Video on the Road TONIGHT

The live video feed is following the Lions on the road! Tonight Saint Leo's match at Eckerd College will be shown live through the SLU athletics site, thanks to Penn Atlantic! We hope everyone gets to check it out and see how we look in a different gym!

NCAA Article

Saint Leo Sports Information Director Evan Ortiz let the coaching staff know of some national recognition for the Lions. On the NCAA website, Amy Farnum writes a weekly blog on Division II volleyball and this week Saint Leo leads it off!

Click here to link to the article, and here's hoping for more good news coming the Lions' way!

White Out Countdown

While we are DEFINITELY not looking past this week's opponents (Eckerd and Tampa are no joke!), Saint Leo Volleyball is excited to announce our 2nd Annual White Out! Last year we had a Division II record crowd of 500+ and we want to top it this year!

Tuesday, October 6th
7:00pm
WHITE OUT
vs. Florida Southern

WOOT WOOT!

Not only a three-peat, but a sweep of conference awards and a Top 25 Ranking! Junior Kaitlin McKenna claimed her third straight SSC Offensive Player of the Week Award and was joined by teammate Bruna Rocha who received this week's SSC Defensive Player of the Week! Along with the individual accolades, Saint Leo made it's first appearance in the AVCA Top 25 Poll, showing up in the #23 slot, joining 6 other SSC teams in the poll!

Click here to visit the Lion's website with both write-ups!

Chris' Corner: Tricks of the trade from your friendly neighboorhod Certified Athletic Trainer

Welcome to another stop at Chris' Corner. This week my educational ramblings will cover a subject near and dear to many of us out there, including yours truly......low back pain. It's safe to say that the majority of us have experienced low back pain at one time or another. It's frustrating, it's debilitating, it affects almost everything you do. Lets look at some of the root causes and a relatively easy solution to this all too common problem. In the minority of cases pain is caused by a congenital abnormality in the spine, think scoliosis. Such abnormalities result in forces being distributed along the spine in a way that places too much stress on particular segments of the vertebral column. No matter if the structural problem is in the lumbar, thoracic or cervical area it can effect other segments of the spine. Conversely, all too often low back pain results from our placing too much stress on the lumbar spine through our own actions, think bending at the waist rather than bending the legs to pick something up. Such activity places a tremendous amount of stress on the extensor muscles, vertebra and disks in the lumbar (low back) region. The end result being a muscle strain, ligament sprain (see previous Chris' Corner for a discussion on strains vs sprains), disk herniation or vertebra being pulled out of alignment. An easy prescription to solve low back pain is core exercise. Any of my athletes who have taken part in "Camp Chris" know that I love core exercise! Core exercise solves low back pain by promoting stability in the pelvis and lumbar spine through strengthening the core musculature (i.e. transverse abdominis, internal and external obliques, multifidus and quadratus lumborum). This stability allows the pelvis and spine to stay in proper alignment meaning forces are distributed in such a way that prevents injury. To learn specific core exercises Google "core exercise" or ask your Certified Athletic Trainer.

On the court this week was great. The team went to 4-0 in the conference and it was parents weekend. It was nice to meet some of the parents of the athletes I provide care for. After our thrashing of Barry I got to break bread with the team and their families. Little things like that are a big reason I love working with volleyball so much. It might sound insignificant but as an Athletic Trainer you are not always included in such things. It's easy to see why this group is chock full of quality people. No road trips this week so no down time to settle the score with LP. No worries though, soon enough the rivalry will be renewed.

Remember to lift with the legs and do your core exercise. See you next week at Chris' Corner.

Fans of the Match!

Parent's Weekend has been great! It was wonderful seeing so many families and spending time with all of them. However, our fans of the match have to go to four very special members of the Saint Leo Men's Swim Team...

They each wore 26 articles of clothing, removing one for every point the Lions scored, leaving them in just their Speedos! They did this each set, and we are so grateful for their support! It was probably the funniest fan behavior ever experienced at Leo!

Look to the SLU Volleyball PhotoBucket page for more pictures from the weekend, including all the families and the VIP Couch!

Team Win!

