TURN OVER A A Touch Of Maccabi for Tall JILLIAN GOLD ADRIENNE ZUCKERMAN Special to the Jewish News I magine this: You are crammed in a tunnel with at least 600 other kids. Out of nowhere, a group of kids begins chanting, bringing together a delegation in spirit and love. The spirit shown here sets the tone for the week. This experience sparks something that is going to forever burn in one's heart. To some people, the games are just competition; to most, however, it's more. From the time you board your bus or plane, to the time you shed your final tears and give your final hugs, as if to close the door that will be reopened the following year, you create memories and friendships that mean the world. Entering the games in 1996, we didn't know what to expect. Being the younger members of the team, we were intimidated by the light of Maccabi, but the seed of love for the games had been planted. In 1997, it would grow, in 1998 it would flower, and in 1999, it gave off seeds of its own, to be planted in others' hearts. This year will be our final year, and by the looks of it, may be the best one yet — although each year is so different, it makes comparison very difficult. We had finally approached the orientation to Maccabi. Then came the waiting. We passed the time by bonding with our delegation in the gym, and playing the "I hope it's not them" game when the host families began to arrive. The crowd diminished and our excitement grew, and then Marty Gold (girls softball coach), calls out, "Jill and Adrienne, your families have can- celled." Not funny! No more than five minutes later, we heard, "Jill and Adrienne, it's for real." Upon meeting our hosts, we fell in love with them, the spirit, the city and the games. This is when we knew our lives would be changed again. This is Maccabi forever. Welcome to Houston! Jillian Gold and Adrienne Zuckerman, part of the Detroit Maccabi delega- tion, are competing in Houston as 17-year-old veteran Maccabi athletes. Detroit's more experienced volley- ball team was up in Columbus, Ohio, where it won the first two matches of the tournament, 15-8 and 15-4, over the hosts from Columbus. In the afternoon, it routed St. Louis, 15-1, in the first game and held off a charge from its opponents when Julie Hack served out the last three points to end the St. Louis comeback. On Tuesday, Detroit volleyballers won a dramatic, decisive third game from Cleveland, 20-18, after splitting the first two sets, 4-15 and 15-6. Detroit's 15- and 16-year-old boys basketball team rolled to two easy vic- tories: Youngstown, 89-55, and Indianapolis, 85-40. Detroit showed its depth in the wins, as all 10 players scored in both games. On Tuesday, the cagers scraped by Greater Washington, 69-64, rolling to a 3-0 record. Daniel Wohl, just off his gold medal-winning performance for Team USA in the Pan American Maccabi Games in Mexico last month, averaged a team-high 18 points per game, with Richie Wallace and Brent Jaffe averaging 13 each. The soccer teams didn't fare as well in Columbus on . Monday, but its for- tunes reversed on Tuesday. The boys team, made up of teens from Detroit and Pittsburgh, fell 3-1 to Chicago and 6-3 to a combined team representing St. Louis, Ann Arbor and Flint. On Tuesday, the boys rebounded with a 3-1 win over a Richmond and Indianapolis team. The girls team, comprised of Detroit, Pittsburgh and Richmond teens, lost 6-0 to a team from St. Louis and St. Paul, and defeated a team from Columbus, Milwaukee and Dayton, 1-0. They then fell 11-0 to Greater Washington. In Columbus, meanwhile, where York, Penn., is fielding a team for the first time ever, the delegation was thrilled when two of its swimmers medaled. 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