	As the world turns...
13th in Hot-Lanta On this episode of "As the world turns," Angela and her newest partner Stacy Rouwenhorst, survive a thrilling game to finish 13th in Atlanta, GA. There is a reason why I never watched soap opera's on television and now that I am being forced into one, it seems like there is no way out! Anyway, if you read the last newsletter you would know that I was "dumped" after finishing 7th in Kentucky and somehow was able to pick up a great partner in Stacy Rouwenhorst. You never realize the value of time, until 15 minutes can make a difference if you get registered by a deadline or not! J But, we made it in and I would play with Stacey, without even a practice, not even a real conversation! It was like, "Hi I'm Angela, and I play right side..." "Well that's good because I play left side!" After spending some much needed time with old friends from Colorado playing indoor in Atlanta, I headed to the airport once again to meet my "good luck Peter" who was flying in to watch. He wasn't supposed to be in Kentucky but knew if I got "dumped" I might not play Atlanta, so luckily I had my coach/agent there for both of them. Good friends of his, Diane and Raphael Lafont picked us up from the airport and ended up opening their wonderful home to Peter and me. They even gave us a car to use! I was FLOORED! What a blessing and a help. She runs an internet supply business (http://www.waresdirect.com/) so works from home and was gracious to give us her car. They picked us up and we had a great dinner together, and then headed back to their house, where it would be the first night in 8 nights that I got my OWN bed!! In Kentucky I had to share a bed with 6'3 Lauren and then shared with teammates at Nationals all week. My legs were excited to stretch out. After a much needed night of rest, Peter and I drove to the playing site on Thursday to have my 1st practice ever with Stacy. When we met, we had all sorts of laughter realizing that we actually pulled it off. It's hard enough to compete with the top athletes of the world, let alone, playing an intense match with someone you just "met." But already Stacey was very positive and super sweet to interact with. And she can really hit a volleyball!! Luckily with coach Peter there, he put us through a very mini practice and then the neatest thing happened. A couple of ladies were walking near our court and asked if we would jump in a game to help them beat their boss. Stacy didn't want to get hurt, but I really wanted to do it, and thought it would be fun. So she agreed and we told them to warm up and then right before it started we would walk on the court. It turned out that they were playing for a paid day off!!! Ha ha! They started the game and we walked on the court and the boss' jaw dropped as he saw Stacy and me walk on the court with the other two girls. Then a crowd of workers came around cheering us on. The boss and his friend turned out to be pretty good players and were ahead of us four girls, 17-13, before we made a great serving run to win the match 21-18! They were so excited and by far that was one of the highlights of my trip to Atlanta. Afterwards we took pictures and I turned to Stacy and said, "Well we at least won our 1st game together!!" Not only was that fun for me, but they helped me in some of my parking fees that day and even came to cheer and watch us play! Truly that was a gift for me to meet these wonderful people and share a game with them! After our "1st game" and practice, Peter and I headed back so Peter and Raphael could cook the most amazing meal. Peter made sushi and "some other complicated name" for appetizers and Raphael made an incredible filet mignon. I felt SPOILED!! It was super yummy, and to top it off, Peter made a strawberry dessert for us too! My grandma knows how much I like strawberries! So that night was a fun one to spend with everyone. The next morning, GAME DAY, came and I was already pretty tired from all these adventures I have been through but was very excited about playing with Stacy and was PRAYING......HEAVILY that it would go well. Even my mom, as dear as she is, wakes up EVERY morning I play to pray for me, and our match was at 9:00am which meant she was up at 6:00am her time praying for me. I couldn't have a more supportive and loving mom and dad. I know a lot of you were sending prayers our way and can I tell you.......a PRAYER WAS answered. Our first game was against Brooke Langston and Julie Romias, a solid team, who plays great defense and is tough to beat. It was a tough 1st round game for us and even tougher since 1st round is STILL single elimination. Win or GO HOME! Warm-ups were kind of nuts, cause we were still telling each other what sets we like and what strategy we should use. Anyway, the game began and it was really point for point, 