The winter kills

Picking herself off the gym floor made for a dizzied, head-pounding ascent. And with that, game four of the semis against Vanajan began precariously for Allie Griffin. After a few minutes and a couple of uncharacteristic errors, she was exhausted out there, fighting off the fever and flu that had crippled each member of team Orpo one-by-one for seven months before finally zapping her in the season’s vital homestretch. With her sore-throated voice downshifting from an encouraging yell to barely a whisper, the 6-foot, 25-year-old could hardly stand. The only thing she could do was give it all she had left. She just wasn’t sure how much that was.

“Guys,” she told her teammates. “Unless it’s the most amazing kill I’ve seen in my life, I’m with you, but I’m not going to be screaming.”

But scream she did two hours later when her teammates shed their typical, reserved Finnishness and piled together as their sponsors cried on the sidelines and the Orpo faithful spilled onto the volleyball court in exultation. Griffin had fought through a cold sweat to play one of her greatest matches of the season as Orpo notched a clutch, series-capper to secure second place for the year.

Orpo competes in the Finnish Champions League as the home team for Orivesi, a small town of 9,000 known more for its art school than professional volleyball, or any sport really. The Baton Rouge native and All-American University of Colorado alumna returned home in May after spending nine months with Orpo giving indoor volleyball one more shot after two successful seasons on the AVP beach circuit in Los Angeles.

Griffin had been considering a move to Europe for a while and last summer floated the idea to her agent. Two weeks later she was standing in the dim, overcast streets of Orivesi. “The city lights and street lights would come on at 2:30 p.m.,” Griffin says. “We had August with no snow, then it started from there.”

The two-week tryouts went well. She hadn’t been on a court in three years, but Griffin impressed her coaches. If you ask her, it was the instant connection with her new teammates that made the difference. “They were happy with my skill level, but if it hadn’t been for my connection to the team, they would have been like ‘Eh, we don’t know.’”

After signing her eight-month contract, the team-building exercises came fast. Orpo traveled north, stayed in remote cabins and completed ropes courses and a snowmobile ride. Griffin became fast friends with Merja Korhonen, an outside hitter who lived close by in Orivesi. On her first night out with Korhonen, someone pulled out an acoustic guitar, and Griffin ended up singing along to Oasis’ plaintive hit “Wonderwall.” Korhonen recorded the impromptu performance with her camera and would regularly play it to reminisce—or cry—over their first days as lifelong friends.

Ironically, playing professional volleyball in Finland was more intense emotionally for Griffin than the ESPN2-ready pro beach tour she was accustomed to. One of just two Americans on the team, she and Stella Odion, a graduate of Baylor, also were the only two true professional players. Their teammates were all Finland natives who received a small stipend but arrived at practice every evening fresh from their day jobs or their children. “It was a lot of pressure,” Griffin says. “They had all these other things going on, and here we come in making a salary. But they were all so welcoming.”

Still, the first month was rough. Jolted by the lack of sunshine and bored during the day, Griffin struggled with her new team-provided meals, a cream sauce and mashed potato-heavy cuisine radically different from the organic, pescetarian diet she developed in L.A.?“I don’t think I would have eaten that in a million years if I was in L.A. trying to get into my swimsuit for beach,” Griffin says. “But it was all fresh from the local farms.”

Days were lonely in her quaint studio apartment in the heart of tiny Orivesi. Throughout Finland’s brutal winter, Griffin called her parents and sisters often, but the eight-hour time difference made connecting difficult. On the court, Griffin struggled to find her place as a natural captain for a team that already had one. “In America, if you’re not yelling for your set you’re not going to get it,” Griffin says. “In Finland they play absolutely silent.”

Finally she’d had enough of trying to fit in with this mellow style and decided to play her game the way she plays it best: vocal, aggressive and all out. Her coaches loved it. “I felt free,” she says. “I realized that’s what they were looking for.”

Orpo climbed in the rankings and Griffin’s point totals zoomed to neck-and-neck for best in the league. Every Wednesday night Griffin, Odion and Korhonen would drive to Tampere for movie nights. One free weekend they seized the moment and went to Dublin, where Griffin sang “Amazing Grace” in front of a pub full of Irish. “Everyone joined in,” Odion says. “It was surreal.”

With the team on a roll, Griffin befriended one of Orpo’s sponsors, a local folk musician and one of Finland’s premier mandolin players. What began with afternoons running through traditional hymns ended in Griffin releasing a folk version of “Silent Night.” Finnish radio picked up on the single, and swift sales made it a huge fund-raiser for the team.

Then came Griffin’s incredible semi-finals turnaround.

“When Allie walked into practice with her voice hoarse and her warm-up jacket on, I thought of contingency plans,” Odion says. “Holy wow, my mind was racing. I knew that she was hurting, but thank God she pulled through!”

Orpo held a silver medal party three days before Griffin was to fly home to Baton Rouge. The coaches put on a skit, and the players danced for hours. Griffin sang the Irish ballad “This Love Will Carry,” and with her first night out in Orivesi in mind, “Wonderwall.” “It was specifically for Merja [Korhonen],” Griffin says. “I don’t think anyone else understood the words or knew who it was. It was the last time I would see many of the girls, and it was a really hard goodbye for me.”

Growing so close to her Finnish teammates made the first few weeks back in Baton Rouge difficult. Now, though, she knows she wants to play at least one more season in Europe. Switzerland is at the top of her list, then maybe Austria. Griffin skipped the AVP beach tour this summer to coach local volleyball camps and spend time with her family; a real off-season.

“I do feel a little bit like the world is moving on and I keep secluding myself,” Griffin says. “Continuing to play volleyball kind of moves against the reality of getting a job, getting married, things like that. I’d love to have a family. There’s just so much to see and do out there, and I feel so blessed to have seen it, and want to go back.”