Hey Buff fans. As the CU Volleyball team reaches the midway point of its conference season, 'Serve and Pass' will take on a different angle. There will be some features and getting to know sections. Enjoy and Go Buffs!
Oct. 20
For this week's entry, Kaitlyn Burkett and Rosie Steinhaus did a little personality comparison.
If you could be on any reality TV show what would you be on:
Rosie: Amazing Race
Kaitlyn: For the Love of Ray J
Facebook or Twitter:
Rosie: Facebook
Kaitlyn: Facebook
Best Dancer on the Team:
Rosie: Sofia’s “popping” dance
Kaitlyn: Myself of course
Jacob Black or Edward Cullen (Twilight):
Rosie: I don’t even like that movie.
Kaitlyn: EDWARD!!!
Favorite Snack on the Road:
Rosie: Ooooohhh those honey pretzels.
Kaitlyn: Oh’s the cereal.
Person on the team you’d like to switch lives with for a day:
Rosie: Nikki
Kaitlyn: Megan, so I could be myself.
Winter or summer:
Rosie: Winter
Kaitlyn: Summer
Last Person You Texted:
Rosie: Mom
Kaitlyn: Schylur
If you could change your name what would it be:
Rosie: Rosie... my real name is Kristen.
Kaitlyn: Twerk-It Burkett
Ski or Snowboard:
Rosie: Ski
Kaitlyn: Sled
Sept. 29
Hey Buff fans! We have a special treat for you this Tuesday. CU Assistant Coach Tom Hogan has written a blog to share this week for a different insight to Colorado Volleyball. Enjoy!
(I apologize for posting all three blogs at one time, but between the long days at the office, the brutal travel schedule, film, training, recruiting, getting married, and buying a house and moving to Boulder, I have had my hands full for the past couple months. Here are all three of my blogs...I hope you enjoy.)
9/28/2009
We are in the beginning stages of Big 12 Conference play and I am beginning to understand why many volleyball enthusiasts believe that the Big 12 Conference is one of the (if not “the”) best conferences in the nation. All of the teams in our conference are upsetting one another and it seems like any team can win on any given day. I am very impressed with the quality of the teams and the players that we are seeing for the first time. Many of these athletes will one day go on to the next level and the tough battles they face in the Big 12 Conference will be a main reason for their success.
We have had a tough start to our conference facing three top 10 teams (top ten in the country), but every now-and-then we see signs of greatness and what level our team can potentially play at. We are young and inexperienced and it shows in the consistency of our play, but with a little time, we will piece together all of our high-level plays and execution of our systems leading us to compete with the top teams in our conference (the top teams in the country).
Over the course of the beginning of our season we have had a lot of interest in our program. We are very fortunate to have so many scholarships available for this next year, and this combined with us being a top university and located in an unbelievable state, has created a lot of interest from Colorado kids and athletes from around the country. With commitments from five high-level players for next year, and still many open scholarships to spare, we find ourselves in a great position for the future.
It’s great to be a Buff!
-Coach Hogan
9/15/2009
A Colorado Moment
I’m writing this blog thousands of feet above the wonderful state of Colorado in our team’s charter on the way to our match with ISU. I’m looking out of the window of the plane and noticing how awesome the Rocky Mountains are. The sun is starting to set over the mountains and the sky above the Rockies is solid red. I feel that before I continue to look over more scout film, I should stop and think about how blessed and lucky I am to be where I am today.
I am 100% Irish and I feel that “the luck of the Irish” completely describes my coaching career and life. Following the Beijing Olympics my fiancée Lindsay (who is now my wife) and I had to decide on what was next for our future. I had some interesting coaching opportunities, but all of these positions would have taken Lindsay and me away from Colorado. Lindsay and I love Colorado and for the past seven years we had made it our home. The energy of the Colorado culture (everyone outside jogging, biking or running), the outdoor activities (hiking, camping, rafting, skiing), the climate (no humidity, no bugs, sun over 300 days a year), and just how nice everyone is to each other really appeals to us. Colorado is a very unique place to live and once you get here, you don’t want to leave.
