This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend the 2007 Women???s Division I Championships in Sacramento, California. In a five-game thriller???the epitome of a championship match???Penn State defeated Stanford on Saturday night and was crowned the 2007 National Champions.

All of the student-athletes displayed extraordinary sportsmanship, competitive drive and enthusiasm; let???s just say I was proud to be a fellow volleyballer. Although I was not a powerhouse Division I player myself, I shared in the passion and emotion that was exhibited on the court and felt each dig and kill as if I myself were out on the court.

Observing all the talent, I began to wonder ???what if???? What if I would have worked harder on my jump serve? What if I could have dug a few more balls or perfected my serve receive passing? Could I have played at this level? I tried to relive certain moments that I could have worked harder or lifted more weight, but I honestly couldn???t conjure up any instants when I didn???t leave everything on the court. I have no regrets.

I remember back to my high school days where I was relentlessly sending out recruiting tapes and letters to schools of interest. Each time I???d receive a response that would read something like this: ???Thank you for your interest in our program. But at this time we are not looking for someone of your size and stature at University XYZ. Good luck in your future ventures.???

Almost every single letter I received in return mentioned that I was not adequate for the program???not because of my lack of technique or hustle, but because my physical attributes would be a detriment to their team. Was this the standard response to every prospective athlete that the coach was not interested in? Do they send this to the 6-footers they reject too?

Instead of trying to second-guess my abilities and work ethic, maybe I should have been asking the question: ???What if I was taller????

I understand that being well-endowed with a 6???2??? figure probably allows for a greater chance of pounding the ball down on the opponent???s side or dunking a basketball, but size surely doesn???t measure heart, fight or ability. Some coaches often overlook many great student-athletes from all sports because they focus on the height, not heart.

Many student-athletes have faced the same challenges that I did???some successful in playing at a Division I institution and many more not. But I know that every time I see a player under 5???7??? on a Division I or Division II roster, I am sparked with hope for future ???shorties??? who hope to play college sports. And going to a game and seeing them on the floor making an impact is even more encouraging.

So to all you undersized athletes out there: continue to battle and play your game. Exude confidence and pride in who you are. Don???t fret the things you can???t change. When it???s time to choose a college, your heart will guide you in the right direction???even if that direction doesn???t lead to a Pac-10 or Big Ten school. Someone will notice you, and when they do, they will appreciate every inch of you!

Will the campus move too? Ann Arbor might want to think about importing a Morgantown House of Pizza. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez has decided to join former colleague John Beilein up north at Michigan, and will look to take the Wolverines back to the promised land of college football. Rodriguez, who grew up in West Virginia, and played for the Mountaineers, has surprised some by leaving the hometown program he built to national prominence. West Virginia will play Oklahoma in the upcoming Fiesta Bowl. The game has not been moved from Glendale to Ann Arbor.

Bearcat-size disappointment. Northwest Missouri State last won the Division II Football Championship in 1999, but if you asked anybody associated with the program today, it probably seems more like 100 years. The Bearcats lost their third straight title game on Saturday, falling to Valdosta State, 25-20. Michael Terry found the end zone on a 1-yard run with 22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to propel the Blazers their second-ever national championship.

Mount count over. Like its Division II counterpart in Missouri, Wisconsin-Whitewater was playing in its third-straight Division III Football Championship title game on Saturday, and the Warhawks had the daunting task of facing Mount Union, which had won 37 consecutive games. Behind the superb running of Gagliardi Trophy winner Justin Beaver, Wisconsin-Whitewater found a way to dethrone the beast, knocking off the nine-time national champion, 31-21. Beaver ran for 249 yards, including a 66-yard run in the waning moments of the game.

Mountaineers win again! Things seem to be coming in threes, and fortunately for the Mountaineers of Appalachian State, that meant a third consecutive Division I Football Championship on Friday. Appalachian State ran all over Delaware at the Football Championship Subdivision finale in Chattanooga, rolling to a 49-21 win. The Mountaineers, of course, started their season with a historic upset of Michigan, and went on to finish with a 13-2 record.

Cary loves Zach. The soccer gods were watching over Zach Schilawski this weekend. Just five minutes from his childhood home, the Wake Forest sophomore tallied the game-winning goal in the Division I Men???s Soccer Championship yesterday. Schilawski and the Demon Deacons won their first men???s soccer championship with a 2-1 win over Ohio State. Wake Forest???s Marcus Tracy was named the tournament???s most outstanding offensive player.

Hear us roar. Penn State won a thrilling five-game match with Stanford to claim the 2007 Division I Women???s Volleyball Championship. The Nittany Lions won their second national title in the sport, and kept Stanford from claiming its seventh. Penn State dropped just two games in six tournament matches, both to Stanford.

Attending the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship is a dream come true for NCAA intern Kat Krtnick.

