Christmas time is here!

Hey everyone! Lexi here!

Well, winter break is well underway, and I am glad to say that all I will be thinking about for the next month is basketball.  I am so glad that finals are over, but that means that I only have one semester left....it's crazy how times flies.  But anyways, back to basketball...we have gotten some solid wins, getting better and better each game.  Our hard work this pre-season is really paying off.

We are also getting closer as a team...since we basically the only people on campus.  There are a lot of team dinners, practices, and of course....our team Christmas party tomorrow! I am ready for the annual skits and White Elephant gifts.  After the Christmas party, we go to Pennsylvania for our final game of 2013....we better be going out with a bang since we get a week at home this year.  It is going to be so much fun to see my family for that long!

Well, anyways, that's about all I've got for you!

Merry Christmas and AWWWW JACKETS!

Lexi Rohrbach #45

Hi guys its Sydney again, I know I haven't blogged in awhile, but I'm back! Well today we are playing one of our big rivals the MOUNT UNION purple raiders. The season has been going pretty well with our wining record of 9-2. With the past couple games and practices I believe we are prepared to get the win today! Over this past couple weeks are team is getting closer and closer in basketball and just as a family. With all the team dinners and Camp Cheerful trips we have taken, we are connecting so well. I couldn't ask for a better team. On Friday we are having a Christmas party with skits from the freshman and the upperclassmen. I know the upperclassmen probably have something big planned but I hope they don't underestimate us freshman because we have a creative side too. After this Mount Union game today we have one more vs. Waynesburg on Saturday then we have Christmas break. So before I end this I just want to wish everyone a safe trip home and happy holidays. Also if you haven't watched Pup and Steph's video please do it's worth it!

Until next time

Sydney

Baller's Wonderland

Happy Christmas break everybody! 

Love always, Steph and Pup

SEASON IS HERE!!! :)

Hey all! I am Mackenzie Colombo and I am a freshman this year at BW!  Well this past weekend we as a team had the opportunity to start our season off in Rochester, New York.  The trip over all was a lot of fun!  We did end up losing our season opener by 1 point against #10 in the nation Tufts Jumbos.  Jumbos is an elephant supposedly.  We played really hard and the effort was there but we did fall short.  Our second game however we got our first win of the year! Definitely not going to be our last!!! We beat Medaille by about 15 I believe.  Overall we played really hard and we know what we need to do to get better and I know we are going to have a great season!!  The bus ride home was very fun!  We played the iPod game and if you don't know what that is, its when someone puts headphones on, usually BEATS, and turns a song on really loud and just sings their heart out and everyone else can only hear the person's voice so you can imagine how entertaining that can be!!  I am really excited about this year.  I love our team and I think we are a very special team that is really close and trusts each other and that can and hopefully will do amazing things!  This week we play Case Western in our home opener on Tuesday at 6 so come and support if you can.  I love being a yellow jacket and part of this program and I am so excited for the rest of the season!
#21 Kenz  

Sam's first blog!!!

Hey guys, my name is Sam AKA Hammy AKA ZE PANZER and I'm a giant sophomore blogging for the first time!  ...  Whoopsie!  Anyway, as I'm typing this we are on the bus in Rochester, heading back to our hotel to shower before dinner!  Applebee's probably wouldn't want our stinky butts in the restaurant while people are eating.  (We probably are not the best smelling team in Ohio...).  We arrived here a few hours ago and headed directly to our practice in order to prepare for the game. Technically we were a little late, but the combination of our determination and amazing agility got us through the practice on time!  Waaaaay to go ladies!  I'm so excited to play our first actual game with my amazingly talented and hilarious team!  Let's kick some Tuft booty tomorrow ladies!!

GAME TIME BABY.

OUR FIRST GAME IS THIS WEEK! AND I'M TYPING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO EXPRESS MY EXCITEMENT OVER THE INTERNET! We kick off our first game this Friday at a tournament in Rochester, New York vs Tufts.  Tufts is a school in Massachusetts whose mascot is the "Jumbos".  So there you have it folks.  We shall be playing the Tufts Jumbos. Or the Jumbos of Tufts University.  What is a Jumbo you ask? Simple.  An elephant with tusks. Duh. Tufts Jumbo Tusks. Jumbo Tusks of Tufts.  Ok. I'm done.

So anyways, we leave Thursday morning for Rochester!  I think that of all the things we get to do, traveling to different places and staying in hotels with my teammates has got to be one of my favorite parts of basketball season!  The bus rides are just fun in general and then we get to eat a lot of food, and then we get to goof off in hotel rooms.  Its nice to not have to worry about anything but hanging out with your team and getting better at basketball.  As excited as I am about having a home tournament this year I'm also sad that there won't be anymore regular season overnight trips. I think I would still rather have the home tournament.  But back to my main point, I cannot wait until we finally get to play in our first game.  All of our hard work from bootcamp to this week's practices will hopefully start paying off.

And yeah, you have to know that the season isn't going to be all rainbows and sunshine, there is going to be some bumpy parts.  But I have total faith in  my teammates that we can do anything we want this year, and we can pull each other up from any bad time.

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."
              -Ralph Waldo Emerson

#RiseAbove

Jessica Lairson

Rise Above

Hello All!

The season is just about here! I cannot tell you how excited I am to spend this season with these wonderful people.  Last night after practice we had team bonding, which was very long but amazing nonetheless.  Naturally we started off with a team dinner because what's a gathering without food!  Our team already has formed great relationships and we quickly became great friends and teammates in the short time we have spent with each other.  We strengthened our bonds even further when we shared our life heroes, hardships, and highlights.  You can guess in a room full of girls and three guys (Coach Bailey, Coach G, and Coach Blon) there was lots, and lots of crying and laughing.  We all poured our hearts out to each other which really strengthened our bonds and over the course of the season they will only get stronger.  We also played some blind fold dodge ball because there's not too many things more ridiculous than blind folded people throwing things at others.  Obviously my partner Gab and I dominated because we make such a great team.  We did a lot of activities which made for a long night but our team grew even stronger in the process.