15-15, 16-16, 17-17, all the way to 19-19, when we pulled together two more points for 21-19. Phew!! 1st game of the match over and luckily we didn't run into each other too much! However the second game was much different and we lost 21-14. Needless to say the momentum was not on our side and it stayed with them in the 3rd and deciding game to 15 points. They got a huge lead at 9-6 then even larger at 14-9 (Stacy says 14-10, but Peter and I think it was 14-9) and I went back to serve. They only needed ONE point to win, and even a miss serve would mean a loss. I served as tough as I could and point by point we made a come back. 10-14, 11-14, 12-14. They took a time-out, which everyone knows is designed to "ice" the server, hoping they lose concentration. Luckily I was able to still serve a tough ball and got an ace for 13-14, needing one more point to tie. They made a great hit but Stacy dug it up and I set her for the 14-14 tie. We were stoked! I served again and dove out for a ball, then got the kill to go ahead 15-14. But then Brooke made a good shot on the next serve to tie it at 15-15. The next point they served me and it hit the block and went out, and the ref gave the point to them! I was going nuts, because the call was not correct. Anyway I got the next point off a hit and then we served the rest of the match, finally winning 19-17 in a game to 15! We were shocked, amazed, excited, thrilled and a little of me didn't know if it was real. If we would have lost that we would have been done, and our debut partnership would have been a bust. Prayers were answered, and if anyone has seen volleyball, coming back from 9-14 is one of the hardest things to do. It's only happened once in my playing career in rally scoring, when we were playing at CSU in the NCAA sweet 16 and were down 9-14 in the 5th game to CU and pulled off the amazing comeback! I guess it was a gift, and ever since I played in high school for Joe Houck in the Oregon state championship match when we were down 3-12 and won 16-14, I was taught to never give up and that anything is possible. So we fought and were relieved that we were able to make it past that match. This set up our next match vs. #3 team of Diane Deneccocea and Barbara Fontana (who finished 5th), super good veterans playing really well. I was actually really impressed how we stuck with them and were at 17-17 before they won 21-18. The second game was a similar story and their experience and the fact that Diane is 6'5 was tough to beat and we fell in game two 21-16. However, since we won our 1st match.....barely......we would make it to Saturday morning. Stacy and I woke up to find that we would play #4 team Holly McPeak and Angie Akers (who finished 3rd), the team that Lauren and I played and beat just 6 days prior and knew they would be fired up for revenge. We had a very tough road this weekend. The first game was very close and we lead 18-17 before a couple of tough serves and a great defensive play by Holly closed the game 18-21. Unfortunately they had our number in the second and beat us 21-13. They played really well, and I knew that I was a step slow for that game. It was also 90 degree AND humid so those people who live in that city are troopers. I think I am sweating again just thinking about it. Once the game ended, I knew my craziest week of the year was almost over. Just one more question! "Um, Stacy......so are we going to play in Hermosa next weekend?" So far she has said she thinks so, so I am hoping that we will get a chance to play again together. I see a lot of potential in her and am excited what we could do together. Afterwards, we had all the conversations like, "Oh, where do you live?" and "What do you do?" Well I knew I liked her because Stacy happens to be a junior high math teacher! At least we never have to worry about keeping score!! J It was hard seeing Lauren there knowing what had happened, but just tried to rely on that it happened for a reason. That leaves us with me finally on a plane heading back "home" where I hope to be able to relax for at least 10 hours before heading to work! I might be an emotional wreck for a bit after this crazy soap-opera I was thrown into, and sorry I haven't gotten back to those of you who have sent me the sweetest emails. They kept me encouraged along the way. Our next tournament starts on Friday, June 6th (YES 6 DAYS) in HERMOSA BEACH, CA. YEAH! No flights, hotels and car rentals and I am excited that my family and friends will be able to be there to experience this crazy journey I am on! Stay tuned for the next episode, there is talk of one of the refs turning out to be a long lost cousin of Angela's and a line judges might be an estranged brother of Stacy's. Also the announcer might contract a dangerous cold that would cause him to sneeze while he speaks....oh