I have daydreamed of this moment my whole life???the NCAA Women???s Volleyball Championships???the opportunity to play for a National Championship. As a former volleyball student-athlete, my ultimate goal was to help my team reach this elevated status. The National Championship in any realm of intercollegiate athletics is the epitome of any student-athlete???s and any coach???s career. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to achieve that dream, but the experience of this weekend???s NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship is the closest I will ever be, and I am taking full advantage of it!

Since I???ve been in Sacramento, I have been blogging for NCAASports.com and preparing for the NCAA Women???s Volleyball Youth Clinic on Saturday morning. These may be my responsibilities, but I have also had the chance to experience so much more???press conferences (where I even asked a question!), sitting in media row for the semifinals and meeting so many exceptional people. I also had the chance to interview Penn State head coach Russ Rose and Stanford middle hitter and Pac-10 Player of the Year Foluke Akinradewo one-on-one!

With 13, 048 fans in attendance, this year???s Division I Women???s Volleyball Championship semifinals ranks second in all-time attendance. Four teams???Stanford , USC, Penn State and California???all represented their institutions last night in the semifinals, battling to be the lone victor holding up the trophy at the end of the Saturday night. In the first semifinal, Stanford beat USC 3-2 in a nail-biter. In fifth game, just as it looked like the Trojans were going to win, a missed serve by senior outside hitter Asia Kaczor tied the game 14-14, giving the Cardinals another chance. Stanford capitalized on the mistake and came back to win 16-14 in the fifth and final game. It was a heartbreaker for USC, but this match showcased two of the most potent, athletic teams I have ever witnessed. Both teams played to their strengths and exposed the weaknesses of the opponent.

In the second semifinal of night, Penn State defeated California 3-0. Penn State was unstoppable at the net???posing a powerful block and surreal hitting percentage. Although Penn State reigned victorious, California has no reason to hang their heads. They had an unforgettable season, taking their team to the first NCAA Division I Semifinals in school history, defeating volleyball powerhouse Nebraska and ending up in the top four in the country. Congrats on a fantastic season ladies!

Both on and off the court, I am so impressed by these student-athletes and often catch myself daydreaming about being on the court and playing with them. I am surprised how composed the players appear, even during the direst situations and how they are so proud to be athletes. Even all of the 6???3??? players were sporting high heels at the Championship Banquet on Wednesday night!

Baseball world rocked. The release of the highly-anticipated Mitchell Report yesterday has rocked the sports world. As there is a ton of information to sift through, we will raise a discussion on this topic later today. Before we delve into the world of performance-enhancing drugs, relax with your coffee and smile about some of the good things going on out there.

No sleep required. Dana John dropped 22 points and led New Jersey City to a big victory over John Jay on Wednesday night to help the Gothic Knights improve to 6-3 overall. John is a Division III all-American, so it would seem logical that he would be the best player on the court each time out. What might surprise you, however, is that John probably didn???t sleep but a couple of hours in the 24 that preceded tip-off. John, who was profiled in the current issue of ESPN The Magazine, begins every day by working an eight-hour graveyard shift at the post office at Newark International airport. When he???s done working, he spends the day like most normal college students ??? in class. In the afternoon, it???s time for practice and then some homework. Did we mention he takes care of his 4-year-old son when he gets home? And then it???s back to work at midnight. There???s no time for sleep, but on game nights, he still manages to be one of the best Division III players in the country. Amazing.

Making time for others. It???s the middle of basketball season, but that didn???t stop the College of Charleston men???s basketball team from spending Thursday afternoon visiting children at the Medical University of South Carolina Children???s Hospital. ???Every year before Christmas we try to get the team out to a Children???s Hospital and MUSC is great,??? said head coach Bobby Cremins. ???You just try to make them (CofC players) appreciate the healthy life they have, the healthy bodies they have. Just coming off of exams we needed something non-basketball.???

Merry Christmas Muraric family! Christmas came early for Carol Muraric and her three children this year, thanks to presents and an outstanding meal provided by the Cal State San Bernardino Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. A single mother, Muraric wasn???t present because of health issues, but her three kids opened more than 30 presents, including a DVD player and movie donated by the men???s golf team.

Digging it. If you caught some of the volleyball match between Stanford and USC last night, you may have been struck by the ridiculous skills exhibited by the student-athletes on the court. If you???ve never watched volleyball before, you might have been surprised by the absolute disregard those student-athletes have for their bodies. The young women didn???t think twice about diving for errant balls all over the court, and when student-athletes are playing with such outstanding effort, it???s really impossible to turn away. Stanford outlasted USC in a five-game match, advancing to tomorrow???s national championship game against Penn State, which swept California in three games. NCAA intern Kat Krtnick will share some thoughts from Sacramento later today.

