POTSDAM, N.Y. (10/21/2010)(readMedia)-- As the SUNY Potsdam volleyball team heads into its second-to-last weekend of regular season competition, players and coaches won't soon forget where it all started just over two months ago.

The Bears, who host this weekend's State University of New York Athletic Conference Pool Play event, began preseason training in Costa Rica on Aug. 4. It was the first international trip of any kind in the program's history.

Over the course of the weeklong volleyball tour, Potsdam matched up with a trio of internationally competitive teams, including the Costa Rican national team, which had just won the bronze medal at the Central American Games and qualified for the World Championships. Despite falling in all three matches, team members enjoyed competing and meeting young women from another country.

"The trip really helped us get back to the roots of the game … just playing the game because you love it, and sharing it with people half way across the world," sophomore Kayla Howard said. "They love the same sport we do and are just as passionate about it. I feel like that brought us a lot closer as a team and really made us want to improve and succeed in the future."

In addition to competitive volleyball, the Bears also experienced local culture, entertainment, attractions and outdoor activities, which included a zip-line tour of the rainforest and a tour of a volcano.

One event that left players and coaches touched with emotions of both amazement and sadness was a visit to a local orphanage. According to coach Steve Pike, anywhere from five to eight children surrounded each member of the travel party as soon as it arrived.

Junior Allison Metot (Bernhards Bay, N.Y.) and sophomores Jill Dye (Middletown, N.Y.) and Anne Fildes (Red Hook, N.Y.) each named the visit to the day care center as one of their favorite memories from the trip.

"One of my favorite memories was being at the orphanage and getting to play with the children," Metot said. "I loved that. I cried when we had to leave … it was very emotional."

Potsdam players and coaches were also overwhelmed with the overall support, kindness and generosity of the Costa Rican people. In weblogs and updates authored throughout the course of the trip, Pike and his players regularly noted how welcome they felt by not only organizers of the trip, but by the residents of the area unaffiliated with the tour.

"The reception we got not only from the children, but also from all the people in Costa Rica in general, was great," Dye said. "They were loving and nice, and everything was about us and what they could do for us. It was just a good experience to be getting with them, and to be giving back."

The team's short-term focus remains on this weekend's opener, which takes place Friday at Maxcy Hall at 3 p.m. against Oneonta. The Bears need at least two wins as well as other scenarios to play out to reach the SUNYAC Tournament, which takes place Nov. 4-6.

No matter what happens on Friday and Saturday, the Bears won't emerge from the 2010 season with just a win-loss record. They will take with them a more worldlyconsciousness and a greater awareness of people and their cultures in countries surrounding the United States.

"The trip showed me that it's not all about us," Fildes said. "There are other people in the world that are completely different from us. They have so much to share with us and so much to teach us."