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Puerto Rican Volleyball Team Gets A Snowy Treat
Giovanny Acosta had no idea what snow would feel like. He had never seen it in person before.
But Thursday, he and his teammates on the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez men's volleyball team were in Park View, where the ground just happened to be covered with about five inches of wintry powder.
Thus, the players warmed up for their match with Eastern Mennonite University the only sensible way they knew how: with a snowball fight.
"I think it was going to be harder," said Acosta, a middle blocker on the team, showing toddler-like enthusiasm through his broken English. "But it's soft, and it melts really fast."
And it hurts to get hit in the face?
"Not too much," he said before Thursday's match at Yoder Arena. "But it is a big ball. It hurts."
Snow might as well be moon dust to a kid growing up in Puerto Rico. The weather in Mayagüez on Thursday? Seventy-two degrees, with light rain.
"In Puerto Rico," Acosta said, "all the fun is the beach and the mountains. But there isn't snow. There's just rain."
Good thing they grabbed some souvenirs Thursday.
"They went out and take pictures and pictures to show off in Puerto Rico," Mayagüez assistant coach Ibrahim Cordero said.
The Tarzanes were in town after playing at George Mason on Wednesday - their second trip to the Fairfax school in the last three years. Mason, which beat Mayagüez 3-1 (30-18, 30-15, 30-32, 30-22) on Wednesday, played in Puerto Rico two years ago, as well.
Cordero said he asked if there was another school in the area that played volleyball, "to make the trip worthwhile." Hence, the Tarzanes added EMU to the trip.
And the incentives were awe-inspiring. On the ride from Fairfax to Harrisonburg on Thursday, the players started to see flurries from the bus windows. Outside hitter Jose Cappas had seen snow before, but many of his fellow players hadn't.
"‘Wow!'" Cappas said, imitating his teammates' reactions. ‘"That snow is like a movie, man!'"
Once in Park View, the blustery battle began.
"We were just fighting against each other," outside hitter Jean Ortiz recalled, sitting with his teammates in the visitor's locker room before Thursday's match.
"Snowballs in the head," Cappas chimed in. "I told the libero to eat snow!"
The players then borrowed a sled to slide down the hills behind EMU.
"Even me - I've seen snow before - but I feel like a little kid," said Ortiz, who had visited the oft-covered terrain of Provo, Utah. "I come to play and have fun."
Of course, playing EMU was daunting. The Royals are ranked No. 10 in the preseason College Sports Television and American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III poll.
They've been runners-up the past two seasons in the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association. Last year, they broke 20 school records on their way to a program-best 22 wins.
But EMU graduated three stars: Dominick Porter, the school record-holder in career hitting percentage (.385); Ryan Detweiler, the school record-holder in career digs (1,186) and matches played (99); and Brandon Ratliff, the school record-holder in career kills (1,150).
Still, the Royals return four starters, including seniors Ethan Fry, Ben Yoder and Calen Hochstetler.
Fry was second-team all-conference last season; Yoder is the school record-holder in career assists (2,987); and Hochstetler was second on the team last year with 36 service aces.
"I'm very confident," third-year coach Steve Benson said. "The players who have had to fill those roles are stepping up. I know they're high-level players ... They can help us out and keep us at a high level."
As for their Puerto Rican compatriots? They were hoping to hit the slopes today.
"Maybe your paper can sponsor a trip for us to go to Mass... nutten," assistant coach Cordeo joked.
Asked who on the team has never been skiing before, every player's hand shot up.
That would be another new experience for the Tarzanes - just like flying ducks. Wilfredo Sevilla said he had never seen ducks fly before his trip to Harrisonburg.
"Sometimes, when you're watching movies," the setter explained, "sometimes you see the ducks flying. When you see it real, it is very different."