Gameday at Williams. Who saw Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit in Willamstown on Saturday? That???s right ??? the ESPN College Gameday team hunkered down at Division III Williams College this weekend, scene of one of football???s best rivalry games between the Ephs and Lord Jeffs of Amherst. Williams went on to win the game, 20-0, and finished its season 6-2 despite losing its first two contests of the year. Williams claimed its 45th Little Three (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan) title and will head into the off-season smiling. As a conference rule, NESCAC teams don???t compete in the Division III football championship, so Saturday???s victory will have to last the Ephs into next August. Obviously, the game is meaningful enough to get the ESPN gang out to Massachusetts and for true football fans, taking in an Amherst-Williams game is just as important as seeing Ohio St.-Michigan and Harvard-Yale.

Smart idea. Nick Smart caught 16 passes in Southwest Baptist???s loss to Washburn on Saturday, finishing his season with an NCAA-record 143 receptions. It was rough year for the Bearcats, who finished 0-11 overall, but Smart gave fans a reason to smile all season long, as he came ready to play week in and week out. Along with the 143 catches, Smart also had 1,263 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Stealing the show. Of course, I spent part of yesterday evening checking out the Syracuse men???s basketball team in its season opener against Siena. Yes, I was pumped about Jonny Flynn and his 28 points and nine assists. Of course, Paul Harris fired me up with 15 rebounds. And obviously, I shouted for Donte Green, who blocked five shots in his college debut. But none of that was as impressive to me as when the broadcasters began sharing the resume of Siena head coach Fran McCaffery. Why did the bio catch my attention, you ask? Well, it turns out that McCaffery did his undergraduate work at Pennsylvania, one of the nation???s finest universities. While that???s impressive, it???s not nearly as impressive as the fact that he received his bachelor of science degree from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, which is widely regarded as the best undergraduate (and graduate) education one can receive in the field of business. Upon his graduation from Penn, McCaffery headed to Lehigh, where he worked as an assistant coach and picked up his master???s degree. He became Lehigh???s head coach at the ripe old age of 26 and went 49-39 in three years. He then spent 11 seasons as an assistant at Notre Dame before moving on to UNC-Greensboro, where he spent six years at the helm. McCaffery is in his third year at Siena. Pretty decent credentials, huh?

Reverse curse? Congratulations to Double-A Zone student-athlete blogger Sam Mitchell, who was named Conference Carolinas women???s volleyball player of the year. She was named to the all-conference team for the third-straight season. Way to go, Sam!

Read the latest from Harvard volleyball player Mimi Hanley.

Most seniors come back to school in the early fall with good spirits and high hopes for the year. Everyone is excited about what will happen over the course of their last nine months of college life. The fall has always seemed particularly exciting to me. Of course there is the hype about senior spring and graduation, but the really rah-rah school spirited ???this place is great??? attitude is greatest in the fall. Most people have spent the summer months away from school and in the working world, so the idea of having two to three hours of class per day with the rest of your day open, versus an 8-12 hour work day, sounds pretty amazing.

Mount Olive senior Sam Mitchell has excelled in the classroom and on the volleyball court since she arrived on campus. In her first post for the Double-A Zone, Mitchell lets us know how she fell in love with a school 22 hours away from home.

Hello Double-A Zone readers! My name is Samantha Mitchell and I am a senior at Mount Olive College in Mount Olive, N.C. This is the home of Mt. Olive Pickle Company, making Mount Olive the unofficial ???Pickle Capital??? of the world! So you may be asking how a girl from Wisconsin wound up attending a college in Eastern North Carolina!

I grew up in Boyd, Wis., a small town of 680 people. I grew up in a wonderful Christian family with my parents Monte and Jill, and my three beautiful sisters. I was a tomboy growing up (everybody calls me ???Sam???) and was always involved with sports. I was daddy???s little girl because I was the closest to a boy he was ever going to get!

Harvard volleyball senior Mimi Hanley joins the Double-A Zone community with her inaugural post this afternoon. Mimi refutes the geographical stereotypes that often characterize volleyball student-athletes and describes the journey she took to Harvard.

Everyone assumes that because I am on the Harvard women???s volleyball team, I must be a ???NorCal??? or ???SoCal??? native. Countless number of times have I been asked, ???You are from California, right???? Wrong.

It is true that California does breed excellent volleyball players, so maybe I should look at that inquisition as a compliment on my athletic abilities. California does seem to dominate the volleyball world. If you look at the rosters for all of the Ivy League teams, the vast majority are from the Golden State, but volleyball enthusiasm and culture is growing all over ??? especially in my native New England. So I politely correct the questioner, and tell them that I actually grew up in Seattle and became a volleyball player at my high school in Massachusetts.

I grew up in the Seattle area playing basketball because my dad played the sport as did my older brother and sister. We were a basketball family. So when I decided I wanted to go to prep school in the east, I left home committed to working hard both academically and athletically. As summer ended and freshman fall approached, I decided that I would try out for the volleyball team. I had played for my school???s team for fun whenever I could fit it into my basketball schedule. And I had enjoyed it, so why not continue on in high school?

