Playing at Home - - Nothing Better!!!

Shalom all SEAHAWKS fans! This is FRESHMEN Olga Blank, better known as OB or Big O! It’s my first blog ever and please don’t forget that English is my third language (yes I am using my “International card”), so don’t tease me!
We are in middle of the season now, so we don’t have too much free time apart from endless practices and the endless nights we spend in the library. It’s really hard to be a good student (as we Seahawks always have been, are now and always will be) and be a good athlete at the same time, to give hundred percent from yourself both on the court and school, and deal with all stress that we have, but WE ARE SEAHAWKS and I can tell you for sure that our team is capable of doing anything! The most exciting thing for me in the season it’s playing our matches at home. The feeling that you represent your University, your home away from home, it’s just overwhelming. All the anticipation that you have while packing your stuff the night before it just goes beyond that - I can’t sleep normal when I know that we have match next day, I even dream sometimes that I am playing tennis (that’s how bad I want to play). The real torture is sitting in the class knowing that you have soon a match, so you have a hard time focusing on what professors are trying to teach you, all your thought are in the match already.
The crowd that we have here at home it’s just crazy!! We have the best crowd for sure! In our last match against Cornell, we had special guest, Coach Coop (Women’s Basketball Coach), she called our line up in her “special way”, which was amazing! She was so excited to cheer for us that the official told the crowd to be more quiet because she was cheering even in the middle of the point! But her support and energy was amazing! I can say for all the team that her cheering helped and pumped us a lot! She needs to come more to watch us for sure. What can I say about our team energy on the court besides that WE ARE AMAZING!! Our cheer and support for each other -I think it’s incredible! It amazing to hear everyone cheering for everyone in the middle of the matches and it helps me a lot! I love to look around and see a lot of FISTS AND POSITIVE ENERGY! I feel like I am not alone on the court, that there are 8 more people behind me and we all are fighting together!
A true unit, a true family!

3 More Home Matches:
Sunday 4\3 - 11am v. Charlotte
Wed. 4\6 - 2pm v. Charleston Southern
Sat. 4\9 - Senior Day v. SC State

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!!!

March Madness.....Seahawk Tennis Style

What is brown and sticky? A stick.
What do you call a cow with no legs. Ground beef.
Ask me if I’m a tree. Are you a tree? No.

Now this is followed by uncontrollable, fall all over the person next to you, belly laughter.

This is what the coaches listen to for HOURS and HOURS on end in the van when traveling. Outside of actually playing tennis – the girls do 4 things. Eat, sleep, study and LAUGH. Hours on end. Then if something is funny, we’ll repeat it and repeat it and the laughing gets louder and bigger….. whether it’s the first time they’re telling a funny story or joke or the 12th.

We have had two road trips since our last blog and I think it’s one of the favorite parts of a season to the players. Packed in a van, traveling around, playing winning tennis, displaying the qualities of a true “team” and showing up to do battle at someone else’s place. Together. As a Unit.

Since our last blog – we’ve hit Fairfax, Va – Myrtle Beach, SC – Atlanta, GA - - and back home to our sunny Wilmington in between those stops. Big wins over George Mason, Hofstra from our tough league, Coastal Carolina from our region and Mercer from the Atlantic Sun conference.

What do we bring with us on the road??
Kelly Cameron’s COME OOOOOOOOONNNN!!!! (with a big fist!!)
Angie’s ability to RUN, RUN, RUN so she makes sure NO ONE can get a ball by her.
(side note: if you are telling a joke, make sure Angie or Kelly are around, because they’ll make you feel like you’ve told the funniest joke that’s ever been told)
Emily’s ability to cheer at the exact moment that someone needs to hear it.
Olga’s “Let’s Go Hawks!” like no one else can…..and her yellow light of course.
Riiiiiiiiiiley’s laugh – and her ability to look past when something unfortunate happens, and the very first thing that all of us say is Riiiillllleeeyyyy!! (even if she wasn’t even involved!)
Dash’s ability to pull out a peanut butter and jelly in any situation. Ready to devour. And her “squeek”.
CLee’s ability to fight and somehow look forward to starting a 2nd set after her first set lasted 7 hours.
Lindsay’s ability to have memorized the compete itinerary and arrangements so we know who has to be where and at what time, and the exact tape job that every single players needs before they play…..
Chelsea’s smile because for the first time of the last 8 semesters, she’s not traveling with a 30lb. bookbag, anatomy charts, notes on plants, and books that we’re not even sure we can read the title on the cover.

