Aug. 19, 2004

Yanchulova and her sister Lina, both currently residents of San Diego, are representing Bulgaria in the sport of beach volleyball. Petia and Lina's Home Page 8/19/2004 -- (Addressed to Jen Petrie, USD head volleyball coach )... Yesterday we won our last pool match against China and we are continuing on in the Round of 16. We are happy of course, and our parents are just going to burst with pride, but I know we can go farther than that. People in Bulgaria are excited and cheering us on - we're a small country so people know about these small things. :) There will be a draw late tonight to determine who will play whom and when, so if you want to find out about our games you can probably do that at the FIVB website (www.fivb.org) or at the Olympics website (www.athens2004.com). I just looked at Ali Cox and her teammates on the Olympics website... do you guys know that they bettered the world's best time here in Athens!!! That's awesome. That was my dad's discipline for 15 years - the eight boat. Those girls will probably win the final, ha. Thanks for your support, Jen. You guys are great! It is nice to know there are people on the other side of the world thinking of us and wishing us well. Say hello to Brent, Tammy, the trainers and everyone else in the Athletic dept. And say hi to your volleyball girls from me and tell them I know they'll be awesome this year! I'll come and see you guys play when I get back. And kick those old alumni booties, alright! :) Have a fun season. Also greetings to Mark and little baby Jane. 8/17/2004 -- (Addressed to Brian Fogarty, USD's Associate Athletic Director for Athletic Development)... Things here are exciting, yes. We are very happy to be representing Bulgaria in the Olympics again, and it is awesome to be a part of the Bulgarian delegation of athletes. I am also happy to be representing USD here... actually (this is no joke, and I did not do it on purpose) right now I am wearing my USD Volleyball t-shirt from about 5 years ago, and when people see it I tell them all about it. :) The whole atmosphere of the Olympics is awesome because athletes from all over the world are here, and we are all walking side by side, it's an amazing feeling. And then the competitions are fun too. We lost our first pool match, but yesterday we won our second match against the Germans and it was exciting. Tomorrow we play China and we have to win in order to qualify for the Round of 16. So keep your fingers crossed for us. I heard that the ex-USD rower, Ali Cox, is here too... I will make a point of meeting her when I can, it'd be nice to see each other here. This is all for now. Say hello to everyone at USD, I am thinking of all of you here and I wish you guys a successful start of the fall semester and season.