my!! More to come after these messages!! JUST KIDDING!! So about an hour after writing this, I got a call from Stacy at 5:00pm Sunday night, 15 hours before the registration deadline, saying, "Angela, I have decided to play with Whitney and sorry I had to leave this on your machine, but wanted you to hear it before everyone tells you...." I listened to this after getting out off work, and my heart sank!! So disregard the excited potential comments above, I guess, and for the sake of time, I won't be able to re-write all the stuff above, so here is a retraction, or update. Getting dumped after a "7th place finish and beating Holly McPeak" was hard to take, but for some reason this one with Stacy whom I saw potential was even tougher. We didn't even get a chance to practice to see what was there before she jumped ship. So I guess I am asking you all to be praying for my heart because I now have very little trust in this crazy system. I guess it doesn't matter how well or not well you play, people are going to make decisions to further "their" career. I guess I might be in those situations someday as well, and trying to react how I would appreciate one to react to me! Unfortunately I have had to be on both sides of partner decisions, and it's not easy to be the one switching nor the one who is getting "let go." Every weekend I am not safe and it's tough not know what will happen in the next days after you play. It puts a lot of pressure on the relationship and even though everyone says it's a business, it's hard for me to accept that, even if it is true. Part of the joy I have in playing is playing with someone I enjoy playing with and respect and care for as a person. It seems I don't even get past, "Hi...my name.....oh you're playing with someone else?? Okay!" It's funny, I told my friend that I personally feel like the volleyball "hussy" playing with a bunch of people. Ha ha! I always was a one person girl. I haven't dated much and always had longer relationships, so these one time tournament partnerships are foreign to me! Even through high school and college, I don't remember the scores of all my games or all my opponents, but remember my teammates and the joy we had sharing victories. Fortunately in the shake down there turned out to be a great player in Sarah Straton who called me to play this weekend in Hermosa. I only had less than 13 hours and even more frustrating, my entire family and some friends are flying in to watch the Hermosa event and I was sitting in my car, partner-less.....again! Luckily I got that message from Sarah and we talked about playing together. She is very sweet and has a cool accent from Australia and amazingly enough we actually got to practice together today and it went well. At this point, it's hard to become excited about new things, rejection is really hard, but I have honestly only been able to hold on to the fact that God is in control of my life and there are more things that are happening than I am aware of. I saw this sign in Atlanta and it has stuck with me. It's given me some encouragement along with those words and emails from you guys. But if you can't read it, it says, "When the Lord calls you to a task, there is usually a larger plan of which you are a small part" - Andrew Young. The other quote was given to my by Rayno Seaser, a wonderful supportive friend in Colorado, "What may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and everyday. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings." •- St. Francis de Sales It has been such a rollercoaster getting my first 7th, then facing the partner situations I face now, but I am just relying on God and taking it day by day. The drama/stress/disappointment has finally won over my body and on Sunday I started to feel pretty ill. My body and mind is worn out and I know that this is a big weekend, so if you think of it, please keep my in your prayers for health. This Friday I will take the sand with my 4th partner of this season, and if you would, please also pray for joy. I am going to try to play because I love it, because there are no guarantees for each weekend after. I am more excited than I can express to have my family there, and just wanting to play well. However, the soap opera gets complicated with our first match. I just saw the bracket and we will be playing Stacy our 1st game. (The girl I played with last weekend). There might be some tension, and I am praying that I will be able to be classy and take the high road, and be free to play this sport that I truly love playing. I just wish they would create a 1 on 1 division! That would eliminate a lot of drama for me! Thanks for your patience in my "drama - filled life" and if any of you want to put on a bathing suit and play with me, please let me know and I'll try to fly you out here to play with me! J

