Volleyball Plays Slovenian Junior National Team and Hurdles Down a Mountain
May 26, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
Full day of volleyball and alpine sledding in Maribor.
 On the second day in Maribor, the Cardinals headed downtown. Unlike Milan, Venice and Bled, Maribor is not a big tourist attraction with more tourists than natives on the streets, but a beautiful city working and living their lives, so we got our first authentic view of everyday European life.
The city center has a large square with many open-air kiosks as well as a farmers' market with fresh, in-season strawberries. There were lots of narrow streets off the main square filled with shops, boutiques and cafés.  After shopping and picking up items at a small supermarket, the Cardinals piled back into two vans and headed up to the ski resort that is adjacent to our training facility and hotel. We rode the ski lifts up to the top of the grass covered slopes to the top where we planned to alpine sled down the slopes. Alex Wilharm, Sarah Kasprow, Anne Kordes and John Kordes decided to walk up the slope. They weren't completely crazy, there were lots of people doing it, including several senior citizens. Yet, they were crazy because it was insanely steep. They did it in 17 minutes. Props to their dedication to fitness. The girls waved to them as they rode up the lift. They had to "save their legs for the match." This so-called leg saving rarely comes up in shopping sprees. Just sayin'.
At the top of the mountain is an alpine sled on an metal track sitting about three feet off the ground that traverses the ski slope and goes into the surrounding forest before coming to a stop at the bottom of the mountain where the workers hook the sleds to the side of the ski lift and send the back to the top of the mountain. The sled looks like a modified snow saucer with wheels that grip around the side of the track with a joystick brake lever that is between the legs. Forward means go and backwards means whoa.
The Slovenian sled man was urging the girls to go for maximum speed. Nikki Koval and Gabbie Wiley were daredevils with little or no braking on their first trip down. The taller girls had a bit of trouble with their long legs and leaning forward for maximum speed. The head man said the longest-ever trip was 45 minutes when a lady totally panicked and he had to go down a sled and push her from behind as she had the brake pulled back as far as it would go. The Cards showed that All-American can-do spirit and flew down the hill although there was a lot of shrieking echoing down the mountain. By the second trip down, no one was braking!
Then there was Morgan Miller, who said she was never more sure of anything in her life when it came to her decision to skip the sled and be in charge of the cell phones. Everyone can assume safely that Coach Kordes wasn't braking. Anyone who has ever driven with her knows she is all go and no whoa.
GABBIE WILEY ON THE BLOG
"Today was one of the most adventurous days on the trip. We are in Maribor, Slovenia and we went downtown to shop at a farmer's market, boutiques and cafes. We walked down to the river where we saw the longest and oldest living grapevine in the world! After we toured, we headed back towards our hotel where there is a huge skiing mountain, where we got to go alpine sledding. We rode to the top of the mountain on a ski lift. There is a metal track that is put down after the snow melts so that the slopes can be used all year. On the track, there is a manual brake cart for one person that you ride down on the track. The track is built for speed and I am happy to announce that went without touching the brake. Each person got to go twice and we are determined to sneak up there and go again. Then we played the Slovakian Junior National team again and brought great energy and enthusiasm for a group that had been out in the sun all day. Dinner was at the top of the mountain and the view was breathtaking. This has definitely been the favorite day so far!!"
After walking back down the hill, the Cards suited up for another match with the Slovenian Junior team. The match came down to the final set and the Cards held off the Slovenians and their rocket serves for the win. The Slovenian players' serving is no joke. They bring the heater with some nasty slider movement.  Â
To celebrate, Cardinals got dressed up for a wonderful dinner at a restaurant that also has a winery connected to it. It sits on the top of a mountain and we could see a beautiful sunset before eating in the restaurant that is carved into the side of the mountain. The owners were on the premises and took the time to share the story of their family business. The Cards piled back into the bus with our pony-tailed bus driver, who is completely nonchalant about driving down a narrow one-lane road around the side of the mountain with no shoulder and swaying out over the steep slope in the dead dark as there aren't any streetlights for miles around. We had a beautiful view of the stars if we dared to open our eyes to look up.
Thursday morning, the Cardinals headed for Graz, Austria, the hometown of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Anne made players come up with famous Arnold lines to pass time on the hour ride. ("Get to the Choppah!")  We made it to the hauptplatz (town square) of Graz just as church was letting out for the Holy Day of Corpus Christi, a celebration of the Eucharist. There were lots of adorable little girls in their white first communion dresses, a parade and lots of Austrians wearing lederhosen and dirndl's, the tradition clothes, as part of the festival. Sadly, that meant all the stores were closed but … you know … good "leg saving" opportunity.
The Cardinals play the Slovakian national team tonight in downtown Maribor. They are highly regarded and will be the most talented team we play on the trip.Â
Tune in tomorrow to see how the Cardinals fared against the Slovakians and as we head back into Austria, but to Vienna this time.
