Meet the first-year Spartans!--Amanda Germer '15

Hello! My name is Amanda Germer (pictured middle with Destinee Henton '15 on the left and Sarah Milligan '12 on the right) and I am a first year Spartan! I am from Malvern, PA, which is right outside of Philadelphia! (Cheese-stakes YUM!) And my intended major is communication sciences!

The past month and a half here on campus has been absolutely amazing! New faces, community showers (still adjusting to those), and grueling, yet inspiring professors, but most exciting has been being welcomed into the Case women’s basketball family!

It's been a month and a half of waiting for the big day...the first practice! A new system to adapt to, new teammates to learn to play with, but most importantly a new opportunity to let yourself shine and begin this priceless journey that I am already beginning to experience as a student-athlete here at Case! It was like waiting for the first day of school all over again, but this time our parents won't be the ones putting us on the bus!

Instead we were thrown into the open arms of our fearless leader Coach Reimer, who inspired us through her intensity, passion, and love for the game. The first practices were filled with fundamentals, DEFENSE, and learning how to play basketball the Case way! Which means doing the little things, not cutting corners, supporting our teammates, and most importantly not forgetting to put all the balls in the ball cart!

These practices have been intense, focused, and demanding. But it has been nothing but rewarding and inspiring to know that I am now officially a part of something bigger than myself. As a member of this team we have all given up our free time, social lives, and a little bit of extra time in the library, but these all seem like small sacrifices when you know, “we’re all in it TOGETHER!”

The past three practices have made it evident that we are all here for the same common goals, and we each have an equal part in making these dreams our reality. It has only reassured me that Case is the only place for me. I cannot wait to see the places we will go as we continue to come together as a basketball program. I see great things in our future!

Meet the first-year Spartans!--Brooke Orcutt '15

Hey everyone! My name is Brooke Orcutt '15 (pictured on right with Berit Eppard '15, left) and I am from a small town in Colorado, so yes I am a Denver Bronco fan, more specifically a Tebow fan, and yes I do ski and snowboard. I am a freshman here at Case Western Reserve University, and let me just say that I LOVE IT!

To be completely honest I was scared out of my mind to go to school so far away from home, but I have found Case to be my second home. While it took some time to adjust to college life, I have finally gotten into a routine of things and feel like I know what I’m doing; I no longer get lost walking to class, forget to lock my door when I leave for the day, and am now completely confident in my ability to do my own laundry.

For me, the college selection process was not easy. I visited over ten college campuses, evaluated their academics, location, size, and basketball programs and when it came down to it, Case was by far the best choice for me. When I visited the campus it was snowy, overcast, and cold, actually cold is an understatement….it was freezing. However, the unfortunate weather wasn't even a factor after I met the basketball team. They were the nicest, most welcoming people I ever met. They made me feel so comfortable and assured me that I could handle Case. They answered all of my questions honestly-at least I hope- and from then on I could see myself being a student at this university.


I am extremely excited to see where the next four years will take me, and I am even more excited for October 15th to come (the date of our first official basketball practice). Case is one of the top ranked universities in the nation and I am lucky to be here; I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else! (Pictured left to right, Sarah Mayer '15, Brooke Orcutt '15, Erin Reynolds '15, Berit Eppard '15, Amanda Germer '15 and Rachel Beaty 15.)

Home Sweet Home --- Marissa Miles, Chelsea Lasky and Lauren Elkin

It’s hard to believe that these last 11 days are over already and that we are finally back on American soil. It feels like only yesterday that we were boarding the plane to Italy, with fat wallets and a ton of excitement.