WOW! All I can say is wow! A total team effort to handle the Knights of Lynn this evening: Michelle had a triple-double, Bruna had 20 digs, Kait had 14 kills, and as a team we dug 76 balls in the match. The coaches and players are on cloud nine with the play we just saw, but know that we have to come down to earth tomorrow as we face another highly talented SSC team as Barry comes in. The match is at 4:00pm with a dinner afterwards for parent's weekend!

Live Feed Tonight!

The Lions will again be showing a live feed of tonight's match vs. Lynn at 7:00pm. Click here for the link to the Penn Atlantic website!

Parents & Couch Potatoes

This weekend Saint Leo Volleyball welcomes many of the players' parents as it is our annual Parent's Weekend! A few got in yesterday, Leah Perry's parent's got to watch practice, but everyone else gets in today. We need all the support we can because Lynn and Barry are two very tough opponents!

Additionally, we are doing our first Couch Potato Matches this weekend. There will be a VIP couch set up in the gym, and each set a ticket will be drawn. The person with the winning ticket will be invited with a friend to come sit on a couch and get pizza, popcorn, and soda! We hope everyone comes out to see some amazing volleyball and get a chance to be a VIP!!

20 Questions with Jaime Seda

1. What is the main reason you chose Saint Leo University?

I chose Saint Leo because of the beautiful campus and the atmosphere of the school. Everyone and everything is so welcoming.

2. What has been your best college experience so far?

My best experience has been meeting so many new people.

3. If you could recommend one 'must-have' for a dorm room, what is it and why?

I would recommend a shelf. My roomie and I didn’t have one at first but we had a TV so once the shelf was installed it worked out nicely. Plus it looks really nice.

4. What do you do on your off days?

I try to do absolutely nothing. Usually we just go to the pool and hang out.

5. Pick one cartoon character that matches your personality, who and why?

I would have to choose Tinkerbell because we’re both small and feisty people.

6. What other sports have you played?

I have done soccer, basketball, gymnastics, and track.

7. What is your favorite holiday? Why?

My favorite holiday is Christmas because I love the whole season. I love the music, smells, decorations, and it’s practically the only time it gets cold in Florida.

8. What song is most played on your iPod?

Well technically this song is played on Meghan’s iPod, I just like listening to it a lot because it gets me pumped for games, but it’s “Boom Boom Boom” by the Vengaboys.

9. What is your best asset as a member of SLU Volleyball?

My best asset would probably have to be my energy.

10. If you were a tree, what tree would you be and why?

I would be a Christmas tree because you get to be decorated and you smell good!

11. Where are 3 places you would like to visit?

I would like to go to Italy, Greece, and Spain.

12. How many siblings do you have, and how old are they

I have no siblings.

13. What is your favorite movie?

My favorite movie is Legally Blonde.

14. Who is your favorite athlete?

My favorite athlete is Misty May-Treanor.

15. Who is your hero?

My hero or heroes of course are my parents. They have never let me down and I know I can count on them for anything. I know they will always stand by me like they always. I love you mommy and daddy!!!

16. Pick one teammate and tell us a funny story...

Well of course I have to pick my roomie, Meghan. So just leave it to us to get locked out of our room the second night we were on campus! And since it was the second night our RA didn’t have keys to every dorm yet, so we had to wait for security to come which took about 20 minutes. Yes that will definitely never be forgotten.

17. What is your favorite place you've gone with SLU Volleyball?

Well since I’ve only gone one major place with them so far, it has to be Colorado! That trip was absolutely amazing! I loved everything about it!! Plus I was with the best team ever so that makes it that much better.

18. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I see myself graduated with a degree in Biology, preparing for my career as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurse.

19. What are you looking forward to most this year?

I am looking forward to kicking butt with this team this year!!

20. How do you want people to remember you after you've graduated from Saint Leo?

I want people to remember me as a girl who was driven and never lost sight of her goals in life.

Chris' Corner: Tricks of the trade from your friendly neighboorhod Certified Athletic Trainer

It's a little late after our trip to Florida Tech but I wanted to post this week's edition while I had my educational topic fresh in my head. This week's trick of the trade: Why ice? Anyone remotely familiar with sports medicine knows that we who practice the profession love ice! Why this infatuation with those little lumps of cold? The reasons are many, but here are a few of the biggies. First, with any injury be it a ligament sprain, a contusion, whatever, there is going to be an inflammatory process associated with said injury. Application of ice to the injury site helps to control this inflammatory process. This, coupled with compression, means less accumulation of swelling in the area. Less swelling means less pain and less dysfunction in the days following the injury. Second, ice is an excellent analgesic. Cold slows down cellular activity, including that of specialized nerves (called nociceptors) that send pain messages to the brain. The less these nerves transmit their messages the less pain you feel! Along these same lines, ice slows down cellular metabolism. Cells require oxygen to function. At the site of injury local cells are in an oxygen deprived state (the reasons why are a whole other topic, but trust me it's true). You slow down cellular metabolism you decrease their need for oxygen. You decrease their need for oxygen and you decrease the amount of secondary injury due to hypoxic (oxygen deprived) cell death. Finally, and perhaps most important in terms of self-care for the lay person, you can almost never go wrong with ice! Barring a circulatory or neurological deficiency or an ice allergy (rare but it happens) application of ice is the safe bet! Even though it might "feel" better application of heat too early in the healing process will hinder the body's progress through this process. In other words.........when in doubt ice!

How about that, I even threw in some geeky medical terminology into this week's dose of geek knowledge. In all seriousness though, I hope my Athletic Trainer talk each week is useful, educational or at least interesting.

On the lighter side. This was the first week of conference play. It's nice to be playing only one match at a time. Just this week some of the walking wounded seemed to respond well to the reduced stress on their bodies. The injury report is down to one and knock on wood I expect it to be zero by the end of the coming week. That could not be more important when you play in our conference where you better have your top athletes available every match. One loss could be the difference between making the NCAA tournament or going home early.

As an Athletic Trainer I am not supposed to get too involved with wins and losses. My lane is the health and medical well being of the athletes in my charge. I'm not going to lie though gang, it's hard not to be a fan of this group. Quite simply, coaches and athletes alike, it's just a group of quality people! When you're around such people day in and day out you can't help but root for their success. And knowing that in your own small way you may have contributed to that success makes it that much sweeter.

Thanks for tuning in. See you next week at Chris' Corner.

Off to Melbourne!

The Saint Leo Lions are moments away from loading up the vans and heading out to Melbourne, Florida to take on the Panthers from Florida Tech! We are excited for today's match and continuing our conference schedule... wish us luck!

20 Questions with Chelsea Armer

1. What is the main reason you chose Saint Leo University?

I wanted to get away from home and have a fresh start on my own. But certain girls who graduate last year would say its because of them.

2. What has been your best college experience so far?

Beating Florida Southern for the first time, then beating them again in the regional tournament

3. If you could recommend one 'must-have' for a dorm room, what is it and why?

A black out curtain for any time naps!

4. What do you do on your off days?

Days off? What are those?

When I’m not studying, or cleaning, you can usually find me with my teammates at the pool or having a dance party.

5. Pick one cartoon character that matches your personality, who and why?

Bugs bunny because he always causes trouble but he’s the life of the party.

6. What other sports have you played?

Softball and soccer….I learned that I really hated getting dirty.

7. What is your favorite holiday? Why?

Halloween!!!! Any excuse to get dressed up in costume sounds like a good time to me!

8. What song is most played on your iPod?

Manhattan by Kings of Leon

9. What is your best asset as a member of SLU Volleyball?

My constant intensity

10. If you were a tree, what tree would you be and why?

A Christmas tree because everyone loves Christmas! I would be a constant reminder of good memories for people.

11. Where are 3 places you would like to visit?

Ireland, Greece, Spain

12. How many siblings do you have, and how old are they?

2. Ryan who is 29, and Lindsay who is 26

13. What is your favorite movie?

Twilight and the Goonies.

14. Who is your favorite athlete?

Kaitlin Mckenna, because when I get a dig and she bounces a ball it makes me feel complete!

