Aug. 10, 2007

Photo Gallery | Tournament Site

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest's Dylan Faulkner spent 11 days in Italy this summer, participating in an international volleyball tournament in the heart of the Sibillini Mountains. Faulkner was one of 17 college volleyball players that made up two U.S. teams competing in the event.

The tournament hosted eight teams from seven countries, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Slovenia and two from the United States. Faulkner's squad, Team Volleyhut.com, placed third in the tournament.

Prior to the tournament Faulkner, a rising sophomore setter, and the rest of the U.S. players spent two days in Rome and one in the beach town of Falconara before traveling to Comunanza in the Sibillini Mountains.

Faulkner combined with teammates Kelsey Bowers of the University of Florida and Gayle Tripp of the University of New Mexico to win a two-day beach volleyball tournament in Comunanza.

Faulkner kept a day-by-day journal of her time in Italy. Below is the second and final installment of her journal, including her last seven days in Comunanza.

Day 5, July 2, Comunanza

Today we got up around 9 a.m. and walked up to the court in Montemonaco to practice. The court was in the ruins of an old castle at the top of the mountain. The view was breathtaking, and it was definitely a new experience for all of us. Although most of the girls had played beach volleyball, playing out in the open was eye-opening. The beginning of practice started off slow, but we eventually got used to the open atmosphere and started playing better. After practice we went back to the monastery and took showers before we headed down the mountain for lunch. After lunch we walked around the town for a little while before we headed back to take naps before we got ready for our first games of the tournament. When we were heading up to Montemonaco for our first game, the team was feeling a little anxious. We started off the game just like practice, a little slow, but eventually picked it up and started playing well together. We ended up winning our game against Budapest in three games. We were all excited that we did so well in our first game. After the game we ate a quick dinner and drove down to Comunanza to watch our other team play their game. Our other team also won and after their game we headed back up to the monastery to go to bed.

Day 6, July 3, Comunanza

We left for the beach today at 8 a.m. It took us about one hour to get there and most of us slept the whole way there. Once we got there the coaches told us if we wanted to play in a small beach tournament to split up into teams of three. We ended up with four teams and played randomly throughout the day. I was on a team with a girl from the University of Florida and one from the University of New Mexico. We played against teams that were formed from the other teams in the Comunanza tournament. We went undefeated the first day and had to wait for the next day to play in the semifinals. When we weren't playing we were all just laying around soaking up the sun. There were many vendors walking up and down the beach. Many of the girls enjoyed bargaining with the vendors and most ended up buying purses and gifts for their friends back home. We left the beach around 4 p.m. and took a nap until around 6:30. Since we did not play until 9:30 in Comunanza, some of the girls wanted to go down a little early to find an internet cafe. We watched the end of our other team's game and began warming up. We played the A team from Montenegro and won a very well-played game. After the game we grabbed some pizza and gelato and headed back up to the monastery. We were all pretty wiped out and went to bed excited about returning to the beach in the morning.

Day 7, July 4, Comunanza

We left early again today and got to the beach around 9:30. We were all excited about being at the beach for the Fourth of July, even if we were the only ones who were celebrating it. The coaches brought watermelons to help us feel like we were at home. The beach tournament started back up, and the team I was part of went on to win the whole tournament. For the rest of the day we laid around and soaked up the sun. Most of the girls got henna tattoos. We left the beach a little earlier today and headed back to the monastery to get out of the sun for a while before we played again. It started to rain after our other team played so our match was moved to an inside court just outside of Comunanza. We were the second game and didn't end up starting our game until 11:30 p.m. We won games one and two, and then kind of fell apart and starting making a lot of errors in the third. We lost the third game after almost fighting back at the end, and won the fourth easily to win our pool with a record of 3-0. When we finally ended the game it was around 1:45 a.m. so we immediately went back to the monastery to sleep.

Day 8, July 5, Comunanaza

Today we slept in until 9:30 and headed out to the city of Ascoli Piceno to shop and just see more sights. We got to see gorgeous architecture and had a good time walking around the local shops. After lunch and a few hours of sight seeing, we headed back to Comunanza. We were all pretty wiped out from walking around so we took a nap until it was time to get ready for our next game. Our game was on the top of the mountain again, and we were playing the Serbian team. We won the match in a four-game battle. After we played our other team joined us and we ate dinner and walked across the street to get gelato. While we were getting gelato, the Italian team joined us. We sat around and talked for while just asking questions about each other's culture. When the clock hit midnight the Italian team and some of the locals sang me happy birthday in Italian, and then my team and the people who could speak English sang the English version to me. My team then thought it would be amusing to sing to me in Spanish. We left shortly after and headed to bed.

Day 9, July 6, (My Birthday), Comunanza

Today we woke up around 8:30 a.m. and headed down to the beach of San Benedetto del Tronto and watched the Italian version of the AVP. The players were incredible and we had a great time watching them play. After a few hours at the beach we headed back to Comunanza for the semifinal matches. We played the Czech team and ended up losing. We were disappointed with our performance, but we would be playing for third the next day. Our other team won their game and was going to be playing in the finals the next day. We ate dinner and headed back to the monastery to pack up our things because we only had one day left and we were leaving the next night after the awards ceremony.

Days 10-11, July 7-8, Comunanza

Today is the last day! We got up about 9 a.m. and finished our packing before heading down to Comunanza for Market Days. Market Days is set up like a big flea market in the main square of the town. We walked around for a few hours and made some last-minute gift buys. People were selling everything from wallets to fruit, it was a great experience. We all met up for lunch and then had the option of going back to take a nap or going swimming. Most of the girls decided to go back and take naps and make sure that they had everything packed up and ready to go. My team left around five to get to the court for our 6:45 game. We packed everything up in the van and dropped it off at our coaches' hotel on the way to the court. We ended up playing the Italian team for third and won in four. After the game we ate our last dinner together and showered quickly so we could make it back to watch our other team in action. Our other team ended up winning the finals against Czech. Immediately after their game they had the awards ceremony. Both teams were awarded with trophies, and many of the girls were awarded with individual trophies for their positions. After the awards ceremony was over, the other team went to shower and get ready for the final activity of the night, the dance. Every year there is a closing dance for the tournament, and it is open to the public. After the rest of the girls were done showering, we loaded ourselves into the vans and headed up to the dance. We hung out and danced for a few hours and then hit the road around 2 a.m. We all loaded our luggage onto a bus and headed straight for the airport in Rome. We hit the airport at about 7 a.m. and unloaded. Most of the girls had flights around 9 or 10, but a few of us had to wait for a few hours before we could check in to get on our planes. I was finally able to check in around 12 and couldn't wait to take a nap once I got on the plane. I had about a two-hour layover in Newark and then I flew back to Winston-Salem. I was excited to be home but didn't want to think about the fact that I had to start summer school the next day. Overall the trip was unbelievable. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and hopefully I will be able to have that opportunity again in the future.