The pressure had been building and then finally it was upon us - the start of the 2007 season. All off-season we had thought often about our last tournament from 2006. What did we do right, what did we do wrong, what areas do we need to improve, what can we accomplish during the 6 months off which can help us be better for next season?

We had a decent finish in our last event of 2006 - a 9th, which was an improvement from some other mediocre results we had endured leading up to that. The 9th place result was highlighted with a thrilling three-set victory over the top American team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser. When you beat one of the best teams in the world, it was natural to feel optimistic about what lay ahead, and therefore we had set higher expectations leading into the new season. But with higher expectations, not to mention the countless hours invested into our many training sessions, the pressure mounted. And then it came...crunch time... the first tournament had arrived.

We travelled from our training camp in L.A. all the way to Shanghai, China, for the first event of the 2007 FIVB World Tour, hoping to claim at least another top ten result. However, we fell short of our goals and finished with a disappointing 17th place. We began with a straight sets loss to Austrians Clemens Doppler and Peter Gartmayer in the first round of play. And although in our next match we won 2-0 against a qualifying Norwegian team, Vegard Hoidalen and Kjell Goranson (who are much better than their rank would indicate), it wasn't enough to build our confidence enough to take down the newly formed Russian team of Dmitri Barsouk and Igor Kolodinsky (eventual 4th place finishers), who beat us handily 2-0.

The disappointment unfortunately carried through to the next event, in Manama, Bahrain, the second Asian event of the 2007 FIVB World Tour. Hoping to rebound from a poor showing in China, we were unfortunately blindsighted (so to speak), as I came down with a serious eye infection, and needed emergency medical assistance the day before the event. Not willing to let it distract us from our goals, we decided to make light of it, and play anyway. Although we battled well against Russia in our first round match (losing 2-1), we lost our second match to a decent Dutch team, Emiel Boersma and Bram Ronnes, eliminating us on the first day and leaving us with an unfortunate 25th place finish. Needless to say this was not helping us in our quest for top ten results and a spot in the Beijing Olympics next year.

So our first road trip to the first two Olympic qualifying events seemed like a waste in terms of results, and the disappointment really set in during the 16-hour journey home. What next for Cadieux-Heese? How will we respond to the letdown of only winning one of our first five matches of the season? Can we overcome a distrastrous start to the season? Check our latest blog updates to find out!