Tour of Italy: An experience of a lifetime

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I can’t say enough great things about our experience playing and touring in Italy through AIST. After touring Rome and Vatican City, we stayed busy and played three more matches throughout Italy. We made a number of stops throughout the 10 days abroad, but I would like to highlight Florence, San Marino, Venice, Milan and Lake Como.

Win for Team Stripes

Team Stripes ended on a great note, defeating Busnago Volley 2-1 in its last match of the tour (near Lake Como and Milan). The team improved in each match it played and it was exciting to end with a win!  The communication, rhythm and ball control was at its best and definitely contributed to the team chemistry. On the whole, Italy has a very talented pool of players and it was fun to learn their tendencies and how they play overseas. The warm-ups are completely different and it was an adjustment for us. I would say that the American warm-up is more structured and organized, but that doesn’t make it better. The Italian warm-ups allow for players to get more game-like touches on the ball and it empowers the players. I think it was good for Team Stripes to see that the game can be played differently.

AIST provided the team with Italian medals as a memento and the team really appreciated it! Most Italian teams and coaches wished to trade jerseys and T-shirts, so a lot of the team came home with Italian volleyball shirts as well!

-Coach Sutherland

Follow University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point volleyball head coach Abbey Sutherland as she travels to Italy to coach a team of collegiate all-stars with the American International Sports Teams program. Sutherland is in her third season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and has led the Pointers to back-to-back national semifinal appearances in her first two seasons.