Reid Priddy

As witnessed by many and stated by several, we kept things interesting last night. I thought we came out focussed and ready. Good blocking, good presure from the service line and good sideout. Our reception broke down in 3rd set which is what made things more difficult. However, to take something positive from a negative, I thought it was great that Pavlov and Lee both stepped up and made huge plays down the stretch in the 4th set that helped us close out the match. That is a great indication for the future. Every match will have it’s challenges and different guys on different nights will need to step up and make big plays to compensate for what we may lack in other areas.

So a good team win overall and a step in the right direction. Now we start preparing for Dinamo and our trip to Moscow and then on to Kuliningrad for the Finals of the Cup.

Don’t forget to tune into The NET LIVE volleyball podcast tomorrow on The Volleyball Network.

I feel the urge to explain my silence…to apologize, justify and assure you that I wanted to continue the communication but was for whatever reason unable to do so.  Instead though, its time to place my thoughts on the current moment and execute the here and now. So, to quote the future voice of volleyball Kevin Barnett,  ”One sideout, shut the door!”

We are nearing the halfway point of December and putting in a lot of work here in Siberia.  If you have been following at all you will notice an almost entirely new team here in Novosibirsk.  The club did a great job in purchasing more talent in the off-season. I’d be lying though if I tried to make out that I believe thats all you need to do to win.  However, with great investment comes great expectations.  This is a huge month in the minds of the team, the club and the fans.  I think everybody is waiting for this team to come alive, find itself and play to its potential.  We have two more league matches this month and then the Russian Cup starting on Christmas Day.  Though I am against the notion, professional sports is largely based soley on results (much to its own detriment I must add).  When the pressure is placed on todays result there is a tendency to lose the “golden nuggets” and lessons along the way.  This team needs time to grow and I am confident, if/when the team matures, the wait will be well worth it, for the fans, the sponsors, the city and us the players.  I am reminded of a quote that Doug Beal said to me early in my career with Team USA, “You don’t just get to win”.  Here’s to the PROCESS, here’s to the JOURNEY…back at it tomorrow night against Kaliningrad.

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