Sophomore setter Mary Murphy and her family have made the long trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to cheer on her older sister Kelly as she competes at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Team USA. Murphy is sending photos and blog posts to WMUBroncos.com to share fans.
 
Puerto Rico Game Day: Hello all the way from Rio! Today was a very eventful day filled with travel, volleyball, and very much confusion. After a three-hour plane ride from Chicago to Huston, we met up with a couple more families of Team USA members. After a very long 10-hour flight to Rio, that seemed like an eternity, we finally stepped foot on Olympian Soil and met our driver who took us straight to the cruise ship we would be staying on.
 
After many hours of confusion there, it was finally time for some volleyball. We arrived at the gym early enough to catch the end of Brazil's first match, Team USA's biggest rival here. With a packed gym, Brazil took an easy victory over Cameroon. Finally, at 5:45p.m., USA took the court and I saw my sister sporting the red, white, and blue for the first time in person. Never would I ever have thought that my own sister would be a starter on the US Olympic team, but hey, if you work hard enough anything is possible. Their first match was against Puerto Rico who they beat easily in three sets. The second set was a little shaky, but the US came out victorious. Kelly notched 12 points in the match which was a team high.
 
After the match, we met up with our driver once again, and headed back to the ship to finally relax after a very long day. After stuffing our faces at one of the restaurants, we toured the ship a little bit, caught the firework show, and watched some swimming events before heading off to bed. We're all in need of a good night's sleep if we're trying to go for the gold here in Rio.
 
Off Days: Off days were pretty boring around the ship. we pretty much spent our time in the weight room or laying by the pool. Later on in the day, we went to the P&G House, which is a house specifically for all the athletes' families to go to. P&G House has free food, drinks, and chances to win free tickets! I got lucky and won tickets to go see swimming events on the 9th! There is also a CoverGirl Salon that had manicures along with makeovers and a hairstyling station. For the men they had the Gillete Man Cave that had a ping pong table, which is where my dad and I spent most of our time.
 
Netherlands Game Day: Today was a very busy day! At noon we were invited to the welcome party at the USA House. The USA House is a hotel dedicated to Team USA and every athlete is welcome at any time. They are given four passes for their families to enjoy as well. Families and athletes can enjoy free food, drinks, and the Team USA store, which features all of the official Team USA gear. After spending a few hours there it was time to go watch some USA volleyball. Today they played the Netherlands, who were very underrated. Pushing USA to five sets, they definitely gave us a run for our money. After a
well-fought for victory we headed over to Kelly's hotel to eat and visit with here before heading back to the cruise ship to relax and end the night.