Andover???s high school volleyball coach saw the potential in my 6-foot frame, and put me on the squad to give me technical coaching I would need to become a real ???player.??? And this is where my love for the game grew. New England volleyball lags somewhat behind the rest of the country in terms of competitiveness, but this offered me a tremendous opportunity to get experience and develop as a player.

I was still as committed as ever to basketball and my future in it, but I had developed a new passion. I was able to balance both sports along with academics while even managing to pick up lacrosse in the spring. I was loving high school, and couldn???t have been happier with my decision to go to Andover.

Then junior year rolled around. I had spent hundreds, maybe even thousands, of hours practicing, traveling, and competing, all in an effort to realize my dream of playing collegiate basketball. But by this time, my dream had changed. Basketball was no longer the joyous game it had once been for me. Maybe it was the pressure I had put on myself. Maybe I was sick of the constant physical beating you get when playing under the hoop. Whatever the reason, I had turned my attention solely to volleyball.

Volleyball was a game that I had grown to love and excel at. All my hopes of playing collegiate sports hadn???t died, but had just changed venues from the basketball arena to the volleyball court. I was fortunate to get the chance to play in college at Harvard, and have loved every minute of it for the last three years. I began playing this sport as more of a fun social experience (all my middle school friends played on the school team), and continued playing because it is a dynamic sport. Looking back, it seems strange to think that competitive volleyball, which has been such a huge part of my life, will be over in just a few short months. And although my collegiate career may end shortly, there is no doubt that I will keep playing???somewhere, somehow.

There are plenty of misconceptions about what higher education and intercollegiate athletics are supposed to look like. The truth is, however, is that there isn???t a specific blueprint that any one of the NCAA???s 1,000+ institutions follow. In today???s Coaches??? Corner post, Baruch women???s volleyball coach Allison Gunther discusses the experience her players have as student-athletes at a commuter school in the heart of New York City.

Although I have been at Baruch College for 14 months, it only took me one month to realize that Baruch was a college like none other!

Baruch is located in the heart of New York City, in buildings 14 stories high equipped with escalators and elevators. The college is the largest public business school in the United States, and the second most diverse institution with more than 15,000 students.

I also recently discovered that most of the student population commutes on average 40 minutes to attend class four days a week because we do not have dorms.

But that???s not a knock on Baruch; it???s actually proof that Baruch???s academic reputation is so esteemed that students will tolerate the commute to get a top-notch education at an outstanding price of $2,000 per semester for an in-state resident!

I initially wondered how it was possible for an urban school, with no dorms or on-campus fields, to possibly be successful in athletics? I was in for a learning experience.

In the past two years, we have won seven conference championships and have had five teams qualify for the NCAA tournament. We have also won back-to-back Commissioner???s Cups, which are awarded to the college with the most successful athletic program in the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC).

I believe that one of the reasons our teams are so successful is that the athletes support one another, whether it???s traveling on the fan van to a soccer game in Queens or helping out one another with homework in the student-athlete lounge. Because Baruch does not provide dorms, the athletics department and student-athlete lounge becomes their second home and their fellow student-athletes their extended family.

Although most students commute from home, we have recruited more and more student-athletes from around the country and abroad. On my volleyball team alone, I have players from Texas, Arkansas, Nevada, Albania, West Indies and Puerto Rico. And instead of dorms, athletes find apartments together in New York City.

All this success comes with the dedication of our athletics staff and coaches, consisting of seven full-time and eight part-time employees, and more importantly, the student-athletes who manage to balance their schoolwork, practices/games and commutes into their busy schedules.

Baruch College is truly a unique place.

Samuel Alito comes to town. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is apparently a fan of college sports. During a trip to Indianapolis last week, Justice Alito visited with NCAA President Myles Brand and toured the Hall of Champions, which has been nominated as one of the top museums in Indianapolis. During the tour, Justice Alito and Dr. Brand paused for a couple of moments to shoot a few baskets in the Hall???s gymnasium. No word about who had the better jumper.

UCF opens stadium. Central Florida has brought football back to its campus with the opening of Bright House Networks Stadium last Saturday. More than 45,000 fans showed up to watch the Knights battle sixth-ranked Texas, and the energy almost carried the home team to victory, but the Longhorns prevailed, 35-32. Myles Brand was present at the historic game and praised the stadium project: ???They've built a fine stadium that's functionally terrific, but it's not lavish. And it makes great sense. We're not seeing that in every institution. Sometimes we're seeing expenditure that's resulting in problems for some institutions in terms of debt load."