We had a special treat on the last road trip in Atlanta - - Baby Dash turned 21!!! Is that even possible?? The same girl whose laundry is a pile of “little baby clothes” is actually 21. We had a great celebration dinner at a place called Cowtippers. The girls usually aren’t allowed to order dessert on the road (no soda, no sugar - - I know, I know, booorrrinngg but healthy) but this night we let the waiter bring FOUR huge pieces of cake to the table and needless to say – those pieces of cake stood NO chance.


The Lady Netters are currently 10-3 and playing through the soreness and aches\pains that the middle of March brings every year. We are at home the next 3 matches and we’re looking forward to being in front of our fans again!!!!

Thank you to the Kahle’s, Cameron’s and Ware’s for making it to our Atlanta matches and practices - - it made a big difference having you all there!! AND a big thanks to “BRob” – our former player Priscilla Roberts dad, Buddy, has had our trip to Atlanta circled on his calendar and it seemed like old times seeing you cheering from the sidelines!!

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!!!

PS - - "Say Whaaaatt??" (sorry - - only the netters will get this one)

First Road Trip..........Hawks go 3-1!!

Hey y’aaaaaaaallllllll! Yes, this is freshman Emily Warren here. I’m so excited I get to post a blog about the trip to VCU where the team’s first matches of the season took place!! For me, it was my first road trip ever with the team and the van ride was definitely one of my favorite parts. We departed from UNCW (in two separate vans) after classes, and I was ready to get a nap in after a long week. Everyone had their I-pods in and was sleeping until the big bumps came when going over a bridge and Dash got a little air born. Angie and I woke up at the same time and were laughing hysterically. John followed closely behind us and I could see C Lee’s smile, foot, and her and John laughing hard through the front window the whole way there. Come to find out they were taking pictures of each other and making their faces fat with a new app C Lee downloaded on her phone. John’s picture was one of the funniest. When we finally reached our destination it was FREEZING outside, and we were happy to find our room keys ready with our names on them. Once we were settled in our rooms we had some amazing Cheesecake Factory take-out that was quickly devoured by all of us. We warmed up in “the bubble” at VCU that night to get ready for the next morning’s matches. This was followed by coach’s meeting with the team, which actually was accompanied by some unexpected music…the church choir in the room next to us.........
On Saturday, the first day of matches, we all headed down for breakfast then left for the courts---We had a great start by wiping out our first opponent, Hampton, and then taking down the next opponent, Norfolk State, later that afternoon.

One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was eating at Bertucci’s Italian Restaurant Saturday night. The food was delicious, and Riley’s Dad somehow was brave enough to sit at the table with all the girls. I think Lindsay, Chels, Dash, and C Lee would agree we definetly had the most interesting/hilarious conversation ever! Maybe one day we will find that dream guy we were discussing—The team headed back to the hotel to get well rested for the next two rounds of matches that would come the next day.

On Sunday the team would face two tougher opponents, Penn and VCU. Coach’s pep talk before our match had everyone pumped and the team was ready to go out and win. In a very competitive match the team took Penn down and then next we would play VCU. Coach said, “Were playing six players and they’re playing nine!” I loved when she said this because it is so true in every match we will play this year. The team fought hard against VCU and lost with a competitive drive. The support and cheering was amazing this weekend, and we really brought some teal spirit to Virginia. Everyone could feel our presence. A really big thanks to the parents that made it out to the matches too! Mr. Riley and Mrs. Cameron - - over 11 hours!!! Wow - - and a Seahawk match would not ever be normal without the Dash's in the house!!!! We all appreciate it so much. I really would like to mention how much we loved having Margery come with us too. It was so nice to have her with the team the whole weekend and for all she does! Thank you Margery!
At one point Olga looked over at me and said, “I couldn’t imagine being on any other team than this one. The other teams aren’t as close as us.” I think all the girls on the team would agree. There’s something about being a part of this team that is so different than all the other teams we play. Everyone is pumped to continue working hard and improve even more as a team.
John Ware definitely gets the goofiest award on our trip. I found out Sunday morning at breakfast that his tiny toothpaste tube reminded him of Angie, that he stirs butter into his grits for ten minutes straight, and that if he gets an omelet it will be scrambled eggs within minutes from his hard chopping. It was also reported that he uses cruise control in his driveway…more to that story…. Anyways… C Lee, Riley, and K-Cam got the privilege to accompany John in the mini van on our travels and said John had some funny stories to tell. C Lee gets the goofiest faces award. She is the only girl I know that can make her face warp to whatever she wants it to look like and it can be very scary when she isn’t smiling. Riley, well Riley can’t frown and I guess after all that’s a good thing.
On the ride home Dash and Chels were studying some, but Angie and I decided we wanted to have a dance party in the very back of the van. I think I did a good job of teaching her some of my moves. All the while Olga was passed out sleeping and missed the whole thing. The first road trip with the team was definitely a memorable one. Everyone had great attitudes and played hard. I look forward to our first home matches of the year - Feb.10th, 12th, 13th!! and seeing all the family’s faces out there! This team will go so far and have such a great year.
LET’S GO HAWKS

Happy New Year - Bring on Spring Season '11!!

