March 25, 2008

Cleveland State senior forward Robyn Hoying maintained a blog while on the road at the NCAA Championships in Palo Alto, Calif., last weekend. Following is her experience before, during and after the Vikings first round loss at fourth-ranked Stanford on Saturday, March 22.

Thursday March 20, 2008

We started our journey to California by loading the bus to go to the airport, little did we know that there were cameras waiting outside wanting to interview us and film us on our way to the NCAA tournament. After the excitement of going to be on the news once again, we headed to the IX Jet center to get on our chartered flight to California. For most of us it was our first ever chartered flight with no security checkpoints or baggage check. We just got off the bus, which pulled up right next to the small plane, and drop off our bag and walked right on. Due to it being a small plane, we were forced to stop twice and refuel, once in Lincoln, Nebraska and then in Ogden, Utah. This caused our trip to last from 4 pm to about midnight. Then once we arrived in Cali we got some food and then went to bed to get over our jet lag!

Friday March 21, 2008

The morning started off with breakfast on the bus on our way to a local high school for practice. We were all in T-shirts due to the nice weather and soaking up the sun on our walk from the bus to the gym. They even had their lockers outside! Here we practiced for an hour and began to feel good about the game and our defensive strategy, with the photographer and camera highlight guy recording all of the good moments. Next we got a quick bite to eat at a local place and headed to our practice at Stanford. Here we pulled in and were checked in by given us a bracelet to wear during practice and our bags were also checked and given a band. Kailey, Dom, and I then were escorted to a press conference on a golf cart. Here we were asked questions by the media in front of the blue NCAA curtain with ESPN filming us. Our locker room had drinks and snacks there for us as we waited for out turn to practice. Here we sat and joked around. Dom even gave a mock pre-game speech, Coach P style. Then after practice we headed to shower and then went out for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Here we had some great team bonding and some girls were experiencing some food they had never even heard of! Then we left the restaurant and went to Cold Stone to get our pre-game day desert for those who are superstitious. The night ended with a brief meeting in Coach P's room in which everyone left with the hopes of being the first team to upset a two-seed.

Saturday March 22, 2008

Again we started the sunny day off with breakfast on the bus on our way to shoot around at Maples Pavilion at Stanford. We were only allowed 20 minutes since there were 8 teams that needed to shoot around before the games that were going to occur that day! Once we arrived back to our really nice hotel we had film, where we saw for the first time our competition. Then we had a couple hours to relax and talk with family who came to support us and get ready for the game. Two hours before tip-off we headed to the gym and prepared ourselves mentally for Stanford. Then at 5:30 Cali time we took on the Cardinals and played a tough 40 minute game. After the game, Kailey and I were again asked to go to the press room. Here I was asked if there was any better way to end a great season and my answer was no, this way a great way to go out.

Sunday March 23, 2008

We awoke and packed our bags and dancing shoes to head back to reality. We arrived at the airport and had a direct chartered flight back to Cleveland. On the flight we talked about the memories of the year and how we will never forget this season. For me it was my last, and I could not be happier. Thanks everyone for supporting us this year!