HEADLINES

For those who were not at the reunion, I made a display of the newspaper headlines from our 1993 season. They really tell the story of our dominating year. I wanted to post some of them.

Cougars favored to win WAC
Volleyball team ranked as high as 9th in pre-season polls
BYU volleyball team crushes Idaho State
BYU women's volleyball team brimming with Las Vegas talent
Cougars dominate match, whip Weber St. in 3 sets
Cougars spike San Diego State
Spikers club Aggies
BYU Trio Helps Pummel Minnesota
BYU spikers demolish foes, win weekend tournament
Cougar volleyballers blow out Utah State
Cougar spikers beat up on UTEP
Cougar spikers pummel Utes
Y volleyball remains unbeaten, wins 2 more
BYU spikers club Weber
Colorado State Crumbles Under BYU's Pressure
BYU spikers blast CSU
Cougar spikers ease to win
Cougars spike Utes in WAC showdown
Spikers whip Northridge
BYU spikers keep rolling, win tournament
Cougar spikers nab WAC title
BYU spikes Fresno State
BYU claims another WAC volleyball title
BYU bashes Lady Miners to nail down WAC crown
Spikers complete perfect WAC seson
Y spikers continue WAC dominance
BYU volleyball team dominates All-WaC picks as it did league
Y coach honored by WAC ater 32 years of success
BYU spikers sweep 17th-ranked NOtre Dame
BYU spikers dump Washington State
BYU spikers whip WSU, advance in tournament
BYU strikes early, often to down Washington State
BYU advances, beating Arizona
BYU spikers stun No. 1 UCLA in three
BYU sweeps UCLA out of NCAA tournament
BYU knocks UCLA out of volleyball playoffs
Cougars dispatch UCLA in 3 games to capture West Regional title
Y volleyball Whips UCLA, Final Four Next
BYU spikers are poised for Final Four
Y spikers 1st WAC team to compete in Final Four
NCAA Volleyball Crown Is Possible for BYU Women


Okay, we did lose 3 times . . .
Wahine beat BYU in three
UCLA spikers tip Cougars
Lions top nervous Cougars
Dream season comes to Nightmarish End

WANTED

Does anyone still have their "Road to the Final Four" and/ or "Cowabunga Wisconsin" T-shirt? I would love to have them to add to a display I'm doing at the Sat. dinner!

Thanks,
Carol

Talofa from American Samoa!!!!!

Hello everyone! I hoped to make it to the reunion, but unfortunately am not able to. I'm in American Samoa and have been here for the past year now. Thanks to Steph, Carol, and Michelle for organizing this reunion. I hope you will be able to send photos of it to the rest of us who are not able to attend.

The clip below is an excerpt from a documentary video I made a year ago...no doubt a nostalgic moment for all of us.

I come from a family where I am the only child and grandchild with a degree. Most of what I knew about colleges came from watching tv, literally. I knew of USC because I watched the Olympics in '84 where all they seemed to talk about was one Cheryl Miller, the basketball star from USC who helped the USA team win the gold that year (the same Cheryl Miller that Michelle, Carol, Shauna, and I bumped into at USC when we were there for tryouts the spring before our senior year..you ladies remember the limo that pulled up by the gym when we were heading back to the hotel?). Anyway, to make the long story short, I had a Hawaiian lady for an English teacher my senior year in high school. And luckily she had a clue because she made us write to three universities of our choice. She had this thick book, which listed addresses of all the universities in America. My first pick was UCLA, second USC, and third BYU. I wanted so bad to attend UCLA. After writing these universities, weeks went by and for some odd reason, a letter from UCLA arrives stating their refusal to send me an application...this is before I even had a chance to apply. RUDE! USC didn't send me one either and I'm beginning to wonder if they did the same thing UCLA did. BYU, on the other hand sent me an application. In fact, BYU was the only university I applied to. I was accepted and all else was history. I reflect on this quite often and always come to the conclusion that it was meant to be that I attend BYU. I cherish every moment I had there as a student and as a member of the BYU Women's Volleyball Team. I learned and gained so much from my experiences with all of you, the ups and downs. Thanks to all of you for your great examples, but moreover, thank you for your friendships.