15. Who is your hero?

My mother; for putting up with me for 21 years and still wanting to spend time with me.

16. Pick one teammate and tell us a funny story...

Its hard to explain but I’ll leave you with this….”shawty doesn’t wanna do anything right now” –corey ryan

17. What is your favorite place you've gone with SLU Volleyball?

We go to the café together a lot……that’s always fun

18. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Graduated from Law School, living back in San Jose, working for a local law firm

19. What are you looking forward to most this year?

Not looking forward to anything specific…just excited about a lot of possibilities.

20. How do you want people to remember you after you've graduated from Saint Leo?

I’ll be remembered, it’s inevitable. But I haven’t quite figured out how I want to be….

Live Match Feed Tonight!

Great news from the Saint Leo Sports Information Department! It looks as if tonight will be the first live internet feed of our volleyball match, cross your fingers, knock on wood! The match is at 7:00pm against Rollins College with the feed starting just prior. Check the Saint Leo Lions website for the link!

Have fun watching the Lions 'Black Out' the Tars!

BLACK OUT COUNTDOWN

Get Your Own MySpace Countdown Generator at Tech-FAQ.com

SSC Home Opener

SSC Player of the Week

Congratulations to Junior Kaitlin McKenna on being named the Sunshine State Conference Offensive Player of the Week!
CLICK HERE for the full release.

20 Questions with Leah Perry

1. What is the main reason you chose Saint Leo University?

I loved how it was a small friendly campus and being away from home is a great college experience.

2. What has been your best college experience so far?

Meeting new people and growing as an individual.

3. If you could recommend one 'must-have' for a dorm room, what is it and why?

Some sort of sweeper or broom and a rug.

4. What do you do on your off days?

I love sleeping in and relaxing with the roommates.

5. Pick one cartoon character that matches your personality, who and why?

Ew I hate cartoons!

6. What other sports have you played?

Basketball.

7. What is your favorite holiday? Why?

Christmas for sure. I love being with my family.

8. What song is most played on your iPod?

"We were Merely Freshman"

9. What is you best asset as a member of SLU Volleyball?

My communication and my desire to improve and win.

10. If you were a tree, what tree would you be and why?

A really pretty purple flowery tree because its so peaceful and perfect.

11. Where are 3 places you would like to visit?

Any place with mountains and water.

12. How many siblings do you have, and how old are they?

4 wonderful siblings, the ages are 23, 22, 16, and 12.

13. What is your favorite movie?

Dumb and Dumber.

14. Who is your favorite athlete?

Lebron James.

15. Who is your hero?

My parents because they have always been here for me for everything and they care so much.

16. Pick one teammate and tell us a funny story...

Always a funny story with my three roommates so everyday is another great funny story.

17. What is your favorite place you've gone with SLU Volleyball?

Definitely this past month going to Colorado. What an awesome place to be and all the great things to see.

18. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Teaching somewhere and living with someone from the team.

19. What are you looking forward to most this year?

Getting better and winning tough games. And of course some tournment time baby!

20. How do you want people to remember you after you've graduated from Saint Leo?

The funny, easy going girl.

Hi Neighboor!

Coach Dan, Coach Jenn, Michelle and Alexa visited Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club this morning to meet some of the residents and invite them to this season's home matches. They were very kind and welcoming to us, and we look forward to seeing them in the stands this year!

Chris' Corner: Tricks of the trade from your friendly neighboorhod Certified Athletic Trainer

Since it's the start of football season and a lot of you will be paying attention to injuries in your fantasy football leagues and such I thought I'd use this weeks Chris' Corner to talk about the difference between some common injuries. Specifically, sprains vs strains. A sprain is something that happens to a ligament (soft tissue that connects bone to bone). A strain is something that happens to a muscle (one of the four hamstrings for instance). These injuries are graded on a scale of one to three. One being micro-tears of the tissue and three being complete disruption of the tissue. Obviously, if your fantasy player has a grade three sprain or strain you better forget about them for a few weeks.

Only a short bit of geek knowledge this week. You must be happy.

