California girls

Saturday, March 7

We landed in Los Angeles, Calif.,with enough time to have an afternoon co-ed practice. We were all so excited to finally be on spring break. We played for about two hours and then returned back to the hotel. We all hung out together at the pool that night and went to bed early since we were all so tired from traveling.

Sunday, March 8

Today we got a chance to sleep in a little bit, have a quick morning practice and head off to Laguna Beach. The weather was good. It was a little chilly but a lot of sunshine. We relaxed on the beach and threw around a Frisbee for a while. We walked around town for a little bit and got food. That night we went out for pizza and turned in early since we had our first match the next day.

Monday, March 9

Today was our first match of spring break. It was against LaVerne College, and we played at Claremont Club. The men played first, so the women’s team came to watch them play. They played great. The weather was awful, about 50 degrees and cloudy. We played after them, and they all stayed to watch us play. The team we played was pretty good, and I think that everyone played really well. We won 8-1. After, we went out to dinner to celebrate the wins at Buca Di Beppo. That night we all hung out and went to the hot tub to relax.

Tuesday, March 10

Today was an early day, and the men’s and women’s team had a conjoined match at La Sierra College. It was the most beautiful college we had ever seen. We played simultaneously, which was cool because we really felt like one team instead of two. We all supported each other while still on the court. Both teams won pretty easily. The weather today was amazing: high 70s and lots of sun. It was a really fun day, and we got a quick dinner after at Wendy’s.

Wednesday, March 11

Today was our free day. We all agreed to go to Huntington Beach. Unfortunately, the weather was yet again awful: mid 50s and windy. We went to an awesome pizza place for lunch and ate way too much. Some of the boys were brave enough to go surfing, and the girls walked around town and went shopping. We all played beach volleyball together which was really fun. It was Danny Frank’s (Ann Arbor first-year) birthday, so we went to Red Robin for dinner to celebrate. The waiters sang to him and gave him a huge chocolate sundae. He didn’t share. That night, both teams hung out together all night and played games in the pool, which was really fun. We all were getting along really well, I think we all bonded tonight. It’s fun to see each other in a different setting than on the tennis court being serious.

Thursday, March 12

Today was our third match. We had pretty good weather. The boys played really early in the morning at a different site than the girls. Both teams won. Everyone played really well. This team was much better than the one we played yesterday, so I think it forced us to work harder.

Friday, March 13

Today is our last day here. The girls played Santa Monica College and won 8-1. I had a really tough match that went three sets. Anna Gundersen, Whitehall junior, and I struggled in doubles at the beginning, but played really well and pulled it out in the end. We took quick showers and waited for the boys to get back and shower. We went to Santa Monica pier and ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp. It was a really fun restaurant. After, we rode the roller coaster on the pier, twice. We hung around the pier for a while, but had to head to the airport around 7 p.m. Our plane took off at 10 p.m., and I’m pretty sure everyone passed out right away. We landed at around 2:40 a.m. and got back to Albion around 7 a.m. We were exhausted. We all hung out Saturday night since we were the only people on campus. Overall, I think it was an amazing trip and we all got really close. We all got a chance to prepare ourselves for the spring weather. We all want to go back.