With the same luck that has brought me everything in my life, an opportunity opened in Boulder, Colorado at the University. Lindsay and I made the decision to stay in Colorado and we are very happy we did. Liz, Meg and I have come together like a family and the team is determined and focused to improve every day. We may be the “Davids” fighting the “Goliaths” for a little while, but we are going to enjoy the fight while we are in it. Soon we will have this program competing among the top teams in the nation representing Colorado with pride.
It’s great to be a Buff!
-Coach Hogan
8/28/2009
Impressive Young Buffs
As a former assistant coach for our National Team I am use to challenging travel situations. The World Grand Prix tournament was always the most difficult. We would travel from Chinese Taipei to a small town in Poland with a travel schedule totaling over 30 hours. The trip normally would consist of long layovers, interesting livestock under your seat and as you neared the small village or town, we would normally be traveling on a plane made of wood with giant propellers. Those “travel adventures” felt like they would never end, but although at the time they seemed miserable, they made the players tough and it brought the team closer together; you would learn everything about everyone. I can remember hating life as we use to walk from one gate to the next like zombies, but I can also remember hearing about Ogonna’s family’s roots in Africa, Robyn’s husband in Iraq, or Momma Scott down in Louisiana. Those experiences combined with our time in the gym made us not only a team, but a family.
As I begin my college coaching career with CU, we are faced with two east coast tournaments on back-to-back weekends. Granted the travel situation is not as bad as it was on the World Grand Prix, but the 3:45am departures from Boulder, studying on the road, spending all day in airports and dealing with a negative time change wears on you. The “Young Buffs” (as I like to call them) have handled this difficult situation well. I have not heard one complaint as we make our way across the country, and as soon as we arrive 14 hours later to the hotel, they are ready to get in the gym, train and improve as a team. We are still a long way away from where we want to be in terms of adapting and implementing our systems, learning new techniques and just having our players experience competition at the Division 1 level. However, as we progress as a team and program, it is encouraging to know that the “Young Buffs” handle challenges well and no matter what adversity faces them, they learn from each experience and grow together as a team.
It’s great to be a Buff!
-Coach Hogan
Sept. 25
Hi Buffs!
First, I want to thank the Pennington family for having the entire team over for dinner last Friday. It was great to spend time together in a “home setting” off of campus. The food was delicious, and we can’t wait to come back!
It’s been a challenge facing top teams at the beginning of Big 12 play, but we have taken every game as an opportunity to get better as a team and focus on our system. Tomorrow we will take on Oklahoma at 7 p.m. It will be a great chance to show what we have worked on and the things we have emphasized the past couple of weeks. Sticking together as a team will be the most important thing as we head further into conference play. Come support the Buffs tomorrow night! See you there!
Go Buffs!
Rosie #11
Sept. 22
Hey Buff Fans!
We just wrapped up our first week of Big 12 play. We faced Iowa State and Nebraska, both top-10 teams. It is always a great opportunity to play ranked teams, but unfortunately we weren’t able to get either upset. However, our sights are set on the No.2-ranked Texas Longhorns tomorrow night. They are a very offensive, athletic team but just like Coach said, “If we each bring our piece to the puzzle, anything is possible for us.” There is nothing like a home-crowd to play in front of... so please come out and support your CU Volleyball Team tomorrow at 7!!!
VAMOS BUFFS!
Kaitlyn
Sept. 18
Hey Buffs!
We all survived our first charter flight to Iowa. Some people don’t like flying in the small plane, but I really enjoy it because we get to fly right out of Broomfield. Rooming with Megan Cyr in Ames was a lot of fun. I got to see home videos of Megan’s crazy childhood in Canada. She was quite the figure skater and cat lover!
We can’t wait to host Nebraska this Saturday. We have pulled an upset two out of the last three years against the Huskers here in Boulder, and we are ready for another! As a team, we don’t see playing top-ranked teams as a challenge but rather as a great opportunity to continually improve and focus on our system. It is always a great atmosphere in Coors playing against Nebraska, and I hope to see everyone there!
Go Buffaloes!
