Two UNM volleyball players will take their game to the international level this week.
Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Rhoades and libero Allison Buck are two of the 12 players selected to represent the United States on the Bring It Promotions/USA Development Team. The duo will leave on Monday and head for Europe for two weeks of training and competition.
"I'm excited, but a little nervous," Rhoades said. "It's a great opportunity to bring my game to the next level, but, at the same time, I've never really traveled that far away from home before."
Because the excursion will take her far away from her family, Rhoades said traveling with a teammate will be comforting.
"I'm so excited to be traveling with Allison," she said. "We'll be experiencing new things together, meeting new people and exploring Europe. It's all a little less daunting knowing that we'll both be clueless together."
Rhoades and Buck are the fourth and fifth Lobos to make the trek overseas on the BIP/USA Development Team trip. Senior Rose Morris made the voyage last summer, and alums Jeanne Fairchild and Gayle Tripp went in 2007.
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One of the main goals of the trip is to expose young U.S. players to the possibility of playing professional volleyball in Europe after graduation.
Rhoades said she is excited about the possibility of a professional volleyball career.
"It will be great meeting some professional coaches and players," she said. "There is a little bit of pressure to perform your best to show the European coaches the kind of player you are."
First stop on the itinerary is a four-day training session with the Swiss National Team in Zürich, Switzerland. From Switzerland, the group will travel to Pula, Croatia, to compete in the European Global Challenge. The tour ends in Venice, Italy, with a full day of sightseeing before returning stateside late on July 25.
"The competition level should be pretty high," Rhoades said. "We're going to be playing against junior national teams from all over Europe and also against United States club teams that have been playing together for years."
But the trip isn't entirely about volleyball. And Buck said one of the biggest pieces of advice she's gotten from players that have partaken in the trip is to enjoy it.
"(Morris) told me to take in the experience," Buck said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I just want to take in every moment. There's a lot of volleyball, but when else do you get to see Europe like this?"
However, Buck said there's still one hurdle to get over: the eight-hour flight.
"I'm not a big flyer," she said. "I think the longest flight I've been on was maybe four hours. Now, I'm going to double that. I get bored really easily."
