Dec. 26, 2007

The streak continues! We've now extended our winning streak to eleven straight victories having beaten Eastern Michigan by two points in a thrilling victory. This game also marked a big milestone for the team, it was our last game before our Christmas break! And this is going to be our longest Christmas break in years, five whole days. What a nice feeling it is to go into break with an eleven game winning streak.

This week I chose two redshirt juniors, Ashley Brown (AB) and Jen Tisza, to talk to you about what Christmas break is to us and other such odds and ends.

Ashley Brown (AB)
Last year AB transferred to Dayton, but had to sit out the year due to NCAA transfer rules. Now she is finally playing and traveling with the team. I feel like AB couldn't fit into our family any better, but I wanted to see how she felt about the situation (how she really felt about all of us!).
"Yea, I have fun with the girls! What we have that's special is that we're all different, but in a good way. We all offer something different. That comes together and builds a unique team atmosphere that I really love.

Ok, we all get along, but I've found that you're not really close with someone until you can make fun of each other...
"Everyone makes fun of me! And I'm definitely ok with it. I mean, sometimes I don't always annunciate all my words. Instead of saying `yes' I might say `yeeah'. Now, anytime I ask Kiki (Lund) a question, she answers with a `yeeah', in her Danish accent. I'm a goofball. I could be walking down the street and trip, if they see it, I'm guaranteed to get made fun of. We have a lot of fun together.

AB, hailing from Xenia, Ohio, has never played too far from home, but she still has to find a way to the pass the time when classes are done and we're still on campus.
"I'm a big movie person. I own a lot of DVD's and watch a lot of those. I also watch a lot of TV. I don't go to too many movie theaters; I'd rather stay home and chill in front of my own TV. But I'm definitely excited to go home and spend some real time with my family."

Jen Tisza
As AB mentioned, the girls are all unique. While she stays home and watches movies, Jen likes to get out and about.
"Well, after finals, Ashley (Armstrong) and I were really stressed out so we decided to do Christmassy things. We went to the mall pretty much everyday, wrapped presents, and baked cookies. And, actually, I'm a better wrapper than Ashley. Normally she teaches me domestic things like cooking and stuff, but this time I taught her how to do something! We also watched Christmas movies. My favorite's Miracle on 34th Street. Basically we try and stay busy and have fun."

Now that you are actually about to head home, what are you looking forward to most?
"I'm pretty excited to hang out with my friends and family who I haven't seen in awhile. My whole family is coming over to my house for Christmas, which should be a lot of fun."

During your freshman year, what was it like when you realized you weren't leaving when everyone else was for break?
"It was kind of weird because NO ONE was on campus. It was just us. But freshman year was pretty cool; we had snowball fights and stuff."

This will be my last column posted in 2007. I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to read the column. I hope you have enjoyed the stories the girls have shared with you thus far. There will certainly be plenty more stories to come after the New Year. Please have a safe and happy holiday season.