The Seahawks have returned to the coast! Winter break was a nice reward for the academic and athletic efforts put in over the Fall semester, but it's back to the grind! Props for all the 4.0's and overall great performances in the classroom. We got some smart little birds! Right before they got to go home SAAC (student-athlete advisory committee) sponsored the first athlete semi-formal down at a resort at the beach..... Here's a photo of our girls!

Coach didn't let us completely off over the break though. We were all assigned a little Christmas reading. Coach just happened onto a book a year ago called
The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon and felt we could all benefit from reading it. I'm sure the Seahawks have all returned with a year's supply of positive energy and a heightened sense for sniffing out energy vampires - the negative peeps that try to deflate our balloons!
Upon returning to UNCW, we were hit with quite a surprise. Snow!



This is a rare occurrence for all of us from the south but especially our Florida reps. Chelsea posted up with her camera at 5am waiting on the first snowflake - she used to collect them, but kept losing 'em - go figure. Coach had to send out a team e-mail to push back our practice time...and remind Christina Lee not to act on any of her instincts for extreme activities. C has an affinity for outrageous endeavors and the snow could give her some crazy thoughts. I can just picture her at the top of some precipice, calculator and protractor in hand, sure the calculations will land her safely on the other side of Trask. 2 more years C, and you can be the extreme sporter that you were born to be.


Snow is certainly fun, but we need our courts back so we can get down to business. We have just a few short weeks before we head to VCU and kick off our Spring season. The event at VCU is a unique format. Called a 4x1, each dual match will consist of just 5 matches all played at the same time. There are 4 singles and 1doubles and all 5 matches are played simultaneously. The first team to win 3 of the possible 5 points win the match. This year's field will include VCU, The University of Penn, Hampton University,Norfolk State, as well as the SEAHAWKS!
This will be a great test, but we are confident in our senior leadership of Chelsea "the boot" Kahle and Lindsay "oh, sorry, should I stop drop-shotting you" Leblang. For the past three years, these two have epitomized what it means to be a UNCW student-athlete - excelling in the classroom and dominating on the tennis court.
For our Freshmen, this trip marks their first team event and we could not be more excited for this group. Emily "let me tell y'all about my day, yea, you may want to make yourself comfortable" Warren is returning healthy and ready to get after it. Kelly "snapshot" Cameron is bringing her Fed-like one-hander and gonna take care of business. Angie "I'm just gonna jog to California and back to loosen up" Sekely has proven that she is a force to be reckon with. And Olga "green\yellow light" Blank is going to "push" her way to the top!
Our mid-classmen are also seasoned veterans in the classroom and on the court and we have the utmost faith in them as well. Christina "don't trust this smile" Riley, Casey "give me peanut butter and jelly or give me death" Dashiell, and Christina "I can sleep, do my math homework, and run faster than you, all at the same time" Lee each bring so much excitement, positive energy, determination and commitment to this team that success is our only option.
We are all blessed to be a part of this program, with the outstanding group of student-athletes, parents, support staff, and alumni. And for our loyal followers, you can now view our 2011 media guide on-line at www.uncwsports.com Go to the Women's Tennis page and click the link for 2011 virtual guide. It is pretty sweet!
Happy New Year!!
John Ware

UNCW INVITE.........FINALS........and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Hello everyone! Freshman Angie Sekely here writing to you to finish off the fall season. After ending with our amazing Halloween tournament at home, we only had a few practices left before it was time to crack our books open and move into our home, away from home, away from home… or better known as the library. Fortunately, we still managed to share some hard work and laughs with each other to blow off some steam during exam time. Picture day, for instance, was definitely something to be remembered. We had the chance to wear our new outfits and all of us were extremely excited… even if it was only for ten minutes. Everything was running smoothly until Coach told us our next group picture would be taken in the tree in front of the training room. That’s right… not in front of the tree.. IN the tree. We all ran to it as fast as we could and started climbing like little monkeys. Casey got the highest, but she went a little too crazy so we had to reposition her a few times in order to get the perfect shot, I cant wait to see how it turns out! Getting down from the tree was a lot harder than it looked and Riley managed to cut her finger open along the way (I hope that has healed)! Anyways, a little while after that, Coach had a Christmas dinner for us at her house with the most delicious food, I could not stop eating!!