Today we scrimmaged Tiffin and did very well.  We were all excited about getting on the court and playing other people than ourselves.  We still have a lot to work on, but we, as a team, strive to be better than yesterday.  This leads me to our team word for the season.  A quick shout-out goes to my girl Pup for coming up with the word, actually words but who's paying attention...  Coach asked us to think of a word that represents our team during team bonding and after hearing what everyone has overcome in their lives already and the many more events that we will encounter in our lives, rise above fit well.  We strive to rise above our opinions on the court, ourselves when we get down, our school work, and everyday obstacles we encounter. I think this word is just about perfect for our team.

I cannot wait for what this season has to offer all of us.  I don't think anyone understands how we feel about each other as teammates and coaches.  I think our chemistry and friendships are deadly for our opponents.  We push each other and pick each other up.  This team is full of great teammates and we have a lot going for us.  We just have to keep getting better than yesterday.

AWWWWWW JACKETS!

Erin Allen #14

     (Just a little something I made from a quote I found because I'm slightly obsessed with quotes..)

ALRIGHTTT

Hello from the crippled! So far, this season has definitely not been what I would have expected my freshmen year to be. Being injured may be one of the most challenging situations I have ever been put into. I miss playing so much and I really miss being out there with the girls. Coming into the season, I was so excited to experience all of my new "first's" like finishing my first preseason conditioning, playing in the first practice, and stepping onto the court as a yellow jacket for the first time. This injury has just really challenged my patience and strength to overcome this adversity. On a more positive note, I am only out 6-8 (crossing my fingers) weeks, and I still feel as if I am a part of this team. Plus, I may be biased, but I have the best coaches and teammates in the world! Numerous of the girls have given me rides to my classes or dinner, opened doors for me, the coaches are working with me to do whatevery they can to get me back as quickly as possible, and one of the most encouraging things was I got a text from almost every single girl on the team after my surgery. That shows true love right there! So, because of my new injury, I have been given a whole new role on the team. I may not be out there physically with the girls, but I hope to be the biggest fan they have sitting on the sidelines & I am doing everything I can to get healthy!! Other than that, school and everything has been going great! Now just looking forward to New York next weekend!!

Until next time,
Megs :)

BA-NA-NA, BA-NA-NA-NA

Hey all,

These past few weeks have had their ups and downs. The injury bug has bitten the team severely in the behind this year and it is very frustrating not only for the ones that are injured, but the team and coaching staff as well. Megan had surgery about a week ago to repair her menisci, she'kiera has a sausage link as a finger, Erin's foot is in some mysterious, constant pain, Jessa has a sprained MCL and I have a Cankle. Luckily, it's all in the pre-season and before any of our games so hopefully everyone can get back to 100% as soon as possible and get back out there to compete.
On Thursday the team traveled to Ashland to compete in our first scrimmage of the year. Considering that Ashland was last years D2 National Champions, I think that we did alright against them; losing the first half and winning the second. Though, there are a lot of things to still work on, it was great to get out there and beat up on someone else and not each other! This Saturday we host Tiffin for our final scrimmage of the year at Noon so we hope that a few of you readers can come out and see what we have in store for the 2013-2014 season!
Hope to see you all out at our home games this year, we promise not to disappoint!!

Much Love,

Shari Mangas #20

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble in it's own"
-Matthem 6:34

Oh hello

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week and have a fun weekend. This past week, yesterday actually, we had our very first scrimmage of the 2013-2014 season against Ashland University. We played really well and I'm so proud of my teammates, I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to play basketball with. I am so pumped for the season to start because the team is putting in so much hard work and dedication that I know will pay off in each game. Well, as most of you know, last year there was a freshmen-senior prank war going on and of course, the freshmen won :) this year it will probably be a sophomore-freshmen prank war but I don't know, we've been pretty busy with school work and basketball so it's hard to find time. Last year Allyson, Alissa and I had no life so it was easier to find time. Well, I'm sleepy so I'll wrap it up. I hope everyone has a great weekend and finishes the semester strong! Bye y'all.

Sincerely yours, Janaya

Let's Make it Happen!

Hey everyone I hope all is well with you! 

I can’t believe we just finished our seventh practice, it feels so surreal because I have been waiting so long for the season to start and now it’s finally here. For me these past two months have flown by and I still can’t believe last week was midterms and I’m already meeting with my advisor to schedule spring classes, where has this time gone! In just about three and a half weeks we’ll be starting our first game in the Rochester tournament in New York and I can’t wait for the team’s hard work to finally pay off. Throughout the entire conditioning everyone was killing the times and pushing themselves past their limits in preparation for this year. I couldn’t be any more excited or proud of my team for all the hard work we have put in and I can’t wait to see the outcome of this season. This year has been awesome so far, between volunteering at Camp Cheerful’s Halloween dance and having the opportunity to work the concessions for the Cavs Wine and Gold scrimmage held in our gym. Also, this is one of my favorite times of the year because this is when my brother Ryan, my sister Alysa, my friends Tina and Anthony and I go to haunted houses. In the past two years we have traveled all over in order to find the best haunted houses and I have the top three that we must always go to every year, which are the Mansfield Reformatory, The Fear Experience and Bloodview. The Mansfield prison is the best because you get to actually walk through the entire prison which takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour to get through as they have people jumping out of cells and props set up everywhere. We always have a fun time going to the haunted houses and we look forward to going every year. My second year at BW has been awesome so far and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this year has to hold for me!