No place like home. Think you can beat New Jersey City???s volleyball team in Jersey City? Forget it. The Gothic Knights won their 34th consecutive home match on Tuesday, sweeping Montclair State (30-25, 30-11, 30-23) to improve to 10-1 overall. Senior middle blocker Lizzelle Cintron collected her 91st career double-double with 16 kills and 11 blocks, and moved into 17th place in NCAA history with 2,457 career kills.

A scoring machine. Dallas soccer player Adam Lunger needed just five games into his junior year to score his 100th career point. Lunger connected on the game-winning goal early in the second half of the Crusaders??? 4-0 win over Illinois College on Sunday. With 43 goals and 14 assists during his career, Lunger has already become one of the most prolific scorers in school history. A strong student-athlete, Lunger carries a 3.0 GPA and plans to major in business and pre-medicine.

The fall season is just a couple of weeks away and student-athletes across the country are gearing up. In her first guest post for the Double-A Zone, Western Carolina sophomore Liz Rondone shares some thoughts about preseason in Cullowhee.

The aching bodies and endless days can only mean on thing - preseason. I am Liz Rondone, a sophomore libero from Bloomington, Illinois, and one of the 12 student-athletes on the Catamount volleyball team. The team and I have already survived two days of our conditioning test, two days of three-a-day practices, and a summer of hard work all in preparation for the upcoming season.

Last season was not up to our expectations, as we finished in the bottom half of the SoCon. We ended with a record far from .500 after only sweeping one team. With that being said, I feel like we did not walk away empty handed. Not only does the new team know what we want to work for (making it to the SoCon championship match), but we know how much harder we have to push for it. This leaves us with nothing but high hopes for the upcoming season.

Team chemistry has never been more perfect, which is causing a domino effect on the rest of preseason. Everyone is getting along, despite differences in where we???re from and how old we are. Because we are mixing so well, working hard during practice does not seem difficult. Since we are working hard the coaches have been making the practice sessions enjoyable and even seem happy themselves. With all of this combined, preseason is actually fun. Sure we can???t wait for it to be over and head to SMU for our first tournament, but no one has to pull our teeth to make us show up for practice.

Granted, I am not focusing on the fact that I struggle to get into bed every night even though it is only a couple of feet off the ground, but it???s all worth it in the end. We are going to extreme lengths to make a difference this year and to give our competitors something to wince about. All I can share at this point is that our confidence is building along with our skills. Watch out SoCon!

Kat Krtnick feels like a freshman all over again.

Uncertainty. Anxiety. Nervousness. As I entered the gymnasium for my first collegiate preseason practice, I was terrified of all the sprints and conditioning drills, but I was perhaps even more hesitant of all the upperclassmen and all of the unfamiliar faces that surrounded me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the seniors sizing me up to see if I could be a threat to one of their positions. On the sideline, a group of other seasoned veterans gossiped about their summer flings and some of the transfer football players. There I was, standing all alone, nothing in common with anyone, feeling like an outcast and wondering if I would ever fit into this mix. Would these girls like me? Would I make friends? Did I have a chance to earn a spot on this team?

I was sure I would never have to experience the ambiguity and fear of another freshman preseason ever again. But now, in starting my journey as an NCAA intern, some of those feelings have quickly rekindled.

Luckily, the conditioning sessions here at the NCAA do not require any sort of athletic prowess or cardiovascular training, but I have to admit that the tiresome orientation trainings exhaust me just the same. It is no longer my muscles that are sore; it is my brain and my feet. (Never take for granted the days you are able to wear tennis shoes instead of heels. I can attest that the blisters are worse here.)

Unlike the seniors on my volleyball team, who made no effort to get to know me, the public and media relations staff has been incredibly welcoming and helpful to me; yet, my rookie status still instigates the same types of questions. How will I compare to past interns? Will I meet the team???s expectations? How do people perceive me? Am I talented enough to play at this level?

Although I might get to skip out on the post-practice ice baths and the grueling two-a-days of a student-athlete, here, in fact, I am a freshman once again.

Just a few short weeks removed from her college graduation, Kat Krtnick has joined the NCAA staff as an intern. Kat spent the past four years as a member of the Wisconsin-River Falls volleyball team, and shares some thoughts with us after completing her first week in the working world.

Just as players need a preparation period prior to a game to loosen up their muscles and to get into the mindset of competition, I have discovered that NCAA interns also require a warm-up???maybe not of the glutes and the quads as I am used to as a volleyball player and track runner, but a warm-up of the company culture, the co-workers, and all the cognitive processes of the brain.

Having just recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, I wonder if all graduating student-athletes endure the same transition into the workforce as I currently am. The only culture I have known my entire life thus far has been an incessant balancing act of strength and conditioning sessions, classes, practice, studying, work, committee meetings, and of course, a social life. Although the thought of abandoning ancient literature texts and calculus problems for eternity was exhilarating to me, I was also wondering if my qualifications and experiences would be adequate for the real world.