Picking up where Chelsea and Erica (not really Erica, though) left off, we now bring you to the first day of our tournament, or as they called it “The Flanders Trophy.” We had three games to play Saturday, and for some reason it seemed to be a little more agonizing than the AAU tournaments that we could handle at the young and agile age of 16. The Case Spartans of “Cleverland” Ohio came ready to play and swept the day with three victories to bring us out of pool play to the championship bracket. Over the course of the day, we defeated teams from Canada, France, and Belgium.
Between games, we were lucky enough to avoid the carnival food which we had the previous night for dinner and enjoy a good between-game lunch consisting of 3 sandwiches: cheese, tuna, and turkey (just turkey) or as coach called them, “cramp sandwiches.” Thankfully, Julie Mooney was able to digest these… unlike her breakfast which she lost in the locker room toilet mid-way thru our first game. As a celebration of our solid start to the tournament, we enjoyed another great Italian meal (as if we hadn’t had enough in Italy - where’s the schnitzel!?) Our ride home would not be complete without the serenading voices and rockin’ dance moves that Yan and Marissa shared from the front seat of the bubble van—love at first sight <3

The next morning we arose ready for day two of the trophy… or tournament, or whatever they call it here. Our first game we faced another tough French team. Although it seemed like some of their players may have been older than our parents, these ladies were no joke. Unfortunately we fell short of a win, mainly because their game plan was not as transparent as the team from Spain, “Pick and Roll Madrid.” A few cramp sandwiches and waffles later, we hit the floor again to face the Canadians in the semifinal game. Four quarters later, we came out victorious and were ready to claim our third place trophy…but we played in the trophy, so maybe we won a tournament? Still not sure how that works.

After the awards were presented, we headed back to the hotel to shower up and catch the tram to dinner; Italian again—so much for becoming cultured.
Summary from dinner: Lauren learned to twirl her spaghetti without using her fingers as a utensil; Sarah joined the “clean-plate club” because “when I rolled it and it got so big on my fork, I felt like I had to put it in my mouth!”; water was still not free; and Mr. Peck tried to steal Yan from Marissa. As always, ice cream followed dinner – who said America had a problem with obesity?

Monday was our final day in Europe and became a celebration for our wins. We started with sleeping in until lunch and then hopped on the tram to spend the day in downtown Gent. There was much to see and many shops to prowl in for the team to spend our final Euros. Thankfully we weren’t stuck again searching the stores all day for a single pair of colored pants for Evy Iacono—worst experience ever! Lunch for us was, we’ll give you one guess…Italian. As the day winded down, we had a few more waffles and helpings of ice cream before heading to our farewell dinner at a waterfront restaurant overlooking the canal. After enjoying a few undercooked steaks, and the best tomato soup of our lives, we settled down at the water’s edge to spend our final hours bidding goodbye to Europe.

Looking back on our ten day tour of Europe, we made a lot of memories, experienced some awesome cities, and learned some valuable lessons that we will now share with you. Think of it as your virtual souvenir. :)

• Practice is much more enjoyable with a good view of the alps (note to self: sunscreen for Erin next time)
• We have a newfound appreciation for deodorant, washing machines, water fountains, ice, and toll-free restrooms.
• Don’t get confused if you hear our new nickname for Coach Halicki—sorry Coach, but “Donna Stinky” is just too catchy.
• Attention men of Case: If you are looking to pick up any member of our team this year, there are a few things you should know—we now have a thing for man-purses, capri pants and button down shirts that are two sizes too small.

Thank you to everyone who supported our trip in any way and for following us on our European adventure. You helped to give us an experience we will never forget.

Until next time,
Marissa, Lauren and Chelsea Lasky

Where Are We??? --- Chelsea Peck and Erica Iafelice

Ciao! Bonjour! Guttentaug?! Halo pronounced ALO!

After we discovered that we were not actually in Berlin, Brazil, or any other word beginning with B… it was time to leave! We loaded up our Fiat Minibubble vans (dirty laundry and all… including no air conditioning… you could only imagine) and began our three hour journey through the hills of wherever we were to Brussels. Let us take a minute to explain our journey aka perilous, dangerous, excursion like we've never experienced. First, Yams, whose glasses are as thick as Evy Iaccono’s hair after and before being brushed (which we discovered… actually never happens), literally ran into our other minibubble van driver Henrick. Henrick who uses GPS through his homeland (not reassuring) decided he needed to Reverse down a one way to park backwards and in turn ran over a stationary TALL … LARGE .. Easily spotted barrel. Luckily after sleeping with one eye open… (unlike Marrissa Miles… whose mouth was wide open), we arrived in Brussels.

