March 2, 2004

Pepperdine basketball players will take Waves fans behind the scenes as the orange and blue of Malibu plays its 2003-04 women's basketball schedule. We've also added a link so you can submit your own questions for players to respond in their next entry. Being a collegiate basketball player creates an interesting journal, but being a collegiate basketball player at perhaps the most beautiful school in the country that is flocked with celebrities is a whole other story. Enjoy...

Mar. 2, 2004

Alison Klingel
Freshman, Guard
Diary Entry No. 13

Hello everyone! Wow, what an incredible journey it has been thus far. For those of you who don't know me yet, I am the team's newest addition. Slightly into the season, I walked onto the team and haven't looked back. This is my first year playing basketball, although it is my second year at Pepperdine. I thought school was difficult last year, without basketball...little did I know! I had NO idea how challenging it was going to be, juggling school, basketball, and life in general, but for all its difficulties, I wouldn't have it any other way.

When I first joined the team, I was nervous about a million different things: was I going to like it, how would the girls react, would the coaches like me? With all these things running through my mind, everyone stepped in to make this one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. The girls are absolutely amazing; I had no idea I would meet people who would become some of my best friends. The coaching staff is awesome, and really helped me get adjusted, and was patient with me as I became acclimated to the life of a D-1 student athlete.

I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, for being a D-1 athlete is very demanding physically, mentally, and emotionally. Take this past week, for example. Losing to LMU, and as a result, losing the regular season conference championship could have taken a toll on the team. Spirits were definitely a little low, to say the least, but the great thing about being part of a team, especially this team, is that everyone lifts each other up. Starting Monday, we were back and preparing for our next game. No one was going to give up; in fact, everyone was ready to work even harder, and everyone encouraged each other. The beginning of the week was difficult, for we were facing many illnesses, myself included. But we continued to prepare to face St. Mary's.

As the game approached, I think everyone was a little nervous, though no one would admit it. Since it was such a close game in our first match-up, we knew the competition was going to be tough. In addition, three of our starters had been ill, two of who hadn't practiced all week due to their illness. To everyone's credit, we came out strong, and thanks to Nicole Funn's shot near the buzzer, we came up with another victory. I think at that point we realized our strength. Even with illnesses and coming off a tough loss, we proved we were capable of sticking together and showing people once again that we weren't going to give up. This was only emphasized by our landslide victory against USF.

This weekend was a great one for us in that we continued to overcome obstacles and do what was necessary to win. It was great to celebrate two wins, but with the WCC tournament coming up, and no school to stress over, all our attention and energy is now focused on winning the tournament. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that at the end of this week, we will once again be the WCC conference champions.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me! Make sure to follow us this weekend!

Alison Klingel