As the world turns...

13th in Hot-Lanta

On this episode of "As the world turns," Angela and her newest partner Stacy Rouwenhorst, survive a thrilling game to finish 13th in Atlanta, GA.

There is a reason why I never watched soap opera's on television and now that I am being forced into one, it seems like there is no way out! Anyway, if you read the last newsletter you would know that I was "dumped" after finishing 7th in Kentucky and somehow was able to pick up a great partner in Stacy Rouwenhorst. You never realize the value of time, until 15 minutes can make a difference if you get registered by a deadline or not! J But, we made it in and I would play with Stacey, without even a practice, not even a real conversation! It was like, "Hi I'm Angela, and I play right side..." "Well that's good because I play left side!"

After spending some much needed time with old friends from Colorado playing indoor in Atlanta, I headed to the airport once again to meet my "good luck Peter" who was flying in to watch. He wasn't supposed to be in Kentucky but knew if I got "dumped" I might not play Atlanta, so luckily I had my coach/agent there for both of them. Good friends of his, Diane and Raphael Lafont picked us up from the airport and ended up opening their wonderful home to Peter and me. They even gave us a car to use! I was FLOORED! What a blessing and a help. She runs an internet supply business (http://www.waresdirect.com/) so works from home and was gracious to give us her car. They picked us up and we had a great dinner together, and then headed back to their house, where it would be the first night in 8 nights that I got my OWN bed!! In Kentucky I had to share a bed with 6'3 Lauren and then shared with teammates at Nationals all week. My legs were excited to stretch out.

After a much needed night of rest, Peter and I drove to the playing site on Thursday to have my 1st practice ever with Stacy. When we met, we had all sorts of laughter realizing that we actually pulled it off. It's hard enough to compete with the top athletes of the world, let alone, playing an intense match with someone you just "met." But already Stacey was very positive and super sweet to interact with. And she can really hit a volleyball!! Luckily with coach Peter there, he put us through a very mini practice and then the neatest thing happened.

A couple of ladies were walking near our court and asked if we would jump in a game to help them beat their boss. Stacy didn't want to get hurt, but I really wanted to do it, and thought it would be fun. So she agreed and we told them to warm up and then right before it started we would walk on the court. It turned out that they were playing for a paid day off!!! Ha ha! They started the game and we walked on the court and the boss' jaw dropped as he saw Stacy and me walk on the court with the other two girls. Then a crowd of workers came around cheering us on. The boss and his friend turned out to be pretty good players and were ahead of us four girls, 17-13, before we made a great serving run to win the match 21-18! They were so excited and by far that was one of the highlights of my trip to Atlanta. Afterwards we took pictures and I turned to Stacy and said, "Well we at least won our 1st game together!!" Not only was that fun for me, but they helped me in some of my parking fees that day and even came to cheer and watch us play! Truly that was a gift for me to meet these wonderful people and share a game with them!

After our "1st game" and practice, Peter and I headed back so Peter and Raphael could cook the most amazing meal. Peter made sushi and "some other complicated name" for appetizers and Raphael made an incredible filet mignon. I felt SPOILED!! It was super yummy, and to top it off, Peter made a strawberry dessert for us too! My grandma knows how much I like strawberries! So that night was a fun one to spend with everyone.

The next morning, GAME DAY, came and I was already pretty tired from all these adventures I have been through but was very excited about playing with Stacy and was PRAYING......HEAVILY that it would go well. Even my mom, as dear as she is, wakes up EVERY morning I play to pray for me, and our match was at 9:00am which meant she was up at 6:00am her time praying for me. I couldn't have a more supportive and loving mom and dad. I know a lot of you were sending prayers our way and can I tell you.......a PRAYER WAS answered.

