By Benjamin Siepak
After returning from a team trip to Brazil, Nandyala Gama and Breann Robinson only had a few days rest before hopping on another international flight to play volleyball.
Gama and Robinson will compete with the Mountain West Conference All-Stars in the championship game of the 13th annual 2017 European Global Challenge later today.
The international volleyball tournament brings in teams from all around the globe including Italy, Slovenia, Israel and Czech Republic. But aside from providing a competitive volleyball platform, Global Challenge aims to encourage cultural exchange. Each team stays at the same beachfront hotel along the Adriatic Sea in Pula, Croatia, walking distance to the competition arena.
For the 12-player MWC All-Stars, they had an impressive start to the tournament as they beat Falconara 3-0 (18-25, 19-25, 15-25), a team from Italy. They followed that game with wins over Slovenian team Nova KBM Branik 2-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-20) and American team BIP South East 2-1 (25-18, 25-16, 21-25).
With a 3-0 record after pool play, the MWC All-Star team earned a bid to compete in the championship game today against USA College National Team at 7 p.m.
This game won’t be a breeze as USA CNT has players from some of the top programs around the nation including Auburn, Michigan, Kansas and Washington.
Regardless, look for Gama, Robinson and the MWC team to compete hard in hopes of winning the ‘ship.