of Howard whom Butler faced in a preseason Pittsburgh tournament. The team also contained 4 other girls a few of them graduates and a few more who were active players. Our team was a bit undersized but we were able to take advantage of our opponent’s unfamiliarity with each other by serving aggressively and we were able to take them in 3 closely played sets. I was extremely proud of the way our team fought and played. It was easy to tell we had been putting in the work on and off the court.
These have been 3 days of hard work and it was nice to see for the team that it paid off in the scrimmage. We hope to have another scrimmage with that same team on Sunday. I am sure they are eagerly awaiting a rematch so our team is going to have to step up our game. In the meantime… Stay cool wherever you are and GO DAWGS!!
Kelly Kyle #10

A view of the Gallaudet University Fieldhouse where all the practices during training camp for the USA Deaf Volleyball team are held.

A view of the board in our locker room with inspirational sayings and a timeline of past Olympics.

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Post 1: Blogging with Kelly Kyle

July 15th,

Prior to the USA Deaflympics training camp which officially kicked off on the 14th of July, I was fortunate enough to be able to take almost two full days to tour Washington D.C. This was my first time experiencing the city of Washington D.C. , and I just got chills thinking of all the history that had been made as I visited places such as the White House, Capitol Building, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Sailors Monument, as well as several of the Smithsonian Museums, Ford’s Theatre, and Mt. Vernon. I would definitely put this trip down as one of the most enlightening and educational experiences I have ever had and that was only after the first two days. I look forward to being able to spend more time exploring D.C. a bit more with the Dawgs when we travel to take on the Georgetown Bulldogs later this fall in the new Big East!
Gallaudet University, located in the heart of D.C. so graciously made their facilities available for the Indoor Women’s Volleyball team to practice , train, and stay for the 8 days of training camp prior to the departure overseas to Sofia, Bulgaria where the 2013 Deaflympics are being held. A few other USA teams are also here practicing including the Men’s Handball team and the USA basketball team is nearby practicing as well. Each day brings handfuls of new experiences and I learn more and more from the Deaf Community and my teammates each day. Coming in with no prior ASL (American Sign Language) experience, each day I pick up just a few more signs and I am starting to make progress.
Training camp is structured very similar to that of my preseasons at Butler. It is full of long days with two or three long practices, individual practices, team workout sessions and CORE, team meals, meetings, and bonding. The team is coming along very well in these first few days and I cannot wait to see the progress we will continue to make. Sadly our only major setback so far is an injury to our primary setter who pulled her quad and suffered from a minor knee injury. With the heat in the 90 degree range and the humidity of D.C. we have trouble keeping the court and floors from becoming slippery and her injury occurred on the slick floors. She is in the recovery process and we hope to have her back and in full force by the time we fly over to Sofia. Other than that it has been a lot of hard work in preparation for the competition yet to come. I keep working hard in hopes of helping Team USA go get that Gold in Sofia and to help the Bulldogs in the fall.
Go USA… Go DAWGS
Talk to you all soon!
Kelly #10
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Less than one week until I head down to Louisville, Kentucky to participate in the US Open with my USA Deaf team. This will be the first time I have met any of my teammates or coaches. I am super excited but nervous at the same time. I have attempted to learn some sign language but at this moment in time I don’t know very much. I think I am less nervous for the volleyball and more nervous about rooming and communicating with these girls. Even though I am nervous, I am excited to be able to put on a jersey that says USA #10. I am sure this will be a very rewarding experience!

6 Days! Until then you will find me training, lifting, running, and playing volleyball while trying to learn sign language.

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Summary of Volunteer Activities

3/20/13    Shepherd Orientation: 1.5 hours

3/23/13 Greentree Assisted Living: 3 hours

4/613 Jireh Sports Cleaning: 3 hours

4/12/13 NCAA Hall of Champions: 3 hours

4/17/13 Shepherd, Letter Writing: 2 hours

4/26/13 Wheeler Elementary School: 3 hours

4/27/13 Great Alley Cleanup: 4.5 hours

Grand Total: 20 hours community service

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Great Alley Clean-Up 2013

4/27/13

Great Alley Clean-Up 2013

Location: Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis

Time: 7:30am-12noon (4.5 hours of service)

This community service activity was by far the most strenuous and physically demanding activity I did over the entire course of the semester. It didn’t require a constant input of demanding work, but over a period of 3-4 hours needless to say I was beat once finished. For this task I was placed into a team of 8 individuals (this included Alex Felt, who is also in our class as well). We were given alleys near Butler’s campus to pick up trash and clean in any way that we could. Since we were the largest group we were given two alleys and a connector. Each alley ran approximately from 43rd street, nearly to 38th street and were located near Graceland and Capitol.

Alex and I went to tackle a small, approximately 1-2 block portion of an alley. Little did we know, we actually picked the alley with the most trash and bigger items and it was quite a task. By the time we were done with just that small area, the rest of the alleys had been cleaned and the rest of the group had caught up with us. Our group had also shrunk from 8 people to 6 people total as two gentlemen seemed to disappear and leave us quite early in the day.

To clean our alley, 6 or 7 giant yellow trash bags were used. We filled up 3 or 4 of the bags with soggy, wet, moldy cardboard boxes filled with articles of clothing, diapers, marco’s pizza boxes, barbies, etc. Everything was trash and there was lots of it. Alex and I started the morning off strong with good, positive go-get-em’ attitudes but it didn’t take long before a cloud of doubt that we hadn’t made any progress settled over our heads and around 9:30 we took a small break and came back refreshed.

Overall, after walking down a completed alley you can easily notice the difference in the level of cleanliness. We had one gentlemen exit his house to thank us for our services and it made us feel appreciated even when it felt like we weren’t making much progress in reducing the amount of trash in that alley, let alone the entire universe. The point being, even if we were only making a difference for one or two people it still made at least somewhat of a difference and that is what mattered.

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Wheeler Elementary School Carnival

4/26/13

5pm-8pm (3 hours)

Wheeler Elementary School Carnival

This volunteer opportunity was very exciting for me as my previous opportunities were mainly behind the scene, nitty-gritty work. This involved face to face interaction with kids who were out the carnival and I loved every minute of it. I was put in charge of an inflatable activity that involved taking tickets, checking to make sure the environment was safe and that only two kids were racing and on the apparatus at a time. Since the inflatable was an obstacle course and involved two people racing against each other I had the struggle to make sure that each willing participant had a partner to race against if desired. I also gave orders for the children to take off shoes, glasses, or any decorative headwear during the activity. I may be a tad biased, but I am pretty sure that the inflatable was super popular and all the kids really enjoyed that activity.

My favorite memories from this event was just seeing so many smiling, positive, and enthusiastic faces ready to go and have fun at the carnival. All the kids were appreciate when I held their stuff and many went on the ride multiple times. One pair of sisters that went on the ride really stood out for me. A girl and her very young, less than two year-old sister went on the inflatable at least two times. Each time because of the very young sister it took quite a while for them to complete the ride but the sister was willing to take her time and help her struggling sister make it through and complete the obstacle course. Each time I thought they were precious and I loved the fact that the older sister was so willing to help the much younger sisters, and I loved how the younger sister was so enthused and willing to go on the ride.

I really enjoyed this volunteer work. Even though I had to set up before and help clean up some afterwards, it was the smiling kids and their enthusiasm that made it all worth it.

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