Muki

Johnson-Tagaloa Family

Hi all,

Most of you I have not seen for many years. I am still trying to see if it will work for me to come out for the reunion.

I am living in Lincoln with my 3 beautiful children. Kaipo is a Sophomore in High School and will be 16 in March which means he will start driving and dating. That just seems crazy. He honestly was just a baby as we see in one of these pics. He plays football and soccer and he also is in show choir, choir and theatre.

VaiLin-Gabi just turned 6 in August and is in 1st grade and just loves school. She is my 'momma's girl' and really misses me during the day. She is definitely an athlete and loves all sports although she is not involved in any organized sport right now.

My Sydney is 4 and in preschool. Like Kaipo she has the musical talent and I'm sure her career will have something to do with fashion.

As for myself; way too much personal drama!!!! But to sum up the last 15 years of volleyball for me; After BYU I played professionally in Switzerland for 1 year. Shauna stayed with me for a bit there while she was playing in Europe too.

Then I joined the National Team and lived in Colorado Springs for 5 years during that time I was fortunate to play in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. I injured myself right before the Olympics but had already signed a contract in Italy for a year so I thought might as well go and see how it turns out.

When I got back from Italy I had surgery on my wrist and moved to Michigan where I started coaching in the Professional League. This would buy me some time to see if my wrist would heal to know if I would be able to play again, or hang up the jersey and continue coaching. I did that 1 season and the league folded right before the 2nd season. It was time to hang up the jersey (against my will) and I got a phone call from the University of Nebraska to coach and that all fell in to place rather quickly. I went there in March of '03 and coached for 4 seasons. The '06 season we won the National Championship in our own backyard. That experience brought back many memories of our '93 BYU team of course.

I resigned from the University in Feb '07 because I was again a single mom and couldn't juggle the two full time jobs of working and being a mother. I know I made the right decision of staying home with my children. They bring absolute joy to me.

We are all doing very well and currently living in Lincoln, Nebraska still. I work out of my home and could live anywhere but I really love the midwest. That's strange coming from a Vegas girl and not even knowing there was such a place as the midwest when I was growing up.

I travel the nation all summer doing my own vb camps and also some for USA Volleyball. During the year I work for a recruiting company which I help get vb players information to college and I also distribute a functional beverage called MonaVie.

This is definitely longer than what I planned but it's what's been going on in my life. And as I mentioned, some of you I haven't seen for 15 years.

It is great reading about everyone and their wonderful families. Hopefully I will be able to make it! Thanks for the wonderful memories!!!

Charlene

les k. calles

Hello Everyone:
Not sure how this all works since I am the most technologically illiterate person on the planet but here goes. Wow, 15 years!!! For me that was 50 lbs. ago. I get to coach volleyball for a living here at Snow College. This is my 11th season. Don't play too much volleyball which is kind of discouraging. Seems like the only time I get above the net is when I am the R-1 officiating the men's game.
Remember Taj? Last month he turned 17 and he is a senior in high school. I have 2 sons and Keanu will be 3 on the 6th of october. My wife's name is Lisa and we have a home in Saratoga Springs, Utah. i have a place in ephriam that I crash at during the week so that the commuting does not kill me at the gas pump.
We are well. I hope to see all of you on saturday. Snow College has a game the same night as the BYU/UTAH game. Here''s wishing you all the best.....
Aloha,
les

Laura Miller Crofts

So, this is the story of my life......always playing catch up! Allen and I have been married for 6 years and have three rowdy boys Layton(4) , Casey(3), and Makray(1). We have lived in Logan for 4 years now and really love raising our kids here. I get to stay home with our boys who have totally drained me of any manners that I might have had to begin with. They are "all boy" in every sense of the word. It has been so fun to see pictures and hear how everyone is doing. Thanks to Steph, Carol, and anyone else who has helped put this together. You're the Best! Hey, another quote!

Accomplishing Something Great as a Team!! by Carol

I read a news article several years ago about Steve Young being inducted into the football Hall of Fame. He said something about his greatest moment in football that really stuck out to me. He said it was never the MVP awards, the passing titles, or any of the individual honors that came to him. His greatest moment, he said, was in the locker room after winning the Super Bowl. In his words, nothing compared with looking around the room at his teammates and knowing they had reached their goal and accomplished something great together.