After dinner we had a present exchange and it got a little out of control, but everyone made great gifts so in the end we were all happy! Each year everyone brings one gift - BUT your gift has to be made. You cannot just buy something - so everyone's creativity is put to the test - and this year was one of the best!!



But then Coach threatened us with an extra two weeks of morning madness because we disobeyed her wishes and got her a gift!!... Lets hope she doesn’t remember that for next year! Lindsay and Chelsea’s peppermint chocolate and Casey’s fudge were the cherries on top of a perfect night. It was just what we needed before entering a world of no sleep, no “vegetating” and 100% exams. With a few struggles during the last push of the semester (such as Olga rolling off her bed and getting five staples in her head at four in the morning), I’m happy to say, that we all survived and cannot wait to start the spring. Ill leave everyone with one final story from the fall: In one of our last hits, I noticed two huge crows flying over my head so I took a moment to point them out to Casey, Lindsay and Riley. “It’s a sign” Lindsay says as Riley, Casey and I look at each other with confused faces. “Sign for what?!” Casey says to have Lindsay answer “That we are going to win CAA’s this year”. With all of this hard work and unity underneath our belts, I can definitely visualize (as John always tells us to do) this and hope that it will come true. Our team has had a great fall and has fuelled up for an even better spring. Lets go Hawks!! We hope you will come out to some matches this spring...... our schedule is posted on our website at www.uncwsports.com and would love to have you come out and cheer for the Seahawks!!! We THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO TO SUPPORT US ALL YEAR LONG!! WE APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH!!
Many blessings to you for a Happy Holiday and in the New Year......

UNCW Halloween Invite.... and Go Canada???

Hello Seahawk Fans! This is FRESHMEAT, Kelly Cameron, or better known as GloZell. I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween! But if you are like me, you’re looking forward to this so called Wagsgiving that all the upperclassmen have been talking about!

Coming back home from a good tournament at Virginia Tech, Coach and J-Dub were already thinking ahead towards the Halloween Invite. They turned around to ask everyone in the van for a t-shirt idea but no one was awake. J-Dub thought of, “Trick or Treat. Smell my feet. Come to Wilmington and get beat!” Catchy but not quite. We knew that the fall season was coming to an end quickly and hard work in these final weeks was going to be necessary. We continued to work hard, always being reminded that our hard work now would all pay off for our upcoming season.

The Seahawks have started a new warm up technique for our serving arms. We loosen up our arms and play a little game of catch with a football. Casey Dash is an expert at throwing a football and laughed when she saw the way I gripped it. Thank you Casey, no wonder I always threw to the right! Chelsea and I decided to have a little game of catch that only ended with the ball over the fence. Chelsea started walking back, farther, and farther until she was about 3 courts away from me. I thought I should move up a little bit but I was wrong. Chelsea threw the ball way over my head and way over the fence. Anyone want Chelsea on their football team?

The Halloween Invite had arrived and it began with an awesome warm up playlist from my IPod. It lasted a whole ten minutes after Whip My Hair by Will Smith’s 9 year old daughter almost blew out the speakers and then my IPod eventually dying. No worries, Lindsay’s pre-speech and our loud cheer gets us ready for action. Freshmen, Angie Sekely and Olga Blank were anxious to play their first home match as a Seahawk. They represented us well both by winning their flights in the tournament. They weren’t the only ones, also Clee, Leblang, and Dash picked up a flight win. Overall, the Seahawks had one of the best tournaments and this has only pumped us up more for the season.

A special congrats to Dash and Riles for coming back to win a match where they were down 2-6. This is where the Seahawks separate from others. Our fight. Our heart. I was trying to think of what gave everyone so much energy for the weekend and I have come up with two reasons. First, is the thought of our upcoming season and Coach’s emails that countdown to our first match in the spring that gives us all chills. Second, Reilly, we all know why those feet were moving so fast…don’t fall asleep he might get you! The several Halloween terror movies we watched and screamed at. Well everyone screaming but Clee of course.

