Wittenberg Volleyball Head Coach Paco Labrador

Wittenberg University's volleyball team has dominated the North Coast Athletic Conference and most of the teams in the Great Lakes Region of NCAA Division III for years, so it's only natural that the Tigers and Head Coach Paco Labrador would seek out new competition. What better way to do that than to travel to Spain for an educational/athletic experience of a lifetime.

Eight current Tiger players, five alumni and Labrador will fly to Barcelona on May 24. They will play two matches against provincial club teams during their four days in Barcelona before flying to Madrid and using the Spanish capital as a home base until June 4. While there, Wittenberg's volleyball team will play two matches and provincial club teams, and will take a variety of educational field trips.

"It's good for this campus to see that the volleyball team isn't just about playing games," said Labrador, who led the Tigers to a 28-7 overall record while winning the NCAC regular season and tournament championships in 2003. "This is all about having an enriching educational experience on and off the court."

Among many trip highlights is an overnight stay in Cifuentes, Labrador's ancestral home. His relatives will host the team overnight, a luncheon will be served at City Hall and an exhibition match will be played later that day.

Bring It Promotions, a European-based company, helped coordinate the trip. Not coincidentally, the company also places American players with European semi-pro teams, something that may be attractive to members of a program that has produced nine All-Americans since 1996. Four of them, two-time first-team All-America honoree Sarah Yuskewich, third-team All-American Kristin Fox, honorable mention All-American Emilie Schmid and 2002 second-team All-American Monica McDonald, will be on the trip.

The team has hosted junior Olympic tournaments and clinics to raise money for the trip in the last few months. The focus of the trip is to build team unity, gain valuable playing experience against top-level competition and to experience a different culture.

Labrador said he plans to make summer trips abroad a "tradition" for his program. "I plan to make it a regular practice that anyone who plays four years in our program gets the opportunity to go overseas to experience another culture and play competitively," he said.