Racine Rocks!

Saturday, July 15, Racine, WI – By Tara Kuk

With the exception of Clearwater Beach, Racine has been my favorite stop yet and definitely the most memorable. My mom flew up to the event with me because we have family in Milwaukee and Madison, so I knew it was going to be a great weekend regardless. We were able to spend Thursday and Friday with my aunt and uncle, as well as multiple cousins and had a fantastic time. Saturday they all came out for the day to Racine and formed a cheer squad now known as "Cheerwater" which included my family, a close friend Krista from high school, her boyfriend Duane, and a few others they picked up that day.

The Racine site was fabulous. Kim and I did a clinic for 6th-9th grade girls on Friday for a couple hours and really enjoyed that. Some came back Saturday to serve as ball shaggers so it made center court even smoother. So many people came out for the event. Center court was crowded all the way through our finals. The fans were spirited and seemed to be extremely excited that we were there.

It was definitely a long day of volleyball. Three out of five of our matches went three games, two of which were the semis and finals. My family was decked out in their latest EVP gear and VolleyChick tattoos (mom's was upside down). They both were die-hard from 8 am until the last ball dropped. I cramped for the first time. It started during our second match and carried on through the final. I completely locked up in the final though during the second game at 19-18 and wasn't sure what to do. I was saved with pickled juice (from Shayna) and some stuff called Squinchers (from Angie) and even though we lost that second, I was able to make it through all three games with a lot of encouragement and BIG plays from Kimmer. It was in pretty dramatic fashion though. Talk about stepping up the mental game!

I am so glad the EVP is holding their nationals in Racine in September. Although Kim can no longer play, I'm still hoping for another W when I return. Mike (the hubby) will be with me, so he will add to the already spectacular "Cheerwater Crew" that was formed.

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