Laura Tomes USA Journal

July 5, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. -

The U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team finished fourth at the Pan American Cup last week while Laura Tomes earned the first international start of her career in the tournament. The former OU volleyball player has recapped the Pan American Cup with her latest journal on SoonerSports.com.

Tomes is only the fourth Oklahoma volleyball player in school history to represent the Sooners on a USA National Team. Patrice Arrington, who played on the USA National Team in 2005, was the last Sooner to be named to a USA squad.

The former Sooner has been writing journals for SoonerSports.com since she began training for the USA National Team on March 9.

Below is Tomes' latest installment:
________________________________

Hello everyone!

Well, I'm back in Colorado Springs now and back into training... for a week. More on that in a minute. I had some great experiences at the Pan American Cup in Colima.

My first international playing experience came in set five against the Dominican Republic in pool play. What a fun time to come into to the game and play! Just for fun, and to show my team that they could count on me, and to show Dominican that we weren't done yet, the first play that I was involved in ended in a stuff solo-block by me on their middle. It was so great to be in the game, especially in such an exciting match and environment. I love gut-wrenching games - they show what people are made of.

The next day I made my first international start, against Trinidad and Tobago, followed by starting for the rest of the tournament. It was an awesome feeling when my name was announced with the letters USA written on my jersey. I've missed playing so much since my final game with OU. I love being back into it all.

As I wrote in my previous journal, we won our pool and earned two days off while advancing straight to the semifinals. On our first day off, we woke up and practiced early, then headed to the beach for a little relaxing and sight-seeing. After about an hour and a half bus ride, we arrived in Manzanilla, a bit of a resort/vacation town on the coast. We had a great time for a few hours playing in the waves, building sandcastles, a little reading and laying around, and browsing the little coast-side shops. Then, once our police escorts came to town, we returned to Colima for dinner and a team meeting. On off-day number two, we stayed in for the most part, had a practice, and a couple of scouting/video team meetings.

We ended up fourth overall, qualifying for 2008's World Grand Prix, which is good and all, but losing is just not my thing. I would rather win the gold medal next time, and last time for that matter. Following the championship game, Cuba won, there was a closing and award ceremony. As fourth-place finishers, we had a podium and were presented with flowers while being recognized for our accomplishments over the tournament.

I got back to Colorado late Saturday night and started training again on Tuesday. As I mentioned earlier, it will be a quick turn-around because we leave for the Pan American Games in Rio, Brazil on Monday, July 9. This will be another great experience for me, not only because I made the tournament's roster, but the Games are often referred to as a mini-Olympics. A lot of sports are there competing, and we stay in an athlete village with all of the other world-class athletes and teams. It looks to be a lot of fun with more great volleyball, new people, and this time even some other great competitions going on around us.

That's about all for now - I'll be sure to let everyone know how things are going in Brazil. Thanks again for everyone's support!

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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