I guess his thoughts stuck with me because I felt the same way once . It was in December 1993 after we decidely beat UCLA on their home court to advance to the Final Four. I will never forget the team celebration and moments in the locker room after that game! In my mind, that wonderful memory overshadows the disappointment of our loss at the Final Four.

Lori Mertes Albright

Hey everyone! It's so fun to see pics. of your families. We live in Valencia, CA (near magic mountain). Our kids are Cade (7), Brianne (5) and Coby (2). Casey works for Pfizer pharmaceuticals and I am at home with the kids. I still play volleyball and some tennis and started competing in track meets again! I'm so excited to see you all at the reunion.

The Wild Lewis'

Hello everyone!  It is great to hear from ya'll.  We just came back from a trip to Yellowstone.  We have 5 kids now and 2 on the way.  Crazy!  I'm not due until January.  We are living in Cedar Hills full time.  We love having fun with our kids and watching them grow up.  

The reunion is going to be so fun.  I hope everyone can come and those of you who can't, we will miss you.

Leslie Anderson Manwaring

Hi Everyone . . .

Scott and I live in Carlsbad, Ca with our three boys: Kyle (10) plays soccer, lacrosse and the piano, Tyler (8) enjoys karate, art, and the piano, Steven (4) wishes he was as old as his brothers.

We recently returned from a family vacation in Alaska. I have been teaching 5th grade full-time in Vista since leaving Utah 11 years ago. I love to be an influence in the lives of so many young children. I have decided to share a 3rd grade contract this year which will give me more time with my boys. Scott is the manager of design at Callaway Golf and will be Steven's soccer coach in the fall. We love Southern California, but wished we lived closer to friends and family.

This blog was a great idea...everyone looks great (or is it just our kids). Thank you Michelle, Carol, and Stephnie for taking time to organize the reunion. It is wonderful to be back in contact with the people who influenced me and were a part of my life in college. I hope to see and visit with many of you in October, so we can relive the memories.

Gale again...

I could only upload two pictures at a time.

More photos of 1993...

Ok girls, I could really get into this. I went through a box that had some old photos and found a few from the 1993 year. I had to include one at the end that was of me, Char, Mar and Michele when we were in club and about 15 years old. Anyway, this blog has made me reflect on the Final Four memory a bit more fondly than when I usually think of it. Mar and I can't start talking about it without getting upset to this day. So thanks again for remembering how much fun we had that year!

Shauna

Gale Oborn Johnson

15 years and I'm still mad we lost to Penn State! James and I live in Temecula, California. We have four girls. Elizabeth and Morgan are 7, Anna is 5 and Kate is 18 months. James works in commercial insurance and I stay home with the kids. My girls are into cheerleading and soccer. Hopefully soon they'll be playing golf, tennis and ofcourse, volleyball. I'm so grateful for the memories and look forward to the reunion.

Shauna Scott Rideout

Hi all,

It is so great to see everyone's posts! I'm still living in Las Vegas with my husband Micah and our three little kids who keep my running ragged, but who are a ton of fun - Cienna (10), Brock (7.5) and Dalton (3.5). I work from home working with people who want to invest in businesses/real estate projects and raise capital for private ventures. Working from home can be nice depending on the day and the mood of my three year old. I haven't touched a volleyball since I was pregnant with Brock (almost 8 years ago) thanks to limits on time, places to play and my shoulder that would be unusable for a week after playing. I decided it was probably better to be able to pick up my kid than play a few hours once a week. Now my bootie gets the workout(and not in a good way) - it helps me sit in my office chair, in the car driving the kids across town, in the chair at the soccer field and on the bleachers at baseball -- what would I do without it? Anyway, I made an attempt at putting this slideshow together with captions, but don't know how to slow it down, so you might have to pause now and then or click on the whole thing. Can't wait to see more from everyone else and hope to see many of you there at the reunion!!

Amma Lindqvist Brown

Oh boy, I guess I finally have to take the plunge to the world of blogging. As if blogging isn't hard enough I continue to remain linguistically challenged so please overlook my spell/grammar errors. This is a proof that I would truly do anything for my team....

