June 28, 2006

UD softball player Ellie Malchow took part in a USA Athletes International Tournament in Oldenzaal, Holland. The senior second baseman's team placed second in the tournament, falling by two runs in the championship game to a team from Russia.

USA Athletes International is an amatuer athletics organization that provides athletes with the chance to compete against teams from other areas of the world in tournaments located in other countries. The tournament saw two US teams play against teams from Russia, Holland, Germany and France.

"I had a great time," Malchow said. "It was so much fun and a great experience. I've never really had the desire to go overseas, but after this trip I have found that I would like to see more of Europe later in my life. My team was a lot of fun too. We didn't meet eachother until we got to the airport on the way to Holland, but the girls got along really well and by the second game we were playing together very well."

"We were there for a little over a week for the tournament and had a couple days off to see the sights of Holland and go on some tours. The people were friendly, and most of them spoke English pretty well. On average though, they took a lot longer to eat their meals, and a great number of them used their bikes as their main source of transportation. They even had roads for cars, bikeways for them, and sidwalks for pedestrians. All of which had their own stop lights. They also didn't have air conditioning, but it wasn't too bad because it's not too hot over there."

Malchow will return for her senior season as UD's second baseman in 2007. She started 35 games at second base for UD in 2006. She drove in three runs in UD's 4-1 win at George Washington and posted a three-hit game in UD's 6-0 win over Rhode Island.