As for this week in my world, I guess it's not too bad. I'm glad this is the last week of these four matches in two days business. I've got some players that need to take some stress of their bodies. No worries though, everyone is healthy, all things considered.

On a lighter note, the rivalry between yours truly and LP is at a stalemate! The bus ride to and fro yielded no definitive results. We traded victories playing cards in WAR but there was controversy surrounding the rubber match. Leah claims that Coach Dan meddled with her cards on her trip to the restroom thus negating my amazing comeback from holding only one card. Sour grapes. To be continued!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGHAN!

Happy 19th Birthday Meghan! We love you and we are so happy you're with us!

Bus Ride Dance Party

The multitude of hours on the bus is clearly getting to the sanity of the Leo ladies, as a dance party has broken out in the middle aisle of the bus, with even Coach Jenn and Chris getting involved with the Macarena and the Cupid Shuffle. And after two solid wins, dancing is more than appropriate!

"Dang" is the word that comes to mind after the UNA win, a sweep with scores of 25-23, 25-12, 25-15. Never before have the Lions taken charge of a match in such a manner, and definitely raised the eyebrows of teams and coaches around. Against Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, SLU again claimed a straight sweep victory, even if it was a bit stressful in the third. That is, until Emily Calderon took over in the final points to come up with two huge digs that fired up the team and brought us to the win.

A few more hours left on the bus, and we are sure there will be more dancing!

The Dribble Did It

At 26-25 in the 4th set, Corey Ryan stepped back behind the end line to serve for match point against #19 West Florida. As Coach Dan sat on the bench whispering "come on Corey, give me an ace," we watched as her serve went up... tipped the top of the tape... and dribbled down onto the floor on the Argos side. ACE! Set and match point Saint Leo! "It was an accident!" Corey screamed as she ran to her team and to 'shake' hands with the opposing team, leading Danielle to come dangerously close to peeing herself from laughing so hard.

What a match! The coaching staff is extremely proud of our team, the poise they showed today was beyond impressive. If this is the direction we will continue to head (for the sake of this coach's prematurely gray hair I hope!), then we are going to have a lot of fun!

Tomorrow brings two more tough matches. At 10:30am central, SLU takes on another pride of Lions from North Alabama, who just today swept Nova Southeastern in 3 sets. Following lunch, the ladies will play their final match of the weekend against Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, a small team that is very scrappy and one who we have watched take several talented teams to the brink! That match will be at 3:00pm central, and then it's back on the bus for another 8 hour bus ride...

...at least this time we'll be heading home!

Revenge is Sweet!

And the sweet taste of revenge is on the Lions' tongues! SLU easily dispatched the Golden Suns from Arkansas Tech 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-18) and showed a lot of poise as well. The errors went down and the intensity went up!

Evan Ortiz will be posting a full match write up soon, and make sure keep an eye on the live stats this evening when the Lions take on the Argos at 8:00 eastern/7:00 central. Click here for the link!

Never Forget...

Saint Leo Volleyball hopes everyone takes a moment to remember where they were eight years ago on this day, and never forget those we lost and those who are still fighting.

Saint Leo University is one of the leading providers of higher education for the men and women who serve our country, and our thoughts and prayers are with them everyday.

In not so sunny Pensacola

It is Saturday morning in Pensacola, Florida and the team has just finished eating a yummy breakfast at the Comfort Inn (Belgian Waffles!). Last night was an eight hour bus ride from Saint Leo, and many of the players spent most of the time passed out! We think that Lucy has selective narcolepsy, that girl can pass out immediately in any moving vehicle.

All the players got to sit down with Coach Sam and chat about their progress this season and where the coaching staff is looking for them to improve. Let's just say that 15 meetings takes about six and a half hours! Dinner was at a Ruby Tuesday's in Gainesville, and most of the girls took advantage of the salad bar.

Today the Lions take on Arkansas Tech at 2pm and University of West Florida at 7pm, both central time. Last season, SLU lost in 5 sets to the AT Golden Suns in the final match of a marathon of four matches in less than 24 hours in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, so we are looking for some payback this weekend! The UWF Argos are a perennial region contender, losing to the SSC's own Nova Southeastern in last year's NCAA Regional Finals. So far this season, UWF has lost to Lynn and Tampa, but has beaten Eckerd and Nova. They are a very talented and competitive team, and the Lions are looking forward to another challenge!

