DWT on Spring Break in Arizona: Update 1

Dear Wonderful Fans,

As you all know, we’re on our spring break in Arizona at the moment. We’ve been blessed with amazingly warm weather over the past few days and as a result, we have a few burnt faces on our team. In amongst practicing, the last couple of days have been really relaxing and a good break from the bustle of our really demanding lives at Duke. Here is a summary of what we have been up to...

On Monday, we started off with a good practice session that started us on the road to getting acclimatized to the conditions. It’s really dry here so the ball travels through the air a little faster. It definitely takes some getting used to. After practice, some girls went on a hike with Marc. I did not go so I don’t know the specific details but I did hear some entertaining stories. Firstly, the girls that went said that it was more of a mountain climbing experience than a hike. Liz’s scratched-up running shoes are proof enough. Despite the evidence that indicates how strenuous this hike was, apparently Mary was on a role and practically ran up and down the mountain. But, the person who was the most prominently spoken about after this expedition was our awesomely funny freshman- Hanna! We all know that cactuses are not something that one can just touch and I’m sure you’ll all agree that there is a clear difference between a cactus and a rock. Well, apparently dear Hanna tried to grab onto a cactus for support while climbing down the mountain. When asked what inspired her to do this, she simply said that it looked like a rock to her. A rock? A green, prickly rock? Thank goodness that she didn’t manage to grab hold of it or else things may have ended badly. This story has evolved over the past three days. Today, the consensus is that Hanna jumped on a cactus. I don’t know the real truth but I must say that the story is extremely entertaining. Go Han!

Yesterday, we went on a shopping expedition to an outlet mall five minutes away from our hotel. I’m sure all the girls will agree with me when I say that it was successful. We all walked out with multiple bags in our hands. Reka and Ellah were late coming out of the mall because apparently they got “lost” – in a circular mall with numerous signs indicating the exits. Or, they hadn’t had enough of their epic shopping spree. I’ll leave it to you to decide.

Today, we were treated to a movie— The Adjustment Bureau. It was a really good movie. But was even better (not everyone will agree with me on this one— especially not our coaches), was Reka’s commentating. “Oh my gosh, they like love each other…sigh…gasp…. giggle.” You didn’t have to be actually present at the movie to know what was going on.

As you can see, there is never a boring moment on this team. We have a wonderful bunch of girls that make the most of every opportunity to have fun while still keeping “the eyes on the prize.” Tomorrow we take on the Arizona State Sun Devils and on Friday we play California. The last few days of practice have definitely been good preparation for our tasks ahead and we’re ready to battle it out over the next two days.

GO DUKE!

Yours in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT