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April 3, 2012

Glass wins Polish league; Next: Olympics

BY MIKE ECKERT meckert@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Alisha Glass is home.

After being overseas since November playing volleyball for Poland's Atom Trefl Sopot, Glass arrived home in Leland on Monday.

"I'm going straight to see all of my family as quick as possible," Glass said. "Thank goodness for technology so I can stay in touch, but it is tough. With the time change and just the playing in general, it's very difficult."

Glass comes home a champion, after leading her team to the title in Poland's Plus Liga with a 3-1 series victory over Bank BPS Muszynianka Fakro Muszyna.

"We weren't favored to win and nobody expected us to get as many games as we did," Glass said. "We made it interesting. There were some scary moments, but we found out we're a fighting team. When the game is on the line, we can be the ones to close it out. (Bank BPS) has a tradition of success and they were No. 1 in the league all year long. Every time we played them in the season, we lost 3-0 or 4-1. So I don't think people thought we had a chance. We were the underdogs, but it's almost like we prefer it that way."

Glass, the team's setter, said some tough matches earlier on helped in the long run.

"We were better mentally," Glass said. "We had been in some really tough matches previously to that and I think we had that knowledge of fighting through bad situations. I don't think they had ever had to battle through tough times."

In the clinching match last week, Glass set up the team to a .44 kill percentage and also scored three points.

After catching up with her family, Glass will soon be back on the road — although at least this time she'll stay in the country. Glass will soon head to California to begin training for what she hopes is a spot on the Olympic roster.

"Our coach has to give us a good heads-up so it's not days before, but there is no set date he has to tell us," Glass said of when she'll know if she makes the roster. "I'm hoping (to know) a month ahead of time."

Just the chance to compete for a roster spot isn't lost on Glass, a former All-American at Penn State.

"It's really, really cool," she said. "I'm really excited about it. These are the goals and dreams you have when you're younger. For me to be on my path to doing that is incredible."

As for her chances to make the squad heading to London in July — she's hopeful.

"I think you have to be optimistic and you have to be your No. 1 fan," Glass said. "You have to believe that you can do it and compete hard. Every day is a battle. Every practice, every interaction is going to be counted and judged. You just have to battle strong every day."

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