Make sure to follow the matches on the Saint Leo Athletics Twitter site, and check out www.saintleolions.com for match write ups and OUR NEW HEAD SHOTS!

A Win and a Clinic

The Leo Lions had a great day today with a win over East Stroudsburg and a great free clinic that was offered to all area high school students. For the full match write up click here, and check out the pictures below!

The Lions have a pregame party!


Introductions!


Stretching at the beginning of the clinic


Question and Answer with the Lions!

For more photos, make sure to check out the SLU Volleyball PhotoBucket Page!

Chris' Corner: Tricks of the trade from your friendly neighboorhod Certified Athletic Trainer

It's been a pretty good week in my corner of the world. Despite playing 11 sets of volleyball in less than 24 hours everyone has remained relatively healthy. Wanting to stick with the quasi-educational theme of my postings I thought I might discuss my profession. Or more to the point, What is a Certified Athletic Trainer? Basically, a Certified Athletic Trainer is a subject matter expert on orthopedic injuries (injuries occurring to the muscles, bones and joints). There are six domains of practice in the profession: 1. injury prevention, 2. immediate care, 3. injury evaluation, 4. rehabilitation of injury, 5. professional development (continuing education) and 6. administrative responsibilities. To be eligible to sit for the Board of Certification exam candidates must obtain their BS in Athletic Training from an accredited Athletic Training Education Program. The exam is based on the six domains of practice and carries only about a 40% pass rate. Not exactly an easy test. While educational program design will vary slightly, highlights of the coursework include: gross anatomy (with cadaver dissection), upper/lower extremity injury evaluation, therapeutic modalities, biomechanics, emergency management of athletic injury, therapeutic exercise, and injury rehabilitation. To clear up a common misconception, Athletic Trainers are not the people who work with athletes in the gym. Athletic Trainers are Allied Health Professionals (the same category as nurses, physical therapists, etc.) as recognized by the American Medical Association. In case you can't tell, I love my profession. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to be there at the moment of injury with an athlete in pain who is looking to you for help, figuring out what is wrong, helping them through rehab and seeing them play again. That's what it's all about!

But enough serious talk. I'm stepping down off my soapbox.

In my last edition I forgot to mention the friendly rivalry brewing between yours truly and one Leah Perry. In Colorado she talked some serious trash about her foosball skills before being handed a 10-0 thrashing. Perhaps you should stick to volleyball LP. Painfully, my good fortune did not hold out during a hotly contested game of UNO between matches. Touche.
I'm certain this struggle will continue this coming weekend when we make the arduous journey to West Florida. Eight hours on a bus with not a whole lot to do.

Tune in next week for another edition of Chris' Corner.

SO CLOSE!

Saint Leo was so close this evening, almost took a match against #11 Minnesota-Duluth. After dropping the first game, we won the second and third decidedly, but lost in extra points in the fourth and couldn't pull it out in the fifth. Fortunately, the team was able to regroup and beat Bemidji State in three games in the second match of the day...

...thus warranting a van ride dance party on the way home!

Check out www.saintleolions.com for the full match write up!

Blogging 101

As blogging is new to the Saint Leo Volleyball Team, we are doing our best to keep the blog updated on a regular basis whether we travel or not, but I think we're all still a little light headed from our trip to Colorado!

The week started out with 'picture day' for the team, always a nerve wracking event, but the girls looked great in our new black uniforms! Mike Carlson took the team photos again this year, which means we are all going to look stunning, and we are again looking forward to his action shots as well!

Today the Lions head to Lakeland to play two match at Florida Southern College. At 4pm we take on Minnesota-Duluth, currently ranked #11 in this week's NCAA poll, and at 7pm we face Bemidji State. We have had three very productive practices this week, and the coaches have been pleased with the team's progress. After playing another highly ranked team last week, the team has had a taste of what it's going to take to be at the top, and responded to our training!

WISH US LUCK!