Rosie #11
Sept. 15
Hey Buff Fans!
Thanks to all of you who came out and supported us during our first home matches... I want to give a special thanks to the cheerleaders, band members and CU Express team. We are so lucky to have you guys at our games and we really appreciate all the time and energy you put into cheering us on. Also thanks to all the families for making the trip out to Boulder!
Well we were all excited with our progress this weekend. There is improvement each and every match we play, and seeing this has inspired us to keep working hard in the gym and trusting the new systems implentented by the coaches. Today we head off to Ames, Iowa to take on the Cyclones. Flying in our 18-person charter plane always makes for a fun team-bonding experience, even though some of us (Ellen Henry) scream in terror the entire time. Also would like to say Happy Birthday to BOO (Kerra Schroeder)!!!
GO BUFFS!
Kaitlyn Ann Burkett
Sept. 11
Hi Buff Fans,
We finally get some home matches this weekend! The whole team is really excited about protecting our home court after our Denver match this morning. It will be great to play in front of a home crowd tonight and tomorrow. We have been working hard this week in practice on techniques, but we also focused on bringing competitive, team-driven fire to the court. A motto for our season has been “A team above all, above all a team.” Training and competing with this mentality has helped us stick together and improve as a team. Thanks to all of the families and friends coming to Boulder this weekend. I know it will be great to see my parents and spend some time with them! See you at Coors!
Go Buffs!
Rosie #11
Sept. 8
Hey Buffs!
We are all glad to be back in the state of Colorado after our weekend competing in Connecticut! Nothing beats coming home to the Flatirons and a CU football game...
We started out the Yale Invitational playing Fairfield University on Friday night. It was a shaky start for the whole team, but we pulled it together and defeated the Stags 29-27, 25-20, 25-19. There was not much time to recover as we played Georgetown Saturday morning, however we stepped it up a notch and beat the Hoyas in 4 sets, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17, 26-24. The big match up of the weekend was Saturday night versus a veteran team of Yale Bulldogs. We battled closely the first set but ended up losing our composure the next two as we fell to a 22-25, 11-25, 9-25 loss. It was a productive weekend, and we learned a lot from all 3 matches.
Right now we are looking forward to finally playing at home this weekend! We start out Friday night versus USD at 7 p.m., and then Saturday we play Cal Poly. Hope to see you all there!
GO BUFFS!
Kaity B.
Sept. 4
Hi Everyone!
This weekend we are competing in New Haven, Conn. at the Yale Invitational. The Yale campus is beautiful and it’s great to see this side of the country!
We are all excited about getting to play against Fairfield tonight. We had a good practice yesterday after we arrived and we are ready to try some new combinations on the court. On Saturday, we face Georgetown and Yale. As a team we have worked really hard the past couple of days, and it’s going to be a great weekend!
Go Buffs!
Rosie #11
Sept. 1
Hey Buff Fans!
We just got home from Florida on Sunday and are now turning around to face a tough UNC team tonight.
We came out on Friday night and swept the Valparaiso Crusaders. Everyone was excited to finally get on the court and compete. The first set was close as we battled to a 31-29 victory, and we followed that up by winning the next two games 25-22 and 25-21. The next night we played a hard-hitting Florida team, and lost in three competitive sets, 20-25, 22-25 and 15-25. It was a great experience to play at such a high-level and everyone really stepped up to the challenge.
Now all of our focus is on raising our level, executing our systems and getting a win tonight against the Bears. Hope to see you all out on September 11 for our first home match of the season!
GO BUFFS!
Kaity B.
August 28
Hi Buff Fans!
We are here in humid Gainesville, Florida for our first matches this weekend! We open our season later today against Valparaiso, and tomorrow we will face Florida. We have been working hard since the begining of August, and our team is more than excited to start competing. In our preseason practices, our team drills were designed to put us in pressure situations on the court. The most important thing we learned in preseason was how to handle these pressures and stick together as a team.
We have a short practice this morning, and then we will have some time to relax at the hotel before our match tonight. I can't wait to start competing!
Go Buffs!
Rosie #11
