Tigers black eye

Thought I'd share mine and Mark's Halloween costumes this year.  People who got it loved them, people who don't follow the news or sports mostly asked if we go beat up.  Sigh.

And in action:

State of despair

The Northwest volleyball team's trip to the state tournament was short but sweet. Northwest lost all three of its matches and didn't advance to bracket play. Alaina had a good time, even though she was playing on an infected pinkie toe. The team got to play in an arena that holds about 8,000 people, which was cool (there were plenty of empty seats.)
Northwest lost in two games to Olathe South, 25-19 both times. The other team had a 6-foot girl who was just a stud. Whenever it needed a point, she got the set, either in front or the back row. Against No. 2 Manhattan, Northwest led 22-20 but lost 25-22. It lost the second game 25-23. Manhattan wound up finishing third in the tournament. In the final match, Northwest won the first game against Blue Valley North 25-22. In the second game, it trailed 17-15 when Alaina made a service error (her only one of the day). It came at a bad time and Northwest sort of unraveled after that, losing 25-16. The team looked tired in the third game and got pounded 25-11. Of course, the fact that it was 10:30 p.m. might have had something to do with. Tom, Sharon and Aunt Donna didn't get back to Wichita until 1 a.m. Alaina and the team spent the night. Laura spent the night at her friend Hannah's house so she would be well rested for her soccer game the next day (it must have worked; her team is now 6-0-1 this fall). Alaina will take a day or two off and then start basketball conditioning. That season begins Friday, Dec. 4, against rival Bishop Carroll.
The photo is from last year, but Alaina likes it because it shows off her guns.

Going to state

Alaina's volleyball team qualified for the state tournament over the weekend. It is, we think, only the school's second trip to state since it was formed in 1978. Her team was seeded fourth going into substate and had to win two matches to qualify. Her team beat the host team, Campus High School (think Roseville only with more employment), in straight sets in the first match. Campus was pretty good blocking (three 6-footers) but not good in the back or on offense.
In the second match, they played Goddard, a suburban district near west Wichita. Goddard was the No. 1 seed and 30-6 coming in. Alaina has played basketball with a couple of the players on their team over the years. Northwest thumped them pretty good in the first game and then scored the last three points in the second game to win 26-24. The girls were pretty excited. Laura was, too, when she realized she might get a free celebratory meal out of it. Tom got a little verklempt.
Next is the state tournament Friday and Saturday in beautiful Topeka. Northwest is the No. 6 seed out of eight teams. The tournament is two, four-team pools, which play a straight round-robin on Friday. Top two from each pool advance to Saturday's semifinals. Northwest will play Manhattan (No. 2), Olathe South (No. 3) and Blue Valley North (No. 7). The last two schools are from suburban Kansas City, which tends to dominate this tournament.

Gift of Reading

Kudos to Ted for picking up the "Gift of Reading" column mantle from his uncles Dan and Tom (previous GoR columnists). His column on Grandpa Neal and the importance of supporting the Gift of Reading program ran in the Sunday, Oct. 25 edition of the Free Press. He was a little bummed that the Freep ran an old (2007) photo of him even though they took a new one of him at the Shining Light breakfast earlier in the month. Just another lesson to Ted that the newspaper business can drive you crazy. Read Ted's column here: http://www.freep.com/article/20091025/OPINION05/910250432/

Nice win for Northwest

Alaina's team ended the regular season with a nice victory over Bishop Carroll, which was the first-place team and ranked No. 3 in the state. Northwest got drilled in the first game and was down 13-4 in the second before rallying to win. The team finished 25-13 overall and 13-3 in league play, which tied them for second. It was 8-0 in the second round-robin of league play. Up next is sub-state play on Saturday. Her team has to win twice to advance to state. Each of the last two years, it has won the first game and then lost in the sub-state finals. We'll see what happens this year. We kept waiting for Alaina after the game, wondering where she was at. Turns out she was doing some media appearances. I think she looks like Sara in the video, only with bigger dimples. If you want to see some bad video of both matches Tuesday, go to this link. Videos are on the right. Alaina is No. 9. She has some nice kills off of some slide plays.

Caitlin's wide world of sports

Caitlin came to Kansas for a nice visit the weekend of Sept. 17 and immediately was treated to about 11 hours of sports excitement. Alaina had a volleyball tournament in Maize, which started at 9 a.m. After watching her first two matches, Caitlin, Tom and Sharon drove east for Laura's soccer game at noon. Laura had a nice assist at midfield on the first goal and then tossed a shutout in goal during the second half (OK, one ball hit the post but it didn't go in). She is playing 11-on-11 for the first time this year. She would prefer not to play goal but her mean coach (Tom) volunteered her for the assignment.
Then it was back to volleyball. Alaina's team went undefeated in its pool but lost in the winner's bracket semifinals. They had to settle for third place (They finished second in a 10-team tournament this past weekend and are now 14-5 on the season). We finally got home about 8 p.m. We had a nice brunch the next morning to celebrate Caitlin and Tom's birthdays, and we even got to watch the Lions lose to Minnesota. Our nephew, Chad, and his fiancee, Jenny, who were in town for a wedding, also came, as did Tessa (another niece), her husband, Brandon, and Aunt Donna. It was a fun morning, except for the Lions.
It was great fun to have Caitlin visit. Alaina and Laura particularly enjoy hanging out with her. We wish Fort Worth was a couple of hours closer.

Maura's birthday invite

I found a cool site, smilebox.com, to send out electronic birthday invites complete with photos and soundtrack. Check it out.

Make a Smilebox invite