I currently live in Highland, UT, married to a white James Brown who can't sing, and have three children of which two have pushed me into premature menopause at age 36. I continue to loose the hair I really never even had, and I am again, on Accutane (for acne). I work every now and then and the other day was questioned by a patient whether I am even old enough to carry a Physical Therapist license....I am sure this was due to my prepubescent looking breast buds and the teenage acne. So nothing new over here.

What have I been up to?...I LOVE cleaning Mac&Cheese off the carpet, and potty training has become my second favorite activity after taking sleeping pills. I have not touched a volleyball for about 6 yrs yet continue to have sport injuries. I am about to submit my BYU training room medical records for the Guinness World Record race. I play basketball with Carol, ride a road bike whenever I get a chance, and love to go to movies at 10 pm on serious loads of caffeine.

My children (MacKay 6, Emilia 3, and Miles 2 (yes, just under 11 mo apart)) don't speak much Finnish but they love to be NAKED. That definitely falls into the category of "cultural inheritance", wouldn't you all agree????

I am SO excited to see everyone. I am glad to go back and reminicence... the SFH really "used to be our playground". Steffe, Carol, and Maggie... thanks for going the extra mile to put this all together. But please, don't organize an alumni match; I have not been diligent with my shoulder rehab and, I would not look very good in the bun-shorts.

Can't wait to see you all!!!!!!

Amma

Marianne Clark Bonifazio

I can't believe 15 years have gone by. I am remarried almost 4 years to my great husband, Anthony. I have 2 stepchildren, Macey and Michael ,who I couldn't live without and I finally have 1 of my own, AJ, who is just 4 months. I still live in Las Vegas, and work as a financial manager from home which allows me a lot of flexibilty and free time, which I love. I will be coming to the reunion and am looking foward to seeing all those who will be there. This blog was a great idea. I've been totally out of touch, so it is nice to see everyone. Thanks.

This blogging thing is fun!

Heather Whittaker Barlow

(Wish I had a better family picture where Cameron doesn't look completely drugged. Oh well!)

Stephanie, thanks for creating this blog! I've thought about you as I've put together slideshow videos and I don't know how you did it when it was all VHS tapes. And 15 years later you're still working on projects for us. Thanks. :)

It's fun to see the gang, though as a little redshirt freshman, I almost don't consider myself as part of the "Final Four" group. (Remember me? The one who turned a simple drill into a 25-minute nightmare as I tried to read Char and get a "simple" three blocks? And if that doesn't clue you in, I was also one of the ones banished to "outer darkness" during the majority of the practice. :>)

Shane and I live in North Carolina. We have three kids, Tyler (7), Sydney (4), and Cameron (almost 2). I teach piano and do some graphic design work, but I'm mostly in the Mom business. I actually played volleyball last night—we have a group we sarcastically call the "Secret Combination Volleyball group" that meets once a month. It's "invite only" to keep the level where we want it to be, and so we have to be careful that word doesn't get out. :)

Wish I could come out to see a game, but it's a bit of a drive from out here. :) But if any of you care to check, our blog is eastcoastbarlows.blogspot.com.

Hope more of you post—it's fun to see where everyone is!

Virpi Ollila

Thanks for keeping me posted! I would love to see all of you guys, unfortunately bit too far for a single mum. Please tell everyone I do think of all of you every now and then and would love to see you again. Maybe some day.

I attached a picture from this summer of me and my two 'babies'. Both of whom also play volleyball and I coach the older one's team... :o)

Carol Schumann Rawson

Being a beginning blogger, I could not manage to get the pictures and the text together the first time. So here's some pictures to go with my earlier post.

Carol Schumann Rawson

Ray & I just celebrated our 16th anniversary. We have 5 kids -- 4 boys with 1 girl sandwiched in the middle. I coached club and high school volleyball for 10 years, but then switched over to volleyball officiating. It is a good way to stay involved with the sport and get out a bit, without the time involved in coaching. My main exercise program is chasing after my kids, but I do try to play basketball a couple of times a week. I keep busy with my church calling and volunteering in the PTA.