Here I am, in my first week as an NCAA Intern, ready to answer that very question and many more. Will my experiences as the setter on the volleyball team really teach me how to be a leader on the Public and Media Relations staff? How will the journalism and marketing knowledge that I have gained through being a two-year intern for the Kansas City Chiefs Summer Training Camp relate to intercollegiate athletics? Will the serving as a SAAC. member, Student Senate representative, and a Recreation Committee chair really enhance my interpersonal and organizational skills?

After sitting through seemingly endless orientations, paperwork, and warm-up sessions during the first week of my internship, it???s finally game time. I???m ready to put my skills to the test.

As the buzzer sounds, the National Anthem resonates, and my number is called, I step out onto the court. No longer am I attired in the UW-RF Falcons #9 volleyball jersey; as I look down at my business suit, I realized that I have just warmed up for my professional debut.

My year-long contract as an NCAA Intern may not be worth millions or my name may not be in lights, but I do know that my professional opportunity here will be nothing short of priceless.

Photos taken Saturday in Columbus

In the car for a six-hour round trip for a few hours of championship volleyball???I???ll call it an even trade. Saturday afternoon, a group of friends and I headed up to Columbus for the title game of the 2007 National Collegiate Men???s Volleyball Championship.

The matchup saw UC Irvine defeat IPFW in four games for the first national title in program history. Coincidentally, it was the first time either team had advanced to the finals, so history was definitely going to be made. Obviously with so much on the line, the match was intense with some great players making great plays for their respective teams.

It was my first trip to the men???s finals, so I was more than ready to be a witness to the atmosphere.

There was a bit of a local flavor, too, as Fort Wayne, Indiana, home of the Mastodons, is only a few hours from Columbus. The fans were used to the drive and the arena since IPFW had played at Ohio State the weekend before on its way to the MIVA tournament title.

UC Irvine also had a loyal fan base cheering with each kill and point won. Who knew Anteaters could be so rowdy?

I can only imagine how these student-athletes felt on such a big stage???the game was also televised live on ESPN2???having practiced and played so hard all season building up to this one match.

Having played volleyball for a little more than five years, I am still amazed by how high these guys jump, how hard they hit and how passionate they are about each and every point. I think it???s a testament to their competitive drive and will to win.

Next year???s championship will take place in Irvine, California, so I can assume that will add a little bit more fuel to UCI???s fire to make another finals appearance for a repeat.

Quick anecdote: During my club volleyball playing days back at Texas Tech, we would play in tournaments over the weekend that would generally start around 8 a.m. Needless to say, I???d be less than fully awake at the start of some of these matches, and let???s just say I???ve been smacked wide awake, literally, on more than one occasion, by a hard-driven attack???spike???to the face! All that to say, I miss those days.

So, this upcoming weekend, I???ll be making the trip over to Columbus, Ohio, for the National Collegiate Men???s Finals. The conference tournaments wrapped up this past Saturday, which set up this year???s four-team national championship tournament field. First serve of the semifinals is set for this Thursday and the title game will be Saturday, May 5.

In the first semifinal, top-seeded Pepperdine will take on Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, or IPFW for those who prefer acronyms. The other semifinal matchup will pit UC Irvine against Penn State, last season???s national runner-up.

Even as an avid volleyball fan, I wasn???t completely sure how the four-team national tournament was set up, so I did a little research. Three of the four automatic bids go to the winners of the three conference tournaments. Those conferences are the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The final spot goes to an at-large selection.

In the EIVA tournament finals, the Nittany Lions swept their way into the national semifinals with a 3-0 (30-28, 30-16, 30-27) win over St. Francis. I suspect Penn St. is eager to return to the title game to take care of some unfinished business.

IPFW also registered a 3-0 (30-22, 30-27, 30-26) victory over Ohio State in the MIVA finals. In winning the match, IPFW had to overcome the advantage the Buckeyes had of playing on their home court.

Over in the MPSF championship game, UC Irvine rallied from a two-game deficit to beat Pepperdine, 3-2 (27-30, 24-30, 30-28, 30-28, 16-14), and earn the conference???s automatic bid. Coincidentally, the teams will be the top two seeds of the national tournament with the possibility of meeting again in the finals.

I wonder how often an at-large team???in this case, five-time champion Pepperdine???has also been the top seed of a tournament.

Of the Waves??? five previous titles, the most recent came in 2004. Penn St. won the national title in 1994 to become the first non-MPSF team to claim the crown. The other two participants, IPFW and UC Irvine, will be looking for their first national titles. Only two teams not affiliated with the MPSF have won national titles???Penn State in 1994 and Lewis in 2003. The title was later vacated from Lewis. UCLA, last year???s champion, has the most titles with 19. (Thanks for enduring that quick history lesson.)

Thursday???s semifinals will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPNU from St. John Arena on the Ohio State campus at 3 and 5 p.m., respectively. The finals can also be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday at 7 p.m. Check your local listings for the appropriate times in your area.