Marissa Hellisz #22

 

you're gonna hear us, ROARRRR

hello everybody. I hope you are all having wonderful weeks. I know here in Berea, we have all had really exciting, very mentally and physically hard, and absolutely crazy weeks. End of conditioning, Midterms, First practice, fall break (with 2 practices)...so many emotions flowing I think we could all fall over. However, I think the excitement of the beginning of a great new season of a sport we all love, with out team by our side is what keeps us standing. 

 Currently I am sitting in the library with my two best buds, they are working very hard beside me but I am on a little study break so I could talk to all you avid readers of this blog. This year has been great so far, everything from team bond trips with personality tests to volunteering at camp cheerful's halloween dance. I would like to comment, not to toot out own horns, but pup, erwin, aud, sheri, and I had some pretty awesome costumes. take a look...

nothing like the good old mystery gang. 

Well that is about it for now, stay tuned for many more memories to come. As for my fellow yellow jackets lets get out there and work hard, work together, and win! 

Have a wonderful day friends

Awwww JACKETS,

Steph #12

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

2 Timothy 1:7

It's time!

Hey everyone! It has been an interesting year so far! I've been busy with classes and conditioning, but weeeeeee maddeeeee it! We finished our 33 20's Friday morning! We all killed the times and we are ready for the season to start! I can not wait! Besides conditioning and classes, I started an internship with YouthChallenge! YouthChallenge is an adaptive sports program for kid with disabilities. It is such a great experience, and I love that we can get kids active, no matter if they are in a wheelchair or not. And to go along with getting kids with disabilities a change to be "normal", the team went to Camp Cheerful and helped the kids there for the weekend camp get all dressed up in costumes for a Halloween dance! We danced the night away, and the kids had a blast! In other news, I met Anderson Varejao at the Wine and Gold scrimmage that was held in our gym. It was perfect. He is my favorite basketball player of all time! (P.S. He makes me look like a midget). I would add a picture, but whenever I try to post it there is just a bunch of words and numbers....so just imagine me looking like a small child next to him! Annddddd that's all folks! Here's to a great season with great people! AWWWWWW JACKETS!! Lexi Rohrbach #45

One More Week

Hey everyone! ONE MORE WEEK. We have one more week of conditioning, and one more week until our first practice. Time is literally flying by. It feels like we just started boot camp, but we're on the home stretch. I am so proud of how hard everyone has been working. The definition of toughness can be seen during our conditioning. People are pushing past their limits and I couldn't be more proud to be a part of that kind of team. I cannot wait for the season to start! -Audrey Smolik #24 Mark 9:23 "Everything is possible for one who believes."

Hola, cómo estás!

Hellooooo there! Hope all is well with everyone, all is going pretty well over here. Currently watching Love and Basketball with my two best buds, so can't really go wrong with that! My little Spanish tid bit up there is because I am taking my first Spanish class EVER here and it is super hard so Spanish is pretty much dominating my life right now. Basketball-wise though we are about a month into it all and a week done with the dreaded boot camp. Boot camp is the ultimate love-hate relationship ever. You hate it but you love it, ya know? It's exhausting yet exhilarating and punishing yet rewarding. Just baffling. It's definitely a lot easier when you have your team there though. I couldn't be happier or more proud of how everybody is doing. We are crushing the times and pushing ourselves and each other to get every last bit out of each other. It is so amazing to see how hard people are going and it will be even more rewarding when it all pays off. Season is coming upppp and I'm pumpedddddddddd. But I can't talk about allllllll of it, I gotta save stuff for other people to blog about tooooo! So just know that all is swell up here in Lang 317 and that I am one happy camper and that I love my team and that I love (and hate) boot camp and that I love this movieee! So adios amigos! Ally "Pup" Dehart #34

Helllo again, It's Gabrielle blogging. Wellll, where to start? It's hard to believe I've been in college for more than a month! It is so surreal to think I'm actually in college. Schools been going well, and so is basketball! I cannot wait for the actual season to start! It is a stuggle adjusting my schedule with class, work, basketball, and you cant forget about eating!!! but I'm getting use to it! It's such a change from highschool...like im growing up. Well I really am not much of blogger if you havent already figured that out sooo yeahhh. Hope everyone is enjoying their classes this semester! Keeps hitting the books and studying hard! See you alll soooon :) -Gabrielle Grace Vitez

Lexi Rohrbach

Hey everyone!

My name is Lexi and I am a senior! I can't believe I am about to start my final year of basketball.  I am from good old Tiffin, Ohio.  That is where my mom and my dog (cutest thing in the entire world) still live.  I also have a brother, and he is a freshman here at BW! (AWWWWW JACKETS!!!)  I am so excited to have him here! To round out my family, I need to include my Aunt Debbie and Uncle David.  They have been a huge part of my life, especially during the last 5 years.

This summer has been a busy one! I started the summer with summer classes, Anatomy and Speech Clinic.  Clinic lasted the whole summer, and I was in charge of therapy for 9 clients! It was very intimidating, but I learned a lot! I also spent the summer lifeguarding for Hastings Waterworks. I made a ton of friends, and actually got tan for once! (Usually I am a pale freak). Lifeguarding has definitely been a life-changing experience. During my second shift, a little girl was found at the bottom of the pool, and we....saved her life.  It might have been the scariest thing I have every experienced.  The rest of my time I spent working out, shooting, and doing all those fun things that were in our summer binders.

Along with the "normal routine" things I did this summer, I also took some fun weekend trips! I went to Chicago to see Bon Jovi! (I may have a small crush on him even though he is old). My brother and I had floor seats and it was the best concert I have ever experienced. He rocked hard for a solid 4 hours! The other trip I took was to Washington DC. I went to the Spy Museum and learned everything there is to know about spies and James Bond.  I also went to the zoo (WHICH IS FREE!) and saw giant pandas!