After much deliberation, we finally found out that Brussels is actually in Belgium and that Belgium is not actually a city (Thank you Erin Hollinger). As many of you know (except us), Belgium is known for only two things in this world: Beer and Waffles (According to Sarah Miligan). Sarah gleefully (get it sarah?) sang us the Waffles girl Youtube video song… over and over and over… until she finally was able to sit down and enjoy a Belgian waffle. Our lunch consisted of: a Waffle with ice cream, with chocolate sauce, with strawberry sauce, and with whippit cream.
Lets just say, we rolled on out of that restaurant and waddled through the fabulous, gothic, city of Brussels.

“Hey Yams (minivan driver), how far are we from the hotel?”
“O it should only take us 45 minutes to get home… we will have plenty of time for dinner before your game!” Needless to say, the GPS had wrongly informed us of the ETA and one and a half hours later, we finally arrived with only an hour to spare before our big match (match is what they say here… Erica). Quite worried and starving, we decided that it was completely necessary to eat a little, quick, snack before the game (apparently waffles just don’t do it). In the famous words of Coach Reimer, “Hey guys, remember when we had Mcdonalds before our practice and Marissa threw up?... yes, well… this is worse than that!” Before we knew it, Yams and Hendrick were serving us fried tacos and Belgian fries. As we force fed ourselves the unique flavoring of euro tacos… Erica serenaded us to the tune of Grease. It follows as: “Grease is the word, it’s the food, that we’re eating.” After consuming the most heavily frowned upon pre-game meal, we arrived at this, odd looking, gothic, building surrounded by large walls and barb wire. Yes, our game was played in the local jail gymnasium. Hilarious. During this match, we discovered that Lauren Elkin, is once again our MVP and Emily Mueller has more moves than when Chelsea Peck was trying to speak to Italian men. (this actually didn’t happen… they tried to speak to me). To put the cherry on top of this amazing day, we ate Chinese food but not just any ordinary Chinese food… “Americanized” Chinese food at 11:00 PM for our post game meal. We need a diet.

Day 2:

We woke up this morning with severe abdominal muscle pains from what seems to have been caused by over eating. However, that did not put a damper on our indulgence of salami sandwiches (plural) with eggs and espresso. We loaded the minibuses and headed to Brugge. Once arriving in Brugge, we took a boat with friendly Asians (we felt right at home CWRU) and viewed the lovely, gothic, architecture dating back to when Erica believes to be the 1600’s. (we have no idea).

We were set free to explore the city so we decided (Erica and Chelsea) that we would take a bike ride through the glamorous, and over crowded streets of Brugge. This was no ordinary bike ride. Erica would only agree to rent a bike if it was TANDEM. Let me say that we have NEVER driven a tandem bicycle ever yet alone in an overpopulated, dangerous, cars zooming, area. When we first boarded this oversized bike, Erica could not get her handles straight and we immediately almost rode straight into a on coming traffic… for which a Police officer pulled us over and said, “Seriously? You girls should walk… seriously!” (Erica claims that it was the road… “which it was”). Therefore, we seriously walked our bike to a non crowded alleyway to practice… pretty much all day. We decided that we were lucky to escape the treacherous streets of Brugge… (however we may have been the ones to make it so dangerous).

We had a little down time after the city so we took a much needed nap. Erica woke up delusional and confused as to where we were… (but I don’t think she knew in the first place). (She doesn’t know that I am writing this). However, back to the day, we left for the opening ceremony where we were in for the biggest surprise of our lives. We are going to summarize in simple terms: Carnival food stations, ½ hour Glow stick dance show, and scantily clad Brazilian flamingo dancers? Hilarious. Pictures to come including one titled “Danna does Brazilian robot.” (Picture and/or videos are worth 1000 words).

