Reid Priddy

The road trip continues. We were in Krasnodar for the match on Saturday and on Sunday flew to Yaroslavl. There is about 50 degrees of temp difference between the two.

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Living out of a suitcase always gets old. I’ve been in hotels for the better part of the last 3 months and ready to unpack some bags already. I have picked out an apartment here in Kazan (daunting task without my wife here) and have been told I can move in tomorrow or the day after…just to leave again the following day on another 5 city road trip. You just gotta roll with the punches and the main thing is that I’m stoked to be here playing on this team.

We have a champions league match tomorrow against a Bulgarian team that should be live streamed on laola1.tv. Not much else, just testing blog updates from my phone…maybe this will help me be more consistent at it?!

Short-sleeves and T-Shirts! Excited that summer has arrived. I have been back for about 10 days and I can’t believe I have to get back on a plane and head back to Russia in mere days!!!! But that is the reality of this summer…lots of travel, lots of volleyball.

For those of you that know me on a personal level, you know that my mind is always moving on new ideas. However, with a pregnant wife and about a 7 day “quasi” off-season, lots of the peripherals are getting pushed. Its time I hire an assistant to help keep the idea train moving!!

It is great to be back in the USA gym. The group is motivated and ready to get World League off and running. I think having a 2 week road trip right out of the gate is a good thing for our group right now. It is so difficult to come back home after an 8 month trip…bills, mail, doc appointments, friends and family…the transition is always hectic. Going on the road right out of the gate will help our group bond a bit more without the distraction of the afternoon “To-Dos”. I expect that to set us on the right course for the remainder of the tourney.

Lastly, I have missed the boys on The NET LIVE and looking forward to being back “In-HOUSE” next Monday. Tune in @ www.thevolleyballnetwork.com. Peace

Here are the Brackets and first round match ups. Now is your chance to predict the outcomes. The matches start this week with a lot of tough match ups right from the start. Many of the matches will be streamed on www.sportbox.ru…I think we should all email them and request an English option for the website so we can navigate easier. If enough of us do it, maybe they will respond. In my initial investigation, email your suggestions to reception@sport.vgtrk.com .

For more photos of the last match CLICK HERE

The last two matches have been positive steps in the right direction. We flew all night from Kaliningrad back to Novosibirsk and arrived this morning. We play Dinamo Moscow on Wednesday so its a fast turn around but looking forward to our final home game of the regular season. Even though its a week night, I expect it to be FULL house! A lot is on the line as it would be great to keep the edge on Belogord moving into the playoffs and holding home court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs.

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We are 11 and 7 and 5 of the 7 losses came in 5 sets. Of the 7 losses, only 1 match I can remember did a team actually “beat” us…the others were all matches that were lost on “our” side of the net (by our own mistakes). Up to this point, I have tried to remain upbeat and spin things in a positive light. But in my short time on THE NET LIVE co-hosting with Barney, Geeter and Dan, I have come to realize that its the truth that people are interested in. Not a series of neatly crafted cliches. Otherwise how can I expect anyone to read it?

With that said, am I concerned about our team??? YES! Read the rest of this entry »

As tweeted, what a phenomenal environment to play in. It was disappointing to lose and at this stage of the season, every point in the standings is important. Belogrod played well. However, the difference in the match was our own mistakes. Making less errors on our side of the ball will put us in a better situation to succeed. Again, the fans were great and I am looking forward to our next home match against Fakel. But first, we are on the road against a tough Surgut team and our focus is there. To check out the photos of the match CLICK LINK.

Monday on THE NET LIVE we had Chris GEETER McGee on as a guest host and had a great time. We had call-ins from 2-Time Olympic Gold Medal winner Kerri Walsh and new UCLA Women’s coach Mike Sealy. To listen to the latest show CLICK LINK.