And that about rounds out my summer! I am excited to meet everyone and to start pre-season. We are on our way to become the best team the Jackets have ever seen!

Lexi Rohrbach #45

P.S. I was going to add pictures........but I seem to be having difficulties! Sorry!

Hey everyone!

I'm Marissa and I'll be a sophomore this year. I'm the second oldest child in a family with four kids. I have an older brother who graduated from BW in 2007, a younger sister who is a freshman this year at BW and a younger brother who is a Junior at Normandy High School. I'm a dual athlete who participates in both basketball and track, while having a double major in Pre-Physical Therapy and Exercise Science. My summer was great I definitely enjoyed it and I can't believe classes start tomorrow already! I made the most of my summer between preparing for the upcoming season and having fun hanging with my friends. I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the freshmen and I can't wait to see everyone again!

Marissa Hellisz #22               

Random Thoughts and Movie Quotes

Well hellooooo there everyone! I am Ally Dehart and will be a sophomore this year. Feel free to call me Pup if you so desire considering that’s what most people on the team call me! Doing this makes me think about how nervous I was to do this last year, and looking back on it mine was so weird because I talked about cats like the whole time… Whatever. Hopefully I’ll do better this time. 

Anyways, speaking of doing this last year, you have literally NO idea what to expect coming in as a freshmen, well at least I didn’t. Literally my only idea of what to expect came from the numerous amounts of sports movies that I’ve watched over the years. Unfortunately however, those movies lead me a stray a few times and didn’t always give the most accurate representation of what to expect. So I have decided to put together a few misconceptions that the movies left me with to start the season, so the rest of you won’t be as thrown off as I was. So here we go…

White Men Can’t Jump

Well first off, white men, and women CAN jump. More than likely you will figure this out while you’re unsuspectedly swatted by Lairson, Alissa, or Tali. Or at least we can watch them block each other, cause that tends to happen frequently which is always exciting to watch. 

Coach Carter

This was one of the ones that was most deceiving to me. Whenever I did one of my first visits at school, I remember my parents asking how the players manage their schoolwork along with all the work that comes along with playing a sport. So Coach was telling them about study tables which we do in order to have specific time set aside to ensure that we get our work done. So as she is explaining this to them I begin to zone out and imagine what my study tables will look like… which I later found out was very wrong. I imagined study tables being like the scene from Coach Carter when they are having their lockout and they have all their school desks piled into the middle of the gym and they’re all sitting there doing their homework. But, as cool as this would be, we don’t do our homework in the middle of the gym…. Very deceiving, and a bit upsetting I will say.

High School Musical

This one is pretty simple, when you stay after practice to shoot, your life doesn’t become a musical. I’ve tried. 

Okay so those are a few semi-serious things that sports movies do not prepare you for. (Not joking I really wanted to have a basketball flash-mob moment but that never happened). But for those of you who are a sports movie junky like myself, they won’t always leave you empty-handed, and in all honesty can pump you up for what to expect as a Yellow Jacket. Remember the Titans represents the bond and sisterhood we exemplify as a team, especially in the difficult times of adversity. These movies show us the feeling when life is in slow-motion when waiting for a buzzer beater shot to fall (Hoosiers), or the pain that comes after a hard loss like in Friday Night Lights or Richmond High (Rich whaa?), to the joys of a Rudy or Rocky-like celebration. The most important thing that these movies demonstrate in my opinion, is people’s unending love for the game they play, and all the highs and lows that come a long with it. THAT is what you can expect from Yellow Jacket basketball.

Okay but now I’m rambling and my blog is already late (sorry Coach!) But I’m really excited to reunite with everybody and meet the other freshmen! See you all soon!

“At the end of the game, in my book, we're gonna be winners.”

-Hoosiers

Ally (Pup)

             #34

                                      

Hello everyone!

My name is Gabrielle Vitez and I am an incoming freshman. I am beyond excited to attend Baldwin Wallace University but at the same time I am very nervous! I met some of the teammates when I attended an open gym in July. I was extremely scared coming in not only as a freshman, but also not being able to play due to recent surgeries I recently had. I felt so welcomed by all the girls, and really enjoyed everyone's fun loving attitudes. Well, a little about me now... I am 1 of 3 children. I have an older sister named Emilee who graduated from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. I also have an older brother named Nate, who is 20 years old. I am the youngest of the family. My creators, Rachel and Joe Vitez, are my rock. They are so supportive and loving. In 2008 I suffered a traumatic brain injury in basketball that still affects me today. Without their constant love and support I don't know how I would have gotten through that time in my life. Even though it has been 5 years since my injury, there are still good and bad days. I try my best to always have a positive attitude and outlook on life now. Due to my injury it really gave me a different look on what life and basketball really means. Hope everyone has been enjoying their summers! I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone better and growing as a person! I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone better and growing as a person! I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone better and growing as a person!

Gabrielle Vitez :)

Hiii everyone! 

My name is Laurel Thomas and I will be a junior this year. So hard for me to believe how fast time has flown - but I have met many new people and made great friends and even better memories! That being said I can't wait to meet and spend countless hours with all the new freshman!!
A little about myself, I am from Canton.  I have two sisters - 1 older, 1 younger (we look absolutely nothing alike). I am a Human Resource Management and Healthcare Management double major. I had an amazing HR internship this summer and am looking forward to what's to come! I hope you all are having a fabulous summer! Can't wait to see everyone in a couple of weeks!

Laurel 

Summer Fun

Hello hello!

