European tour: Kansas State volleyball team enjoys sports, leisure on summer trip

In May, the volleyball team went international with a nine-day tour of international matches and sightseeing in Europe.

First on the itinerary was a four-day stop in Hungary, where K-State took on the Hungarian National Team in a four-game match. The Wildcats got to see a familiar face on the other side of the net in Rita Lilliom, former outside hitter for K-State from 2004 to 2008, playing one of her first games for the national team against her alma mater. Another former Wildcat, Vall Hejjas, was in the stands watching due to a recent knee surgery.

Sophomore middle blocker Alex Muff said this match was one of the hardest of the trip, which ultimately proved useful for building up the young team.

"We played the Hungarian women's national team, which was great competition for us, and so it was good," she said. "It was great competition out there."

However, the trip was not all work. After the match, the two teams shared a meal together, and the Wildcats saw some of the sights in Budapest and Kecskemét, including a Hungarian horse show.

From there, the team headed west for a two-day stay in Slovenia, which many players said was their favorite part of the trip.

"I really liked Slovenia," said sophomore opposite hitter Kathleen Ludwig. "We kind of underestimated it — none of us really knew much about it — and it was honestly one of the most beautiful places we've seen, and everyone was great. It was neat. It was a place I definitely want to return to and visit again."

The Wildcats joined OK Vital on both days for a couple of matches and spent the rest of their time touring Ljublana, the capital and largest city. While the team was walking around, a stranger noticed the team's purple gear and introduced himself as a K-State alumnus.

"Slovenia is a beautiful place with gorgeous landscape and friendly people," head coach Suzie Fritz said in her online letter. "It is certainly someplace that a lot of people in our group want to visit again."

For the last leg of the trip, the team went to Venice, Italy, for a quick day and a half in the Floating City, which included a friendly match and spaghetti feed hosted by the Italian team.

After the trip, Muff said she would definitely remember the time spent on another continent.

"I just think that it was a great experience for all of us," she said. "We got to go somewhere where hardly any of us have ever been before, and it was kind of an eye-opener for a lot of us to see how other people live."

Fritz and sophomore setter Caitlyn Donahue summed up the essence of the multinational tour. The coach's favorite part of the trip was the interaction between herself and her team.

"[It] was just being able to kind of hang out with my team for nine days," Fritz said. "For me, it wasn't about what I was seeing; it was more just about seeing it with my team."

In Donahue's online travel blog, she said she enjoyed discovering the difference in cultures but sameness in people.

"It was so neat to talk to the girls and compare the differences between our cultures and volleyball," she said. "But all in all they were just the same as us. Although they lived almost 24 hours away, they shared the same passion for the sport of volleyball, and we were able to connect with them as if they were our own teammates."