So far, this experience has been out of control. We can’t wait for the next couple of days and to share our stories with you all once we return.

I apologize for this being so long, (ERICAAAA!!!! Yelled at me (Chelsea))) but it was sooooo worth it!

Ciao, Au’revoir, bye, finitto (erica’s version of Italian).

Ciao, Ciao, Ciao --- Erin Hollinger and Kathryn Huber

On Tuesday morning, after departing from our humble abode in Como, we had the pleasure of a three hour bus ride to the splendid floating city of legend, a.k.a Venice. Upon our arrival, we were once again awoken to Flavio’s melodious signature greeting “Wakey wakey geerls! Sleeping beauties! And Brave knight!” (Brave knight referring to Julie Mooney’s father). We then made the trek across the lagoon by way of yacht (and by yacht we mean: boat). Stepping off the “yacht” we were greeted by picaresque Venetian houses, mansions and cathedrals with whitewashed walls, marble columns and orange tile roofs…and a multitude of noisy, dirty, smelly tourists. Once again, we were treated to another delectable authentic Italian lunch, followed by our first experience of getting lost in the winding maze of Venice. No worries, we found our way back just in time for a two hour walking tour of the streets and canals of the city, which actually became a history lesson instead. On this tour, we were educated on everything from the façade of St. Mark’s Duomo (Cathedral), to the construction of the gondolas, and finally to the “peegeon sheet” of the city’s public drinking supply.

After that, we were then turned loose upon the city to get lost to an even greater extent than before, where we could deplete the remainder of our Euros. With tired feet and a heavy heart, we returned not so empty handed to our “yacht” with souvenirs ranging from stockpiles of Venetian glass jewelry (the entire Mooney family and Chelsea Lasky) to enormously oversized sunglasses (Emily Mueller) and fabulous semi-authentic Prada handbags (Sarah Milligan). With such goods in hand, we then made our way to the illustrious and extremely unfamiliar Holiday Inn where we served a dinner of pork parmesan, an endless supply of ham pasta and French fries.

Entirely too early the next morning, we were bussed over to the Venetian airport to say our final farewells to Flavio and his brightly colored and super tight pants. By some miracle, Erica Iafelice’s bag was able to pass the weight limit and make it onto our plane (by the way, the miracle was Kathryn Huber). This plane was no ordinary plane, however, it was a plane of tiny yellow and blue plastic seats supplemented with a one of a kind in-plane outlet mall selling everything from Hello Kitty perfume to men’s tailored business suits. This plane also contained specific instructions to remove all our high heels and dentures in the case of an emergency (keep in mind that we are college basketball players and of course make use of both in our everyday lives).


Even though no one actually knew were we were going (Chelsea Peck and Erica Iafelice definitely didn’t even know which country we were in), we made it to Belgium safely and rendezvoused with our new tour guides Yon and Hendrich. They then took us by Fiat minivan on a three hour trip through the winding hills to our homey hotel in Saarbroken. Here we were treated to our first German meal consisting of delicious schnitzel. Following this meal, we headed off to play a semi-friendly game against a semi-German team. Even if it wasn’t the prettiest of matches, Lauren Elkin proved to be the team’s MVP and Erin Hollinger became the team’s first player to foul out, only to make a huge comeback by returning to play the entire second half with six fouls.


All in all, even though in these countries lavatory breaks come with a monetary fee, and gas stations come with their very own Pizza Huts (with slogan reading “Done the American Way”), we have found Italy, Germany, and Brussels (and whatever other country Erica and Chelsea think they are in) to be beautiful, friendly and very good at basketball.