I'm Audrey and I will be a Junior this year. Just an FYI, when people tell you that time flies as you get older, they aren't kidding. It's a bitter sweet feeling. But I hope everyone is having a great summer :) Mine has been one of the best ones so far. I got to go on an amazing vacation  to Virginia with the family that I work for. I babysit 2 girls, Megan and Taylor. Love them to death. I also have had the privilege to be an assistant coach to a SMAC team. SMAC is an aau organization for those of you who don't know what it is. Our team name is SMAC ICE (Intensity Chemistry Energy). Shoutout to the girls and Jocelyn (the head coach)! It has been a challenge being on the the "other side", that is being a coach not a player. I never realized how hard it is, so props to all the coaches out there. You truly have a hard job. Especially coaching us girls. 

I am so looking forward to going back to school and getting ready with the team for the season. I can't wait to meet all the Freshman so they can see what a bunch of goof balls we are all :) But also can be very, very serious.....sometimes. Random fact....SHARI MANGAS is my best friend. I am also a Middle Childhood Education major with Math and History minors. I'm obsessed with dolphins. I have an older sister and younger brother. My parents come to all the games...even when I tell them not to because there is 5 feet of snow on the ground. Least to say they're very supportive :) Welp, that's all I got. Be safe and enjoy the rest of your summer!

Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart".

Audrey #24

Hello everyone, my name is Janaya and I am an upcoming sophomore. I hope everyone's summer is going great. I can't wait for school to start so I can see all my friends again and meet the incoming freshmen. I met a couple of them at open and they seem really nice but they have a lot to live up too because last years freshmen was the best class of all time. See you all soon. #2

Hey BW family! My names is Megan McKean and I'm an incoming freshmen this fall, and in all honesty I have never been more excited for a school year to start! I've been to both open gyms so far & have worked a few camps, so I have gotten to meet most of the team. They are all so welcoming and great athletes that they will help make my transition easy!

Now, a little bit about myself. I am from a small country school called Northwestern between the cities of Wooster and Ashland. I am apart of a family of 5, with two older brothers. My oldest brother Lucas just graduated from Wittenberg University last spring, and Brennan will be a junior basketball player for Marietta. I spend most of my time working out or giving kids basketball lessons at my house which is fortunately my job. But, I also love to hang out with friends, go swimming, and going to places like cedar point, concerts, and movies. So all of that is basically what my summer has consisted of! Growing up with two older brothers who loved basketball as well has taught me to be very competitive so I cannot wait to for season to start & to make some new experiences! I'm very happy I made the decision to be a yellow jacket :)

--Megan

ONE MORE MONTH

Hola mis amigos! Me llamo Alissa. …..the team calls me Mex, as in Mexican, thanks to Janaya and She’kiera so I’ve decided to own it.

Anyways..I will be a sophomore this year and I am very much looking forward to moving back in. Living at home is so boring now and I miss the team so much. I am undecided on my major, but as of today I am leaning towards Exercise Science. It changes about every other week. My summer has been pretty normal…working and working out and such. I’m a lifeguard at two pools and I host at a Mexican restaurant (another reason they call me Mex). I’ve pretty much worked every day, except when we had 40 days and 40 nights of rain – makes it a little hard to work at a pool. I have to admit that working in the sun all time has left me with a pretty awesome tan, making me look even more Mexican.

I am definitely looking forward to this season and getting to know the freshmen. They seem like a great group of girls. They have a lot to live up to after last year’s freshmen class though – we were kind of awesome. I know everyone has been working hard this summer so you’ll be able to find us at the top of the conference.

Until next time my friends,

Alissa Munro #13

     Hi my name is Mackenzie Colombo and I will be an upcoming freshman this year.  I missed my week for the blog because I was on vacation and thought mine was this week so its a little late!  I am very excited to become a yellow jacket and play college basketball.  I went to Strasburg High School which is about an hour and a half away.  I also cheered for the football team but basketball has always been my passion.  I have a younger brother who just turned 16 and he and I have played in the driveway ever since I can remember.  My whole family is really big basketball fans.  My dad coached my brother and I when we were younger.  In high school my team played Berlin Hiland at home and my junior year we beat them to win the IVC, which is our conference.  That was probably my favorite high school memory in basketball.  This summer I have been very busy.  I went on a senior trip with my friends and then the week after I was with my family so unfortunately I missed the first open gym but I am looking forward to meeting all of you!  I have met a few of you on my overnight visit with Megan McKean who is also an upcoming freshman.  You

SENIOR RAH!!

My name is Jessica Lairson. I'm a senior. I can't believe I'm writing my last pre-season blog ever!.  You'll be a senior before you know it kiddies! I really am not a fan of writing full sentences, so here is a bullet list of everything you need to know! These are the MOST CRUCIAL pieces of information. Highly classifieds, if you will:

• I will be 22 in August, and that feels old as shit. (Sorry Coach)
• You may call me Larry, Jess, Jessica, or Lairson, or anything else you like.
• I like candy
• I was a spelling champion in middle school
• I'm a chemistry major, but don't ask me any math questions or we can't be friends.
• I have 1 sister, 3 brothers, a half brother, and a step-brother
• I went to Louisville High School. It's in Ohio, contrary to popular belief.
• I'm obsessed with cats. Like, literally obsessed. They just have the cutest little faces and little personalities. I love them.
• When I'm really tired, I don't speak very much English. Just noises that sound like words, but really aren't.
• I make really stupid faces in pictures. Sometimes they scare people.
• I've lived with Melissa Hoffbauer for what will be 3 years now, so if you see a really tan and jacked girl, that's her and you should say hi because she is awesome!

