Cydney Bowman (Lake Mary, Fla.), a sophomore member of the Stony Brook University volleyball team will represent the United States of America over the next few weeks in Croatia for the 2015 European Global Challenge.

Seawolves' head coach Coley Pawlikowski and associate head coach Dan Pawlikowski will coach the BIP/USA Development Team with Vogel and fellow senior Stephanie McFadden (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) on the roster, while sophomores Cydney Bowman (Lake Mary, Fla.) and Courtney Scanlan (Salamanca, N.Y.) will play for Team BIP (Bring it Promotions, LLC).

During their journey, each student-athlete will be blogging about their experiences.

Hello viewers, I've been in Maribor, Slovenia, for a few days now, and I am absolutely loving it here! However, things are of course a bit different than how we live in the United States. When we first arrived we were able to quickly connect with our team and coaches in the Venice airport, but then had a pretty toasty four hour ride to Slovenia where we are currently staying, practicing, and exploring. The hotel is very modern and nice, only downfall is no air conditioning, so it gets very steamy at times. the food isn't bad, the first night here we were served fried chicken which caught me very off guard, but I'm not complaining because it thoroughly satisfied me. As far as volleyball goes, we have had two practices and a scrimmage against the Junior Italian National Team while getting better and better at playing as a team each time we step on the court. At first the balls we were given we a lot different than what Americans are used too, they float more and are way lighter in the air. All of our serves were soaring out of bounds and our setters were casual shooting balls pass the outside hitters because it was interesting trying to get used to how it moves. My coaches are pretty cool, the head coach is from Bowling Green State University and my assistants are from the club Premier Volleyball, they are fun, encouraging, and super competitive. I feel they want us to win but also come away with a great experience and learn something. I'm excited to get into actual tournament play next week. When it comes to exploring and acting extremely touristy, I noticed that no matter where we go, people stare and when they see others stare, they stare even harder, it's almost like they can tell we are Americans or as if we are another creature. So far we have taken a chair lift to the top of a local mountain and had lunch over looking the breathtaking view. Plot twist is that we didn't come down any average way, we took an Alpine Slide down the mountain. It was awesome! It was basically a bumper car on a roller coaster that you had total control over. As it was scary at the time, it was a thrilling experience. Tomorrow we are heading to the city Bled, Slovenia for more cite seeing and experiences that I cannot wait to document.

-Cydney