Nov. 13, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

The Cleveland State women's basketball team will open the 2008-09 season on Friday, Nov. 14, when the Vikings play at 17th-ranked Arizona State in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.

The team and travel party headed out of Cleveland this morning on a 9:00 a.m. flight to Phoenix, but it wasn't without some headahces, especially for Director of Basketball Operations Liberty delRosario!!

The morning started out innocently enough as everybody made it to the bus and had their baggage. Everyone on the team also had shoes, jerseys, shorts and looked great in their new travel sweats.

The bus shoved off from the Wolstein Center about 7:05 a.m. However, things were about to take a turn for the worst.

Upon arriving at the airport, our travel party of 22 got in line to get our boarding passes. This is where the fun really began as eight members of the travel party did not have tickets to board the plane. To make matters worse, that group included head coach Kate Peterson Abiad, assistant coach Shawn Hood, senior Natalie Miller, sophomore Justine Hayes and CSU's five starters ... senior Dominique Butler and juniors Kailey Klein, Angel Roque, Jessica Roque and Stephaine Crosley.

After about 20 nervous minutes wondering what was going to happen, those eight finally got their tickets and off to the gate we went. By the time everyone had gotten through security it was about 8:35 a.m. and the plane was already boarding so nobody had a chance to get a bite to eat.

The flight was about four hours long and save for a few bumps during the middle of the flight, it was not to bad. A majority of our travel party was seated close to each other which was nice.

The descent into Phoenix was a site to see!! You could see the mountains in the background and we flew right over downtown Phoenix. After we gathered our bags, we found our bus and went off for lunch at Chili's.

Oh yeah, and for everyone reading this back in Cleveland, it is a brisk 82 degrees here in Tempe!! I wish I could have brought my golf clubs to get a quick round or five of golf in!!

Following lunch, we got back on the bus and headed over to our hotel and upon arriving, freshman Kaila Montogmery was greeted with a pleasant surprise as her mom and dad made the trip from Ontario, Canada to surprise their daughter.

I think Kaila was shocked because as we pulled up to the hotel, she said, "That guy looks like my dad," before she realized it was indeed her dad and mom!! A nice surprise for Kaila. Angel and Jessica Roque's parents are also making the trip from Mississauga, Ontario. I heard they arrived earlier today and were making a stop to see the Grand Canyon.

Well, that's about all I have for now. I am going to get a little bit of work done and maybe catch a quick nap before heading off to practice at 6:00 p.m. It should be a busy weekend here in Tempe as it is ASU's homecoming weekend.

Following our game tomorrow, the Sun Devils men's team will host Mississippi Valley State and ASU will also host a football game on Saturday afternoon.

Check back for more updates on our trip throughout the weekend ...