John Baylor Blog: May 21

The Huskers spent Sunday the 21st touring the temples of Kyoto.  We split into four groups, each led by our student guides from the Biwako Seikei Sport College.  The players comprised two groups, while coaches and staff were in the other two.

These BSSC student hosts are amazing.  One is on the BSSC Volleyball team, but did not play Thursday so she take care of us, cooking meals, driving our vans, and answering our questions.  She commutes ninety minutes to school daily from the distant reaches of Kyoto.  Another worked at McDonalds until 5am Sunday, but still helped lead my group.

Sacrifice and service are instinctive here.  You see it in every greeting and smile. Despite the density of population, the Japanese coexist with minimal crime.  This national spirit of support extends to visitors. There is a Japanese saying:`The peg that rises above the rest should be pushed back down.`  Volleyball is perfectly suited for such a collective mindset.
Few athlets are as dependent on teammates as volleyball players.

After the temples and goodbyes, we bused an hour to Osaka.  Our hotel seems to be in the heart of downtown, but so does the rest of the city: a concrete jungle that rose from the wreckage of WWII.  There is an absense of architectural beaty amidst all this aluminum and glass, but Osaka seems quite liveable with its light rail public transportation, rivers, and safe streets.

Maggie Griffin waited in the hotel lobby Monday morning prior to a day of practice and playing.  She is the third of four children.  Like so many Huskers, she is very close with her parents and siblings.  Perhaps close families are drawn to volleyball or perhaps it is the rigors of the youth volleyball circuit that make families closer.  Regardless, the efforts to communicate with parents and loved ones by the players here is touching to watch.

Maggie is majoring in finance and hopes to return to Chicago some day to be a business woman and mom. 

She loved last year, her first as a Husker after a tumultuous season at Michigan State.  She chose to transfer here because she had heard from other players that it was a terrific, healthy place to play and because of the program`s interest in her after she announced she would be leaving Michigan State.  She chose Nebraska despite overtures from Washington, Penn State, and others.  The culture of support at Nebraska makes her feel like she`s `playing a different sport` after her fractious year at MSU, where some players led a successful mutiny against then coach Chuck Erbe.  She was a full time starting setter there, but enjoys the competition here.

The morning brought a rigorous, two-hour practice here at the JT Pro Team`s Headquarters.  JT stands for Japan Tobacco, an ironic sponsor for pro volleyball.  The JT players train, live, and eat here eleven months a year.
Each day typically involves two three-hour training sessions in this large gym

Three JT players are currently with the Japanese National Team, but still ten remain, ranging in ages from 20 to 35.

The Huskers won game won 25 to 15.  But lost the next three to the professionals.  The squads played a game five as well.  Three of the five games were close, with the Huskers falling just short.  Nebraska ran a one-setter offence throughout, with Rachel Holloway at setter and Dani Busboom at libero for games one, two, and three and Maggie Griffin at setter and Rachel Schwartz at libero for the final two close games.

The rematch Tuesday morning begins in minutes.