So yeah, there's no real paragraph that would really fit all that vital information in it.  But this summer I've just been lifting, shooting, playing calculus 2, and hanging out with my 4-year-old son Trevor! He is an awesome little dude and he loves that ninja turtles, which in case you've never seen them, they talk like surfers, so he talks like a little surfer dude. I'm sure you will see lots of him this year! He loves coming to practice and playing with all the girls. I'm really excited to meet all the new people this year! I am also so proud of seeing everyone do work this summer! I feel like I have seen and heard about more effort in the gym than any other summer that I have been here! That's what we have to do to win big this year- constantly get better!  You'll find out pretty quickly that I hate to lose. I hate to lose more than I even enjoy winning. Keep up the good work!! 5 weeks until we go back to school, make the most of it!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Loves Yous Alls!

@Jlair3

Hi everyone,

My name is Sydney Clark and I'm an incoming freshman. I can't believe my high school career is over already. It went by so fast, but I am so excited to start this new chapter in my life. I can't wait for basketball season to start and to experience the college life.

Here's just a little bit about me. I live in Parma, OH. It's about 10-15 minutes from BW. I went to Regina High School my freshman year, but unfortunately our school closed. After Regina closed, I went to Lake Ridge Academy for my next three years. I played softball and soccer at Lake Ridge also just to keep in shape for basketball. My dad was the boys varsity coach at Lake Ridge as well. My sister graduated from Ohio University a year ago, but while she was there, she was the girls basketball team manager. So basketball is popular in my family.

So far this summer, I have gone to graduation parties, worked out for basketball, and swam. I have orientation coming up and I'm so excited to meet all the new people. We have had an open gym already and everyone seems so nice and fun and I can't wait to meet everyone on the team.

I hope everyone has a good summer and can't wait for this season!

-Sydney

Sweet Summer Time

Hello everyone!


My name is Allyson Helleis and I'm going to be a sophomore next year which is so crazy to think about. I am double majoring in Pre-Physical Therapy and Exercise Science and I'm also taking summer classes which is never fun, but essential for me to graduate on time. :((So far my summer has consisted of work with Shari and Sam everyday, then working out with them, then playing basketball with them, so you could say the three of us have become extremely close this summer! It is so awesome to see how dedicated the team is this summer, and we are definitely going to be competitors this year in the OAC so watch out everyone!

Other than working out and working I got to go on a little vaca with some of my friends from home since I am so busy all the time. We went to Put-In-Bay for four days and stayed in my friends beach house which was like paradise. No 6:30 am alarms and being able to sleep in was absolutely amazing. Its the little things like that sometimes, especially after working 8-3:30 everyday, I have a new appreciation for sleep!

Although staying at home for the summer is nice so I get to see my family and friends, I am ready for the school year to start. That means we are that much closer to the season! I am ecstatic to get to play with the incoming freshmen and the rest of the team! Go Yellow Jackets!


#YJ4L

Allyson Helleis #5

Hi Everybody!


So for anyone I didn't meet at open gym my name is Jessa and I'm going to be an incoming freshman this year! It's crazy to think my high school life is over, but I'm so excited for my first year at BW and of course for the basketball season to start! It'll definitely be weird to go from a senior all the way back to a baby freshman again. :)

To tell you a little bit about myself, I am from the city of Aurora, OH which is about 45 min away from BW (not too far of a drive at all). Although I live in Aurora I went to Walsh Jesuit High School which is catholic school about a half hour away from my city. Besides the school stuff, I have one older brother that just graduated from Ohio University. Yesterday was pretty hectic because we had a combined party for our graduations! Other than that, I have been enjoying the summer with my friends and family before I say goodbye for college. I'm definitely ready to get out and start a new chapter of my life.  I also can't wait to get down to school to hang out and get to know all of you better!

- Jessa Gilberto:)

Summer!!!

Hey everyone!

I am a little late on posting because my family has been in town all last week for my sister's graduation party! So it's been slightly hectic just ask Pup (Ally Dehart), she came up for the party and got to meet everyone!

Well my name is Erin Allen.  I am going to be a sophomore this year, which feels extremely weird. I am from the small town of Girard in Pennsylvania.  I have spent most of my summer working at the lovely fruit farm and working out preparing for this upcoming season.  I am so excited to head back to school and start playing with the entire team!  This year is about to be the best yet.

We just had our first open gym with the whole team this past Sunday and it was a lot of fun seeing everyone and meeting the new freshman.  I am excited to get to know them and hang out with the rest of the team again.  Playing with everyone again reminds me how great this year is about to be, the OAC better watch out!

Well I hope everyone's having a great summer! Love ya!  Erin Allen #14

                                                Freshman (now Sophomore) Squad <3 nbsp="" p="">

They call me Mari Shangas

Howdy y'all!

I apologize for the delay between posts, I just got back from a nice little vacation to paradise (Wrightsville Beach) in North Carolina. I must say, the beach life is just a tad bit better than the Berea life. Sunny and 90+ degrees everyday and none of the 85 degrees one day and 40 the next weather that Ohio is infamous for. I went down with a group of my friends and we stayed on a resort that was right on the beach and right down the road was Michel Jordon's mom's house; it was Pink. It actually wasn't really a house, instead it was a small castle.

Anyways, the name is actually Shari Mangas and not Mari. It all started with Coach Campbell switching the first letters of my first and last name around Shari=Mari and Mangas=Shangas. It started as a joke but as the season progressed, it actually started to stick. Another team favorite was Sam.. she turned into Hammy. Some people it didn't really work out for; like Rachel. She stayed Rachel. Boring life, I know :) I will be a Junior this year and can officially say that I am an upperclassman and feel old as dirt already. I am a Sport Management and Business major. I'm from the littlest town in NW Ohio called Leipsic and it's about a 3 three drive from BW. Though, I am staying up here this summer with Tali (Natalia #15) and two other of our friends. It feels good to be living on my own but paying bills is something that I will NEVER like or get used to. I "work" at the school doing stadium crew/maintenance odds and ends. Basically, Al (Allyson Helleis), Sam (Sam Hamar aka Hammy) and I mow lawns, listen to music and get our farmers tans on and get paid for it.