Our first game was against Brooke Langston and Julie Romias, a solid team, who plays great defense and is tough to beat. It was a tough 1st round game for us and even tougher since 1st round is STILL single elimination. Win or GO HOME! Warm-ups were kind of nuts, cause we were still telling each other what sets we like and what strategy we should use. Anyway, the game began and it was really point for point, 15-15, 16-16, 17-17, all the way to 19-19, when we pulled together two more points for 21-19. Phew!! 1st game of the match over and luckily we didn't run into each other too much! However the second game was much different and we lost 21-14. Needless to say the momentum was not on our side and it stayed with them in the 3rd and deciding game to 15 points. They got a huge lead at 9-6 then even larger at 14-9 (Stacy says 14-10, but Peter and I think it was 14-9) and I went back to serve. They only needed ONE point to win, and even a miss serve would mean a loss. I served as tough as I could and point by point we made a come back. 10-14, 11-14, 12-14. They took a time-out, which everyone knows is designed to "ice" the server, hoping they lose concentration. Luckily I was able to still serve a tough ball and got an ace for 13-14, needing one more point to tie. They made a great hit but Stacy dug it up and I set her for the 14-14 tie. We were stoked! I served again and dove out for a ball, then got the kill to go ahead 15-14. But then Brooke made a good shot on the next serve to tie it at 15-15. The next point they served me and it hit the block and went out, and the ref gave the point to them! I was going nuts, because the call was not correct. Anyway I got the next point off a hit and then we served the rest of the match, finally winning 19-17 in a game to 15! We were shocked, amazed, excited, thrilled and a little of me didn't know if it was real. If we would have lost that we would have been done, and our debut partnership would have been a bust.

Prayers were answered, and if anyone has seen volleyball, coming back from 9-14 is one of the hardest things to do. It's only happened once in my playing career in rally scoring, when we were playing at CSU in the NCAA sweet 16 and were down 9-14 in the 5th game to CU and pulled off the amazing comeback! I guess it was a gift, and ever since I played in high school for Joe Houck in the Oregon state championship match when we were down 3-12 and won 16-14, I was taught to never give up and that anything is possible. So we fought and were relieved that we were able to make it past that match.

This set up our next match vs. #3 team of Diane Deneccocea and Barbara Fontana (who finished 5th), super good veterans playing really well. I was actually really impressed how we stuck with them and were at 17-17 before they won 21-18. The second game was a similar story and their experience and the fact that Diane is 6'5 was tough to beat and we fell in game two 21-16. However, since we won our 1st match.....barely......we would make it to Saturday morning.

Stacy and I woke up to find that we would play #4 team Holly McPeak and Angie Akers (who finished 3rd), the team that Lauren and I played and beat just 6 days prior and knew they would be fired up for revenge. We had a very tough road this weekend. The first game was very close and we lead 18-17 before a couple of tough serves and a great defensive play by Holly closed the game 18-21. Unfortunately they had our number in the second and beat us 21-13. They played really well, and I knew that I was a step slow for that game. It was also 90 degree AND humid so those people who live in that city are troopers. I think I am sweating again just thinking about it.

Once the game ended, I knew my craziest week of the year was almost over. Just one more question! "Um, Stacy......so are we going to play in Hermosa next weekend?" So far she has said she thinks so, so I am hoping that we will get a chance to play again together. I see a lot of potential in her and am excited what we could do together. Afterwards, we had all the conversations like, "Oh, where do you live?" and "What do you do?" Well I knew I liked her because Stacy happens to be a junior high math teacher! At least we never have to worry about keeping score!! J It was hard seeing Lauren there knowing what had happened, but just tried to rely on that it happened for a reason.

That leaves us with me finally on a plane heading back "home" where I hope to be able to relax for at least 10 hours before heading to work! I might be an emotional wreck for a bit after this crazy soap-opera I was thrown into, and sorry I haven't gotten back to those of you who have sent me the sweetest emails. They kept me encouraged along the way. Our next tournament starts on Friday, June 6th (YES 6 DAYS) in HERMOSA BEACH, CA. YEAH! No flights, hotels and car rentals and I am excited that my family and friends will be able to be there to experience this crazy journey I am on!

