Undoubtedly awed by the structural supremacy rising over them, Maddi Foutz and her European Global Challenge crew, having taken a team photo, didn't quite leave the ancient Colosseum thirsty for combat.
"We didn't get the whole 'gladiator' feel," she said with a laugh Monday afternoon, "because there was actually a film festival going on! And so it was, like, full of lights ... there was a red carpet. It was really cool."
Foutz was in Croatia to play on Bring It Promotions' Southeast volleyball team. They departed Croatia's Adriatic coastline conquerors of the 12th annual EGC's "Istra" Division for players 17 years old and younger.
"It was outstanding," Foutz, a Bayfield High School senior, said in summarizing the entire experience. "I've never seen that kind of architecture in buildings before, haven't been to the beach since I was probably in sixth grade. All the girls on our team were just amazing; we all got along super well. We just had a really good time."
A four-game (18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-21) defeat of Slovenia's OK Nova KBM Branik Juniors secured the championship, completing an odyssey which began with Southeast's initial assembly overseas.
"The girls met July 6 and practiced their first time that night in Budapest (Hungary)," said Coach Margaret "CJ" Sherman, who oversaw the squad. "We trained with the Hungarian Youth National Team and had friendly competitions in Budapest. We won those matches. We also played our eventual finals opponent in Maribor, Slovenia, which we defeated in two sets."
"We had a lot of 'friendly' matches in the first couple days to get ready for the tournament," Foutz said, "and to get used to playing with each other. The tournament started and we played two games every day, three out of five. We only played one other USA team - from Texas - and most of them were just from the different countries that we were in. We played Pula (Croatia), Hungary 'B' again, Hungary 'A', Slovenia, obviously."
"Honestly, our team was a real slow-starting team," she continued. "So the whole tournament we always struggled in the first set, then we'd always just wake up and finish it. So we didn't panic; we just weren't performing very well in that first set."
"Our team consisted of seven committed NCAA (Division) 1 athletes and one NCAA 2," Sherman said. "Maddi was a huge part ... and she made a lasting impression on the coaches. She played DS with another NCAA D1 commit. They shared the spot starting and encouraged each other - their maturity was beyond their years."
"Maddi is ... no nonsense and a super hard worker. She is a super passer, a solid defensive player and consistently tough server. She earned many points with aces during our 10-0 run.
"It was an absolute awesome tourney for her. She will do great things at CSU and her future is so bright."
"CJ ... put it in a really good way, that we struggled a bit because everyone on the team is used to being someone who takes every ball - a lot of 'alphas' out there, she said - and so we just needed to learn how to trust each other on the court," said Foutz. "She did a really good job helping us with that."
"It was an amazing feat to watch," Sherman said.
"Maddi ... I was pleased with her leadership and smile, her drive and determination to make a difference for her team each time she stepped on the court."
BHS graduate and current Colorado State University Ram Kirstie Hillyer suited up with the Mountain West Conference All-Stars at the Challenge, and she and her 'mates ended up third in the U-22 "Brijuni" Division. First went to the USA Volleyball College National Team via a four-game defeat of China.
Having begun the pre-tourney portion of their schedule in Slovenia with a friendly against Nova KBM, the All-Stars stopped the same team in a best-of-three (13-25, 29-27, 19-17) to determine their final placing.
Hillyer reportedly downed nine kills, trailing only the 11 of Boise State junior Sierra Nobley for team high in the match.
Rebounding from a 3-1 loss to China in the semifinals, the bronze medal was the MWC's third in three European Global Challenge appearances.