Signing off,

Two very well gelato fed, ankle swollen, and recently smashed by huge German/American/14-year old ballers:

Erin Hollinger and Kathryn Huber

Marble Churches and George Clooney--by Evy Iacono & Julie Mooney

Day Two-

After a good nights rest we were ready for our first full day in Italy. We woke up and had our first Italian breakfast consisting of fresh breads, meats and cheeses, croissants, and the team favorite, cappuccinos. After breakfast, we got on the bus en route to Milan, the fashion capital of the world. Needless to say, we were all extremely excited. Once arriving in Milan, we met up with our tour guide, Alessandro. She gave us a tour of "The Last Supper", the famous painting by Leonardo di Vinici. It is in a special room that helps to preserve the masterpiece.

After seeing the Last Supper, we went to the castle, which was gigantic and extremely beautiful. Alessandro filled us in on much of the history of Milan as we walked around the castle, the famous Scala Opera House, and the Galleria. The Galleria was amazing, with ornate glass ceilings, and shopping that none of us could come close to affording. In the center of the Galleria was a superstitious bull painted on the floor that you could spin around on in order to receive good luck, and become reenergized. Once we became reenergized, we walked to the Duomo, the largest marble structure in the world, and the fourth largest gothic building. We then had free time to walk around the city and go shopping, but because it was a holiday most of the shops were closed. This was probably a good thing or else we would have ended up very broke. After our time in Milan we returned to the bus to head back to Como for practice. We were all exhausted and passed out on the ride home, waking up every once in awhile to the obnoxious singing of Flavio.

Because we were all reenergized from spinning on the bull, we had a productive practice, but this time indoors. After practice, we all cleaned up for our second dinner in Como which consisted of the best lasagna we had ever had. After dinner we had the rest of the night to explore the city of Como and eat as much gelato as possible.

Day Three-

After another fabulous Italian breakfast with multiple cappuccinos, we were ready to board the boat to travel to Belaggio. The whole team sat on the open deck to get a prime view of the picturesque scenery. We were surrounded by the foothills of the alps with villages scattered on the hillside. As we went along on our two hour ride, Flavio pointed out George Clooney’s villas while we took A LOT of pictures. When we got there we shopped, had lunch, and explored the city of Belaggio. The city was quaint and on a huge hill, with narrow streets on a steep incline. After a full day of shopping and eating, we returned to Como to go home and get changed for practice. We had our third and final practice to get ready for our first game, which we’re excited for, but not quite sure what to expect.

After practice we had a delicious dinner and a free night to relax in the city. We are headed to Venice tomorrow to experience the most romantic city in the world!

We Made It!!! --- Emily Mueller and Sarah Milligan

After several neckpillows, two airplane meals, and 8 hours of watching Julie Mooney contort her body in every possible position to get comfortable, we arrived in Milan at 7:30 am. We were completely exhausted, but started to get excited when we met our tour guide, Flavio (aka Flava Flave!). We loaded all the luggage onto our Mercedes Benz tour bus where Sergio (the Lion of Como) took us to our hotel in the heart of Como. On the way, we asked important questions like, "Are there squirrels in Italy?" ~ Erin Hollinger.

We dropped off our luggage at Hotel Plinius and set off on a tour of Como. The views were amazing, from the Alps in the background to the architecture in the streets. Flavio directed us through the town to the Saturday Flea Market. We were left on our own to shop and Lauren Elkin taught us all how to barter. All that shopping made us hungry, so we stopped by an outdoor cafe where we ate the greatest sandwich we've ever had. The fresh mozzarella and the tasty cappuccinos definitely helped us re-energize for more shopping.

Jet lag started taking its toll right around the time we were leaving for practice, so to wake us all up we practiced outside on a turf basketball court with the Alps in view (a very European way to start our basketball "training sessions"). After practice, we came back to the hotel, got dressed and went to dinner. We were served pasta, veal, and coffee ice cream. It was fantastico!! Despite having had dessert at the restaurant, we stopped for some gelato (our second time that day). We walked around Como for a little while longer before we returned to our hotel and slept like we've never slept before. So far, our trip to Italy has been great!