Stay tuned for the next episode, there is talk of one of the refs turning out to be a long lost cousin of Angela's and a line judges might be an estranged brother of Stacy's. Also the announcer might contract a dangerous cold that would cause him to sneeze while he speaks....oh my!! More to come after these messages!!

JUST KIDDING!!

So about an hour after writing this, I got a call from Stacy at 5:00pm Sunday night, 15 hours before the registration deadline, saying, "Angela, I have decided to play with Whitney and sorry I had to leave this on your machine, but wanted you to hear it before everyone tells you...." I listened to this after getting out off work, and my heart sank!! So disregard the excited potential comments above, I guess, and for the sake of time, I won't be able to re-write all the stuff above, so here is a retraction, or update.

Getting dumped after a "7th place finish and beating Holly McPeak" was hard to take, but for some reason this one with Stacy whom I saw potential was even tougher. We didn't even get a chance to practice to see what was there before she jumped ship. So I guess I am asking you all to be praying for my heart because I now have very little trust in this crazy system. I guess it doesn't matter how well or not well you play, people are going to make decisions to further "their" career. I guess I might be in those situations someday as well, and trying to react how I would appreciate one to react to me! Unfortunately I have had to be on both sides of partner decisions, and it's not easy to be the one switching nor the one who is getting "let go." Every weekend I am not safe and it's tough not know what will happen in the next days after you play. It puts a lot of pressure on the relationship and even though everyone says it's a business, it's hard for me to accept that, even if it is true. Part of the joy I have in playing is playing with someone I enjoy playing with and respect and care for as a person. It seems I don't even get past, "Hi...my name.....oh you're playing with someone else?? Okay!" It's funny, I told my friend that I personally feel like the volleyball "hussy" playing with a bunch of people. Ha ha! I always was a one person girl. I haven't dated much and always had longer relationships, so these one time tournament partnerships are foreign to me! Even through high school and college, I don't remember the scores of all my games or all my opponents, but remember my teammates and the joy we had sharing victories.

Fortunately in the shake down there turned out to be a great player in Sarah Straton who called me to play this weekend in Hermosa. I only had less than 13 hours and even more frustrating, my entire family and some friends are flying in to watch the Hermosa event and I was sitting in my car, partner-less.....again! Luckily I got that message from Sarah and we talked about playing together. She is very sweet and has a cool accent from Australia and amazingly enough we actually got to practice together today and it went well. At this point, it's hard to become excited about new things, rejection is really hard, but I have honestly only been able to hold on to the fact that God is in control of my life and there are more things that are happening than I am aware of. I saw this sign in Atlanta and it has stuck with me. It's given me some encouragement along with those words and emails from you guys. But if you can't read it, it says,

"When the Lord calls you to a task, there is usually a larger plan of which you are a small part" - Andrew Young.

The other quote was given to my by Rayno Seaser, a wonderful supportive friend in Colorado,

"What may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and everyday. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings."

•- St. Francis de Sales

It has been such a rollercoaster getting my first 7th, then facing the partner situations I face now, but I am just relying on God and taking it day by day. The drama/stress/disappointment has finally won over my body and on Sunday I started to feel pretty ill. My body and mind is worn out and I know that this is a big weekend, so if you think of it, please keep my in your prayers for health. This Friday I will take the sand with my 4th partner of this season, and if you would, please also pray for joy. I am going to try to play because I love it, because there are no guarantees for each weekend after. I am more excited than I can express to have my family there, and just wanting to play well. However, the soap opera gets complicated with our first match. I just saw the bracket and we will be playing Stacy our 1st game. (The girl I played with last weekend). There might be some tension, and I am praying that I will be able to be classy and take the high road, and be free to play this sport that I truly love playing. I just wish they would create a 1 on 1 division! That would eliminate a lot of drama for me!

Thanks for your patience in my "drama - filled life" and if any of you want to put on a bathing suit and play with me, please let me know and I'll try to fly you out here to play with me! J