Summer has consisted of work, working out and playing/beating up on random teams. Every Thursday a group of us go to Brunswick's rec league and play. There are a few Mount players that go as well so we take it more seriously than we probably should but it is always nice beating Mount players 77-37 (true score). We also have gone to NDC and Walsh and played pretty well even missing half the team. Needless to say, we are about to run it next year and I know I can't wait for all of the new Freshman to come in and help us do just that!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and working on those skills so we can go get those rings this year!! After all, championships can't be won in the offseason but they can definitely be lost. Be safe, have fun and stay classy my friends!

Shari Mangas #20

happy summer!! :)

Hey everyone!

Hope everybody is having a great start to their summer! Such a bummer that the weather is has been so yucky :( Well enough small talk, my name is Natalia Simovic and this year I will be a senior :((((( so hard to believe. I am a  double major in Psychology and Business Administration so I have my hands full my last semester trying to finish up all my classes. Like last summer, I am again taking summer classes online :( and working full time at a business/marketing internship for a law firm downtown. My summer so far has consisted of working, eating, classes, working out, eating, sleeping, eating, and repeat! I look forward to meeting our freshmen class and getting this season going! To the freshmen: enjoy your selves this summer, and during the school year, time really does fly and before you know it you're a grandma/senior like me :(

Have a great June everybody!!!
:)
Natalia #15

Hey Hey Hey it's summer time!!!

Let me just start off with, freshman- don't blink, I cannot believe how fast my first year went!! seems like just the other day I was stressing about what I was going to write in my first summer blog...now it is literally a year later. Wow. anyway I am Steph! I will be a sophomore and I am from Jupiter, FL. I am newly a public relations major and I absolutely loved my first year at BW. My summer has been great so far. I have just been hanging out with my friends and family, I dreaded my hair, I am a nanny for a one month old, and I have been watching the Heat dominate (which is always a blast!!). But my summer is about to change! I have an internship in Romania, putting on summer camps for special needs and abused orphans. So I leave sunday to got to Dallas for a few days of training and then strait to Romania.  I will be there for two months, needless to say, sadly I wont be at any of the open gyms this summer. But I will miss you all so very much! I actually have a blog I will be updating about my trip all summer and I would love it if you guys would follow along (but no pressure).You can find it at: His-children-Romania2013.blogspot.com 

I am so excited to see what God has in store for us next season!! It is about to be insane!! I hope you all are having an amazing summer!! I can not wait to meet all the new freshman and see all of the rest of you again! Be safe and keep working hard! 

Steph #12

So the first picture is of me and my amazing parents (Jay and Tammy) and the second one is me hanging out with some kids in a Romanian Gypsy village last year :) 

The Final Countdown

Well everybody, it's here....our last and final week of the 2012-13 season. I think I am finally starting to realize that it is almost over, BUT looking on the bright side, we have 7 more days to make some awesome memories. That starts with gettting a good win against The Berg on Wednesday and following that winning on senior night against Musky on Saturday. I am honestly so lucky to have met such great teammates and not just that, friends. I have had some of the best times here and I know I have made relationships that will last forever. Even though we don't get to have a post-season like we are used to, there are still many other things we have to look back on after finishing our basketball career here at BWU. One last mushy comment; I just want to say thank you to all of my teammates, coaches, friends, family and teammates' family for all their support and kind words thoroughout my 4 years here. It is greatly appreciated and has got me where I am today. Ok, enough of that. We can save the tears for senior night. Anyways, I have to go to class....team games. Yes, my schedule is very tough, lifetime leisure activities, volleyball and team games. Perks of being a senior I suppose! Can't wait to finish this season right with two great wins and even better memories than I have made already! YJ4L.

Jess Carpenter

BEAT MOUNT!!

Tomorrow night we host mount union.. eww! Not only is tomorrow night a big rivalry game for us, but it is also our Hoops for the Cure game!! Fans and students will come out wearing pink to support us and this great cause!! We had a really good, hard practice yesterday, in preparations for tomorrow, and tonight will be no different! Its unbelievable how quick this season has gone and it sure has been a season to remember!! Beginning back when we all first met each other and did team building activities at camp cheerful, (where we even got to pie the coaches in the face) our early morning preseason workouts, (20 sui's later) winning the franklin tipoff tournament, (hotels and bus rides, need I say more) the power outage break bonding, (practicing in the dark, there really is a first for everything :) ) having campus to ourselves over winter break, and many many more memories! Not only will these memories made forever be remembered, but so will the friendships. Our team is truly the definition of family. The everlasting charm, determination, love, knowledge, skills and strength is what separates us from the rest. I have strengthened and made many new friendships with every single one of my teammates this year, and I couldn't be luckier to call them my teammate and friend. I want to take this time to thank coach and the seniors for bringing us all together. The seniors all have fantastic leadership and basketball skills, tremendous work ethic and are all role models in my life. I couldn’t be more fortunate to have been given the opportunity to play college basketball and be friends with any more amazing girls! My teammates are my second family and I love them all so much!

All out, all day! 
Ya look good, ya play good! 
Yeehaw! 

Go Jackets!
Laurel Thomas

All we have, in everything we do :)

Hello fellow players, curious parents, excited recruits, coach and whoever else may be reading my wonderful blog right now :) So glad you could join us today! Goodness the time does fly when you're playing ball! It seems like just yesterday we were waking up at 5am for our first morning workout, and now here we are with just a few weeks left…6 games to go. It is truly baffling how much you learn when you go to college! Haha I mean obviously you are supposed to learn in the classroom and all that stuff, but I mean out side the class. It's really where you figure out who you are and what you are made of… Not to get too deep on you or anything but just hang with me for a few minuets I would like to share with you one of the most recent things I have learned, so hear it is. College basketball is not always easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.  Sometimes we spend WAY too many hours with each other, and sometimes we REALLY don’t want to run that last suicide. But it is DEFINITELY worth it. The lessons I have learned being on this team are uncountable, the friendships that I have gained and I am confident will last forever are incomparable, and the love that I and the rest of the players have for each other and the game is uncontainable. Truly indescribable.