I???ll be front row and center???well, fourth row and a little to the right???taking in all the action in Columbus, which I???m really excited about, so I???m sure I???ll have plenty to say when it???s over. Stay tuned.

It???s not rare for my fiancé and I to pass magazines across cardiovascular machines during our workouts at the gym and the other day she found a story in Town & Country that got both of us talking.

In the July issue of the magazine, a mother of a college volleyball player proudly wrote about her daughter and her teammates in a letter to the editor. In her note, the mother discusses how the girls on the team come in all shapes and sizes and her daughter, who is 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, is proud of both her body and athletics skills.

The mother also mentions that her daughter boasts about how many pounds she can squat in the weight room, and while her daughter???s pride in her strength initially caught mom off guard, she has realized that it???s healthier for girls to work on their muscles rather than obsess about their weights.

The mother raised concerns that many young girls in our society spend their time stressed about their weight and take unhealthy measures to maintain a thin physique. I have always believed in the importance of physical fitness, but have never believed in fad diets that supposedly help people lose weight in a hurry.

Each week, tabloids publish photographs of celebrities that aren???t flattering, shouting out to the entire world that a star who puts on five pounds is ???disgusting.??? Recently, Tyra Banks has been the subject of ridicule because she has gained a few pounds since retiring from the runway, while at the same time photos declaring Nicole Richie scarily thin grace the same pages. The influence of popular culture can be dangerous.

I do agree with the mother that a focus on sports can help young girls appreciate their bodies and not lose focus of what???s healthy and what isn???t. Those of us involved with intercollegiate athletes, however, have the responsibility to make sure that all student-athletes understand proper nutrition and are comfortable with their bodies.

Middle Tennessee softball student-athlete Melissa Weiland may have found her calling this fall. After being asked to assist with radio broadcasts for the volleyball team, Weiland jumped at the opportunity and stayed with the team through its conference championship and a victory in the NCAA tournament. In today???s guest blog, the current graduate student shares some of her favorite memories.

My experience with the volleyball team first started out just helping with online stats. However, the way my experience started is definitely not how it ended.

While I thoroughly enjoyed helping with the stats, a great opportunity was offered to me that I couldn???t turn down. The media relation person over volleyball, Denise Gideon, asked me at one of the matches early in the year if I wanted to assist Russell Luna with the live broadcast. My initial reaction was ???oh gosh??? I have no experience in broadcasting and I don???t want to embarrass myself! But I went anyway and struggled through the first match.

Poor Russell! I was pretty bad. I decided to take the opportunity to get involved with broadcasting to overcome my fear of public speaking. I???ve always struggled speaking in front of a crowd so what better an opportunity than to analyze a college sport, especially one I am very familiar with. I knew the game of volleyball very well being a former high school volleyball player.

The first couple broadcasts I felt were a struggle, but with Russell???s help he pulled me through it and made it run smooth. The thing that I felt was most challenging was drowning out the crowd when speaking, but after a while it became easy. I felt the more I let myself get into the game, as far as the emotion and the game???s intensity, the better the broadcast we had.

The first broadcast that I felt at ease with was against one of MT???s biggest rivals, Western Kentucky. Since I currently play softball for Middle Tennessee, knowing the big rival of Western seemed to just carry over and lit a fire in me as a player doing the broadcast for volleyball. I tried to maintain a level of professionalism since the broadcast was being heard from many different fans, but in my heart I bleed TRUE BLUE!!

I???m about to hop in my car, but instead of taking the 20-minute drive to my house in the middle of Indianapolis, I???m heading 300 miles north to Allendale, Michigan, where I will spend the weekend on the campus of Grand Valley State University.

I???ve been looking forward to this trip for weeks now. I love working at the NCAA, but it???s important to get out there and remind yourself every once in a while exactly what intercollegiate athletics is all about.

I will make my way to campus tomorrow morning, where I will start my excursion at the softball diamond and take in a couple of hours of a fall tournament. During the afternoon, I will jump back and forth between a swimming and diving meet and a tennis invitational. At 4, I will go watch the defending national champion and undefeated women???s volleyball team take on Hillsdale. When the volleyball match is over, I???m looking forward to some good old-fashioned tailgating before a 7 p.m. football game where another of the school???s national champion squads will put an undefeated record on the line.

On Sunday, I will watch the fourth-ranked women???s soccer team host Ashland at 1 p.m. before driving back home to Indianapolis.

During my trip, I will be speaking with many fans, parents, student-athletes, coaches, administrators and even Grand Valley State President Thomas Haas. I am going to throw myself in the middle of the campus and will report on all of the festivities every step of the way on the Double-A Zone.

I???ve heard that Grand Valley State is not only a remarkably beautiful campus, but a memorable place to watch a football game and other top-notch sporting events. My adventure will hopefully reveal that there are exciting weekends taking place across the country, on campuses right around the corner from you.

