July 15, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State senior setter Erin Lindsey will continue a two-year string of Redbird volleyball players participating in Europe's "Global Challenge," an international competitive tour organized by the USA Volleyball Federation. Lindsey, who will compete for the "Bring it On Promotions"/USA Development Team, departs for Zagreb, Croatia, Wednesday, and will remain overseas until July 26.
The USA Development team will train for two days in Maribor, Slovenia, before playing its first of two exhibition matches on July 19. Opening ceremonies for the Global Challenge will be held in Pula, Croatia July 20. At least 15 teams are confirmed to compete in the tournament, including six teams from the United States. Each U.S. delegation will arrive to Europe and have its own tour for the days prior to the tournament. After closing ceremonies (July 24), all teams from the United States will visit Venice, Italy to sightsee.
Lindsey's team will be coached by Tennessee head coach Rob Patrick; Northern Illinois mentor Ray Gooden, Western Carolina head coach Stephanie Dragan and Josef Forman, the head coach at New Orleans. The USA Development team's roster consists of 12 NCAA Division I players. Lindsey is the lone participant from the Missouri Valley Conference.
"Anytime you get a chance to go another country, and see an entirely different style of play, is a great opportunity," said Lindsey. "It opens your eyes and forces you to get out of your comfort zone a little bit. Hopefully, I'll be able to take away a lot from this experience.
"Besides improving my game, I am really looking forward to opening my mind to some different things. You really get into a rhythm competing in the states, especially when you are used to playing with the same type of hitters and players in general. It will be good to learn a new style of play."
Illinois State went on a 14-day International European tour in May 2007, and played six matches, including three against European national teams. The Redbirds traveled to five countries.
"I think that experience will definitely help me," Lindsey said. "But it's been a year, so initially, it will still be tough to get used to (the European style of play). But we will be training a lot, and playing a lot of matches, so I hope to be able to adjust as quickly as possible. Toward the end of our experience last year, our team really became accustomed to the playing style, and I think it really helped us in our competitive season. Hopefully that will be the case again this time around."
Junior Peggy Riessen participated in the Global Challenge last July, after receiving the invitation during ISU's tour of Europe.
Bring It On Promotions was founded in 1997 by Tim Kelly, a former UCLA men's volleyball All-American and five-year European professional veteran. Since its early days, the company has grown into a multi-faceted agency, tour operator and international recruiting service. Kelly organized and served as the ISU's tour host in both Venice and Rome, Italy.
Redbird fans can follow Lindsey's trip on GoRedbirds.com, where she will provide a series of blogs that will continue throughout her senior season.
