The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
08.02.2016 | Volleyball
Associate Head Coach Erik Sullivan blogs from his post as team manager for the Men's Indoor Volleyball team.
Aug. 23, 2016 --
The journey is wrapping up and it has been an unbelievable adventure. I had definitely forgotten the about the emotional investment that it takes to compete in the Olympics. The amount of emotional, mental and physical energy it takes to compete is amazing.
Our tournament had it all. With our slow start, we put ourselves in the position of win or go home very early during the competition. It seemed that when our backs were against the wall, we played our best.
We proceeded to beat the host team Brazil, France and Mexico to advance to the medal round. Our reward was to play Poland,who had won the World Championship two years earlier, in the quarterfinals. Once again, the guys stepped up. We had Poland on their heals from the first serve and never let up.
The 3-0 win moved into the semi finals with a team we had already lost to--Italy. Once again, the team was up to the challenge. We battled, but at the end of the day we came up short and lost a heartbreaker in five, ending our chance for gold. We had opportunities to win the match and were devastated by the lost.
But we weren't finished. The bronze medal match in the Olympics is maybe one of the hardest matches in the world to play in. We had to find a way to regroup and play a very tough Russian team. Like the rest of the tournament, we started the match in a big hole and found ourselves down 0-2. Just as it seemed our tournament was over, the guys fought their way back and found a way to win in five.
We are the bronze medalists of the 2016 Olympics. Such a great feeling and accomplishment.
It has been such and honor to be a part of this group in the greatest sporting event in the world. I want to thank Jerritt and our administration for allowing me to take the journey with the 2016 Olympic bronze medal indoor men's volleyball team.
I am so excited to get back with the Longhorns and join their journey and compete for the 2016 NCAA nation championship.
Hook 'Em!
Aug. 12, 2016 --
It has been a few days since my last blog and the days have not gotten any less busy!
We are comfortably settled in our hotel and in some kind of routine.
Our interactions with the Brazilians in our hotel and our neighborhood have been awesome. Everyone has been super nice and pretty excited to have an Olympic Team living amongst them.
We are three matches into our competition and as we probably did not have the start that we had hoped for, the team has found its rhythm and really started to play well.
The growth was capped off with a four-game win over Brazil last night. To say the gym environment was a little hostile would be quite an understatement. Our guys embraced the challenge and fought like warriors.
Just as with any tournament, you need to have a short memory and move on, win or lose.
Now on to France. It's all about the journey!
Aug. 8, 2016 --
It has been an exciting two days. The Olympic Games have officially begun.
We moved into our hotel and it has been an upgrade for us in almost every aspect. Our interaction with everyone has been great so far.
Our first day out of the village was busy with mandatory meetings with the volleyball organizing committee to prepare for competition, while the team was scrimmaging with Argentina.
The next day was another busy one with a lot of organization. We went to train at our USOC high performance center in the morning. After a good practice we got in a lift and a quick lunch.
Then the athletes had to get ready for opening ceremonies. We were also very lucky in that we got to have a quick meet-and-greet with Secretary of State, John Kerry.
After the busy morning schedule, the athletes got on the bus and and went back to the Olympic Village to stage and prepare to walk in the Opening Ceremonies. For those who were not walking, we found a great little restaurant in our neighborhood and watched the games begin. It was a great night.
We are very excited to begin the competition!
Aug. 5, 2016 --
The last few days have been busy and bit hectic. It feels like we have been on the road for more than a couple of days. Our travel went flawlessly. The flight was smooth, (thanks United) the system to get the athletes credentialed was great, we got all of our bags and with some direction from the Rio 2016 staff, we boarded a bus and headed to the village.
Once we got to the village, we were checked into our rooms for our short stay at the village. The village is beautiful, the set up is great and the people have been spectacular.
It is so cool to be back. The atmosphere is unbelievable.
Being in the role of team leader has been great, but it seems like I have been flying around non-stop as there are some functionality issues with some aspects of the village.
I definitely have a new appreciation for our Special Assistant, Nathan Mendoza. Thanks for all you do.
We are en route to the playing venue to scrimmage Egypt for our assigned familiarization period with the arena. I am super excited to see it.
We have one more day in the village and then on to our hotel.
Aug. 2, 2016 --
The journey to Rio with Men's Indoor Volleyball team has begun. Like most of the athletes, we flew through Houston for processing. The team got in Saturday and we got a great practice session in before dinner and a good night's sleep.
The next morning started with an early breakfast and some Olympic training sessions for the athletes and processing for the staff. It began with an unbelievable set-up by Nike. I got a private dressing room with all of my gear laid out for me to try on. Tons of great stuff.
Then on to Ralph Lauren, Oakley, and a few other stops. Needless to say, a pretty cool experience.
From there, the team got a great workout in and then some lunch. Right after lunch, the athletes got their turn to get their gear. After a couple of hours and a quick dinner, we loaded onto the buses and off to the airport with a police escort.
When we arrived at the airport, all of the bags were already laid out for us. We had private check-in lines and then went through a specialized security line.
It's been a crazy couple of days with lots going on, but it has been well worth it. The excitement of the Olympics is really starting to sink in. The city of Houston, and the USOC did an unbelievable job in hosting us and getting us ready to head down to Rio.
