We are at the halfway point in our tour and we had a great day. I will go into detail in a moment.
Our first match was really scary, jetlagged and "tourist tired" we got smoked by an Italian B1 team last Tuesday and I was afraid it was going to be a long 11 days. But our team has bounced back. They have their legs under them and have figured out how to serve and pass. Today we won our third match in a row, beating a local Pula, Croatia team 3-1. We had a great day from Kate Steffan who shut down our opponents best player, which we later found out plays in the top Italian league.
It was one of the best matches we have played with this group and I am very excited. So really great things are coming to the surface of this team and it's great to see. The match however wasn't the only high point of my day.
Earlier in the afternoon, Boris, the local club coach, brought a good friend of his to meet us. In walked Nikolai Karpol, the famous Russian coach, and one of the world's most legendary coaches. We had a team photo taken with him and then a group of us sat, drank coffee, and had a translated discussion about volleyball, politics and Pula, Croatia - a place where he owns a vacation home.
It was surreal to me. I've known about Karpol since I started coaching 25 years ago. He just turned 70 and completed his 50th year of coaching. He has won 2 Olympic Gold Medals and numerous other international titles. I felt honored to be there.
CSU Women's Volleyball Team & staff poses wtih Nikolai Karpol (center in tan shirt)
It was a great day...
Tom Hilbert