As a native of New York City, I???m always thrilled to hear that people enjoy the time they spend in the Big Apple. On a recent trip to the city, the Millikin women???s volleyball team went 3-1 in a tournament hosted by NYU, but the experience turned out to be just as successful off the court.

With a focus on culture, diversity and education, the team???s coaches made sure to expose their players to New York when they weren???t competing. The visit included a trip to Ground Zero for the squad???s history major; an outing to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; a stroll down 5th Avenue for a player interested in fashion merchandising; a visit to Wall Street for business majors; and a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We???ve established that most student-athletes will find their careers outside of athletics, and it???s important for them to understand what happens outside the cocoon of their campus and athletics facilities. While the game of volleyball is played the same way in Decatur, Illinois as it is in downtown Manhattan, Millikin???s volleyball student-athletes learned about some of the exciting things that could be awaiting them after they graduate. They immersed themselves with the history and feel of the city and that will prove to be a lifelong memory for each and every student-athlete.

I???m not a snobby New Yorker; when the NYU team travels to an away game, those student-athletes should be exposed to the way things are outside of Manhattan. They should stop by local museums and historical sites in every city or town they go to. As student-athletes, they???re lucky to go to new places regularly. It???s the responsibility of the coaches to make that experience truly worthwhile.

I like to believe that most coaches are heavily invested in the development of young adults, and exposing them to culture should go hand in hand with teaching them discipline and hard work. Millikin???s volleyball coaches certainly have their priorities straight, and for that, I applaud them.

Texas A&M-Kingsville volleyball coach Jane Kieschnick discusses some of the obstacles she faces as a college coach raising three teenagers.

I???ve been coaching for more than 20 years. I???ve never done anything else. Never wanted to do anything else. So, why am I questioning my career choice now? Time???

I am the mother of three kids, Dena,17, Jake, 15, and Ann, 12. I am also the head volleyball coach at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, a Division II university in South Texas. When my children were younger, I was married and a high school coach. Practice times were not much different from what I have now, but the time and travel demands were so much simpler. My kids were always in the gym, attended games, knew how to shag balls, ride on a bus, and sometimes sleep in the coaches??? office.

My children were also younger then. The only thing we had to worry about was homework and Little Dribbler basketball one night a week for the oldest. Now, all three kids have loads and loads of homework, full athletic schedules and social lives. Last week, Dena had games on Tuesday and Friday night, Jake and Ann on Thursday night as well as Ann having a tournament on Saturday. I had games on Monday and Wednesday nights, and fortunately for them, I didn???t have matches over the weekend. So, I actually got to see Ann???s games. When conference starts this week, I will no longer get to see Jake???s Thursday night games or Dena???s Saturday matches. And, unless I leave practice early, I will not get to see Ann???s Monday night games???

I???ve always been proud of the fact that I could juggle lots of things at the same time, but lately it seems as if I???ve got balls scattered everywhere. I???ve left practice early two days to catch Ann???s first ever volleyball matches. And, I???ve been able to make two of Jake???s games and several of Dena???s games. I told my team and assistant coach ahead of time that I would be doing so. I had never before left or missed a practice or game for one of my own children???s games. It was understood that when I was in season, I would make what I could for my kids, and when out of season, I would make everything. But what happens when my kids??? only ???season??? is during my season? What happens when band or choir concerts don???t coincide with volleyball season? And, what message am I sending my players, my assistant, my own children? It really hit me one day when one of my players said, ???Gee coach, you sure picked the wrong career (to be a mom).??? I was teaching them that work came first and family came second. That???s not something I am very proud of. But sometimes work does come first. It just shouldn???t be all of the time.

Middle Tennessee???s Matt Peck gives us a month-by-month look at the schedule of a Division I women???s volleyball coach.

Summer vacation. No such thing for a college volleyball coach. Just as school is winding down for most students, things are just heating up for me and the rest of my colleagues. For example, the spring term at Middle Tennessee ended in early May. What did I get to do between then and now you might ask? Well, let me tell you; attend about a million club volleyball tournaments (ok, maybe not quite a million, but somewhere around 12), watched about a million potential collegiate volleyball players (ok, maybe around 8,000), and watched a whole lot of volleyball matches. Add to that, more summer volleyball camps than I care to admit, plus getting things ready for our 2006 season, and there you have it ??? summer vacation.

Really, collegiate coaching is, of course, a year-round job, even if our actual season lasts from early August until early December, if we???re playing for the NCAA tournament; otherwise, until at least mid-November. Let me give you a typical year in the life of Matt Peck:

January: Second semester begins, and with that comes individual skill sessions for players (two hours per week per player maximum, with up to four individuals allowed per group). Do the math. Also, club volleyball season begins, with major tournaments virtually every weekend. Here I really add to my frequent flyer miles.