We had a lot of support this weekend and we would all like to thank the parents, friends, and fans that came out! A special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sekely for the AWESOME CANADIAN MITTENS! We love them! Also to the Dashiell family for always being so supportive and bringing yummy treats that Emily and I have no problem consuming!
Cameron. Out. :)

1st Road Trip.... Virginia Tech here we come!!

Welcome back loyal Seahawk fans! This is UPPERCLASSMAN Casey Dashiell and I am here to tell you about our first road trip of the year! We started our journey Wednesday night as we left the monsoon in Wilmington and headed towards Raleigh. We had a packed van but were missing Chelsea and Emily due to injuries…it’s never the same without y’all! I’ve never seen two freshman more excited about sitting in the back of the van than Kelly and Angie. Somehow Olga worked the system and road in the front seat with Lindsay, why weren’t we ever smart enough to do that?! Riley made out too, having her own seat to herself…something’s going wrong in this world! C Lee and I fitted together like a puzzle piece to sleep away the time. We hit at NC State Wednesday night and as we walked into NC State’s facility, it was hard to miss a three foot picture of coach’s face painted on the wall for all time singles wins. We then road to Chapel Hill and stayed at Coach’s parents’ house where we devoured some food, stared in disbelief at the humongous trophy case packed full, and pass out on the comfiest beds.
On Thursday, we got up early and headed the rest of the way to Virginia Tech, playing the train game the whole way! None of the freshman nor Riley (or Chelsea!) has gotten it yet, but they are troopers, even asking if they can take a train when they’re on changeovers. None of us had been to Blacksburg before so we didn’t know what to expect. However, being beach girls, the mountains weren’t exactly what we wanted to see. We soon found ourselves riding past cow pasture after cow pasture. When we arrived at VA Tech to practice Thursday, it’s safe to say we were all a little homesick. Besides the cow pastures, cold weather, and orange and maroon courts, there was “cow dung surrounding all the courts” according to Ware.
Friday morning came early for everyone, but everyone came out sharp. We had a long day at the courts, eight to eight, and we devoured some food when we got back to the hotel. Unfortunately, Saturday morning seemed to come even faster than Friday and it was tough getting out of bed with our sore bodies. Saturday, everyone battled and played really well. We were definitely the loudest out of every team there. No one can beat Kelly’s cheer for “Big O” while watching Olga’s match! Perhaps Kelly’s other great moment this trip was when we were trying to come up with a new cheer for before our matches. Kelly thought we should cheer “C-E-A, C-E-A, Hawks, Hawks, Hawk”… think about it! Angie had said the night before that she wanted to run in her matches, and she did. You’ve never seen anyone like to run as this girl…that’ll soon change! In between doubles and singles Coach and Ware’s competitiveness came out. With an open court, they battled away at mini tennis, first to 7, no 10, no 15, to see who could win and have bragging rights. Ware had a little advantage by making Coach laugh so hard she almost peed her pants.


We finished up early on Saturday, about five o’clock, so we headed to a restaurant called Cabo Fish Tacos where we watched NC State play VA Tech. We were all pulling for State, except for John of course. Even though we were pulling for State, we weren’t about to verbally show it since they were playing Virginia Tech and we were AT Virginia Tech so we kept our cheering internal..…except for Coach. The restaurant was packed with VA Tech fans yelling and cheering at every play, while Coach sat in the middle of the restaurant yelling “Go State.” Maybe next time!
We also had another outing on Saturday - this one meaningful -- Coach took us to see the Memorial of the students that lost their lives during the horrible shooting at Virginia Tech 3 years ago. To see so many names listed - knowing they were someone's family member, friend and even a teammate - put in a very clear perspective that life really is too short sometimes - - we are so blessed to be healthy active young women surrounded by loving friends, family and teammates and really lucky our only worry that weekend was if someone had a better serve or forehand than we did. It was a very memorable outing for our team. Stay strong Virginia Tech!


That night, C Lee, Linds, and I decided that we should try out the hot tub on our sore bodies. The jets felt great, but if it helped with the soreness, I don’t want to know what I would’ve felt like without using it! Once again, our alarms sounded off long before we wanted them too, and it was a struggle to get out of bed. We all hobbled out to the courts early to get a good warm-up before we were to dominate the day. We ended the tournament strong, everyone “tooah up their opponents,” especially Angie who ran herself to victory in the C Flight for singles!
All in all, we were happy to leave Blacksburg where C Lee’s thought of “what if this is the end—of our lives,” has frightened Lindsay to death, and where we were happy to leave the orange and maroon courts, cow manure, and 37 degree weather behind and head back to the beach! A special thanks to the Cameron’s and my parents for their endless support and goodies they supplied!