Published: May 15, 2007
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam
Fact of the Day:
Walking in Ho Chi Minh City is no easy task. There are an
estimated three million mopeds in Ho Chi Minh City. The streets,
sidewalks and outdoor markets are owned by the motorbikes and are
not yet geared towards pedestrian traffic (although sidewalk
clearing campaigns are now underway). Traffic flows in a
continuous, noisy stream, and traffic signals appear to be largely
“advisory.” Crossing roads is therefore a challenge for Westerners
used to traffic lights. The trick is to follow the Vietnamese –
step confidently out into the road and cross at a slow but steady
pace. Trust that the traffic will flow miraculously around you, and
it probably will.
The St. John’s volleyball team improved to 3-1 Tuesday at the
2007 Vietnam Television (VTV) fourth international women’s
tournament in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The Red Storm
defeated Sri Lanka, 3-0, and remains tied for second with
Kazakhstan.
The match did not start until 4 p.m. local time (5 a.m. New
York), so the team was able to sleep in after their night of
karaoke. A couple of the ladies decided to wake up early and
explore some of the shops near the hotel and then met up with the
rest of their teammates for a pregame meal at the hotel. Today’s
lunch was a bit more westernized as the Red Storm enjoyed pumpkin
soup, fried sea bass and French fries, and spaghetti pomodoro.
After lunch, the team boarded the bus for its fourth match in as
many days.
The Red Storm has become quite the popular team at the 2007 VTV
Cup with several locals darning St. John’s volleyball t-shirts and
cheering for the Red and White as they continue to advance in the
tournament. Today, the psychology students from St. John’s arrived
in Ho Chi Minh City and made their way to the competition facility
to join fans from Hong Bang University. Chants of “We Are…St.
John’s” and “We will, we will rock you” filled the arena as the Red
Storm won its third international match.
Sri Lanka scored the first point of the match, but Alanna
Rutan (San Diego, Calif.) slammed the ball down to put St.
John’s on the board. Rutan then served up an ace to give the Red
Storm a one-point lead, 3-2. Although Sri Lanka tied the score once
again, back-to-back points from Casie
Brooks (Victorville, Calif.) gave the St. John’s a two-point
lead, 9-7. The Red Storm continued to widen the gap on kills from
Rutan and Patti
Hardimon (Honolulu, Hawaii). Sri Lank tried to tie the score
again but the closest they would come was, 18-15, as Brooks slammed
the ball down to end game one, 25-16.
Once again, Sri Lanka opened game two on a kill from Athukorala
Nadeeka, but Rutan answered back to tie the score, 1-1. The two
teams went head-to-head in the beginning, knotting the score seven
times. A block from Sri Lanka tied the score, 10-10, and a service
ace from Sajeewani Pradepika gave the team a three-point lead.
However, St. John’s rallied back on points from Hardimon,
Wioleta Leszczynska (Bielsko-Biala, Poland), Latoya
Blunt (Vacaville, Calif.) to bring the score within two points,
18-16. A four point rally from Hui
Ping Huang (Shanghai, China) tied the score, 18-18, and gave
the Red Storm the lead, 20-18. St. John’s won the second game,
25-20, on two points from Valeria
Kovaleva (Moscow, Russia).
Leading 2-1, St. John’s took early control of the third game and
advanced to a 4-1 lead on a kill from Huang. The Red Storm
continued to push ahead and took a seven-point lead on a block
assists from Huang and Leszczynska, 12-5. Still in command of the
game, St. John’s advanced to its largest lead of the match, 10
points, on a kill from Blunt, 22-12. A service ace from Leszczynska
finished the game, 25-14, in St. John’s favor.
After the match, the team returned to the hotel to relax and
shower, and then it was time for dinner. The Red Storm was
originally going to eat dinner with the rest of the St. John’s
group, but due to jet lag, the psychology students and St. John’s
professors retired early. Instead, the squad enjoyed a familiar
postgame meal – pizza.
When the squad returned from California Pizza Works, freshman
Rutan checked in with RedStormSports.com to post the team’s sixth
daily journal entry. To view her postcard, click
here.
The Red Storm concludes round robin action at the 2007 VTV Cup
on Wednesday against Banmiwittaya from Thailand. First serve is
scheduled for 2 p.m. local time, 3 a.m. in New
York.
– Red Storm –