Not only have I learned how to properly step into my shot from coach Harrer or how to effectively play post defense from coach Campbell, but I have also learned leadership from Meg, Rachel, and Jess. I learned servant hood from Audrey, Pup and Erin. I learned passion from Larry, Nancy and Allyson. I learned to take everything one day at a time from Sheri, Natalia and Amber. I learned to laugh at my self from Janaya, Alissa and Laurel. I learned persistence from Sam, Lexi and Marissa.  And I have learned that it’s ok to be psycho from Tupac.

The point is that every single person on this team has helped me grow. I consider myself sooooo blessed to be a part of this team and program. Every team has rough spots, but not everyone gets out of them. We are getting out. The great Michael Jordan once said, “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, Go through it, or work around it." We are climbing; we are climbing higher and harder than any team before. And get ready Mount cause you are about to feel the heat of our comeback. We are coming fast and hard.

All we have, in everything we do.

Lets go jackets! Lets rally!

 

God Bless, Steph #12

oh and because that was alittle bit less of a fun blog than normal, i thought i would add this little video of me and pup singing our favorite song <3 span="">

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a great break! I definitely enjoyed being able to stay at home and see my family. My sister, who goes to school in Kentucky, was home for about 2 weeks which was probably the highlight of my break. She brought home her puppy whose name is Buddy and is absolutely adorable. My dad put a fire in the fire place, and my brother, Buddy, and I all sat by it while we watched movies. Other than basketball practices and games, I did not really do much over break. Being able to rest and not have to worry about homework and papers and tests was a nice change :). It is good to be back into routine though. I love all of my professors this semester, even though it's only been 2 days. They all are super nice and understanding. Anyway, we play Heidelberg tomorrow!! GO JACKETS. God bless!
p.s. shoutout to Steph...we still need to make that gingerbread house!!!!
Audrey #24

Great Start in 2013!

Hey everyone!

Today was the first day back to class after our month long break and I definitely don’t like getting up early again. I could’ve got used to sleeping in, hanging out with friends, playing video games, doing whatever I wanted and of course playing basketball every day for the rest of my life, but now I have to get back into my regular routine. I was obsessed the past few weeks playing my new PS3 I got for Christmas and was addicted to playing Call of Duty II, Batman Arkham City and NBA 2K13 which I played whenever possible. I definitely enjoyed my Christmas break spending quality time with my family and friends and getting to eat so much awesome food. I also spent most of my time with my basketball girls (aka my second family) going out to eat, doing team bonding activities, playing in the Michigan tournament and of course enjoying our Christmas party which was hilarious and so much fun. :) Ever since the beginning of 2013, our team is back to the way we were at the start of the season and all our hard work is paying off because we’re on a winning streak! This past week we had our GPA dinner for our two GPA teams that were organized at the start of the semester. How the GPA teams worked was at the end of the semester all the GPAs of the members on the team were added up and whichever team had the lowest had to cook dinner for the other team and themselves. The GPAs were actually really close but my team couldn’t pull out the victory so we had to cook dinner and I have to say we did a pretty good job. I’m looking forward to seeing us finish this season strong because at this rate we’re definitely moving in the right direction! :)    

Marissa #22 

Hello you fine folks!

Well, today is the last day of break which means.... classes start tomorrow D: this is both good and bad. Good because it puts me back in a regular routine and I wont be sitting there playing fun run all day, and bad because I'll be back in a routine and can't play fun run all day! haha :] but classes just stink because it means I have to get up early which is  a major bummer compared to sleeping in until one like I did most days for break. But it's also going to be nice to see all of our other friends again! Oh, and for those of you that don't know, fun run is an app for the iPhone or whatever and it's a racing game and it's very addicting. I play it all the time and have even had some dreams about it, kind of a problem I suppose. But oh well. If anybody has it my name on there is allydehart (I know very creative) so add me and I will definitely play you! 

file://localhost/Users/Ally/Downloads/unnamed.png

This is a picture of the fun run app. My character is the fox and he is wearing hipster glasses and a pair of black converse. He's quite adorable, but it took a long time to work up all the money for those expensive items, but they were worth all the effort! A few other people from the team have the app too and we play it sometimes to help pass the time during long bus rides. 

Gosh this blog has had really nothing to do with basketball thus far, so to fill everybody in.... we are currently are a nice win streak (which we plan to keep adding to,) we eat a lot of free food all the time, we have a lot of fun, we had a Christmas play and we all made fun of each other and it was absolutely hilarious. So all in all, life has been good! Until next time everyone!

Ally (Pup)

Janaya :)

Hello once again, it is I, Janaya! Well it is the last weekend before the second semester begins :( I'm very sad. Break was fun while it lasted. The lady Jackets are on a 3 game winning streak yaaaay and we play Muskie in less than 14 hours. After our win against them it will be a 4 game winning streak :) Also, for those of you who dont know, at the beginning of the season coach promised that for every game we win, she would do any dance (I) teach her. So far she has done: Crank that Soulja Boy, Wobble, Pop, Lock and Drop it and maybe one more but im not sure. So, that means she owes us like 5 more. She will probably do the Wop, Stanky Leg, Dougie, Cat Daddy, and Two step. Those sound good. Any who, I would update you on the prank wars between some of the freshmen and the seniors, but because it hasn't changed since my last blog, there is no need. Well, this is my las blog until next season, It's been real :)

                                                                                                                                              #2 <3 p="p">