The Spartans Make Me Smile--Coach Jennifer Reimer

The Spartans are amazing! Anytime someone asks me about our basketball team at Case, that's what I tell them. The women on our team are first and foremost great people; they are caring, hard-working, bright, self-motivated young women. They are the greatest!

So you can only imagine how thrilled I was to see all of our hard work recognized. Our team GPA of 3.609 earned us the #1 ranking in all of Division III on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Academic Honor Roll. This group of biology, chemistry, engineering, nursing, computer science, accounting, management and world literature majors knocked it out of the park!!! (And if you are one of our alumnae reading this, you're the greatest, too and you really understand classes here are no joke!!! :) Not only did our team GPA rank as the best in all of NCAA Division III, but we finished #6 in all the divisions combined.

And it doesn't stop there!!! 6 of our players received All-Academic Recognition from the UAA this season. Erin Hollinger was named to the Capital One Academic All-America team and was a finalist for the prestigious Jostens' Award.

BUT WAIT! It just keeps coming!!! These Spartans are taking summer classes and working hard in the gym this summer while also working at places like The Cincinnati Zoo, Swaglok, Consol Energy, 84 Lumber and Nordstrom!


And let's not forget...we're pretty good when we take the court. Our 13-12 record (7-7 in the UAAa 4th-place finish in the league) was the best conference finish for a Case women's basketball team since 2002. Whoo hoo!!!

The blog title says it all...each and every day, the Spartans make me smile. The women who are part, have been part, and will be part of our Case women's basketball program are special. We'll continue to work hard, continue to support one another, and continue to raise the bar higher. Think beyond the possible...GO SPARTANS!

P.S. Stay tuned to our facebook page and this blog page August 12-23. The team will be traveling and playing in Italy and Belgium. We'll be sure to update you on all of our adventures!

Spartan Buddies! by Chelsea Lasky

This year, the Spartans began a new program to get in touch with Case Women’s Basketball alumae for networking and friendship purposes—if not just to share in the perils of running 5 suicides in a row because no one opened their mouth to call out a switch.

In August, we anxiously awaited the email from coach announcing our Spartan Buddy matches so we could introduce ourselves and get the alums reconnected to the program. Some players were matched with recent grads like Ashleigh Tondo, Anna Taylor and Mary Herendeen, while others received matches who matriculated before Coach Reimer’s time at Case.

I got my Spartan Buddy’s name, Tracy Roessner (pictured in purple with members of the women's basketball team above,) I sent an email and immediately got a response from a more-than-enthusiastic Tracy. Very quickly we formed a friendship which shares a love for basketball and a present/past not only as a student at Case, but an assistant coach here as well (for those of you who didn’t already know, I am student coaching this year).

Tracy lives in Chicago, so we shoot each other emails every so often; me to update Tracy on the season and see if anything is new with her, and her to give encouragement and just to talk about anything and everything.

One exciting thing about this whole match-up was getting to meet Tracy for the first time when we traveled to Chicago for conference play a couple weeks ago. We knew well in advance the date of the game, and we were both looking forward to meeting one another. In an email reminder of the date, Tracy responded, “I have been looking forward to it all month!” After the game, I got the chance to meet my Spartan Buddy and we talked through most of the guys’ game which followed.

I learned so much about what Case was like a few years ago, and I shared so much about how Case has changed and how we do things these days. Tracy and I do not share a major—she graduated with a social sciences degree and I am on track in the engineering school—but that didn’t stop us from talking about so much.

The Spartan Buddy program may just be in its inaugural year, but it is doing great things for past and present players at Case. Tracy shares the same love I have for the Case Basketball program and she hopes to see us succeed more and more each and every year. I think it’s safe to say the whole team, as well as Tracy, hope to repeat her senior year appearance in the NCAA Tournament back in 2002.