The schedule that came out at the start of the season says the Eau Claire volleyball team was booked to play in at a tournament in Clairemont, Calif. this weekend.

But there was a slight change of plans, as the terrorist activity in New York and Washington caused the team to cancel its trip to California.

Head coach Lisa Herb decided it would be too difficult to travel to California this weekend. The team will instead travel to Bloomington, Ill. to play in the tournament being hosted by Illinois Wesleyen University.

Herb said the team discussed the decision of whether they should fly or not, but the decision was ultimately up to her.

“We just looked at the situation and decided not to go out there,” Herb said. “We felt that the chances of getting out there on time weren’t very good.”

Herb also added that there was no reason to be in the air if they didn’t have to be.

“We felt that people that didn’t have to fly shouldn’t be in the air,” she said.

Senior Rachel Gullerud said the team agreed with the coach’s decision not to fly.

“The decision was up to everyone, but it was kind of the coach’s call,” she said. “We all would have liked to go to California, but it was probably best that we didn’t go.”

So instead of playing in California, the Blugolds will play in Illinois. The tournament expanded its field from nine to 12 teams to accommodate several regional teams that were scheduled to fly elsewhere.

“I was looking around, and there were a number of teams in the Midwest that needed tournaments to play in,” Herb said. “We were scrambling.”

Another team that was looking for a tournament to play in was North Central College of Naperville, Ill.

“North Central told us about the tournament at Wesleyan,” Herb said. “Fortunately we were able to get in.”

Joining Eau Claire and North Central in Bloomington will be Culver-Stockton College from Canton, Mo. The three new teams will make up the fourth pool in the tournament.

One of the reasons that Eau Claire was looking forward to going to California was that they would be playing teams that they don’t normally play during the season, but this tournament will also provide them with that opportunity.

“We’ll be seeing teams that we don’t normally see during the season, so that’ll be nice,” Herb said. “Unfortunately, it means that we don’t know what to expect from them.”

The two-day tournament will feature two rounds of pool play. Eau Claire will play North Central and Culver-Stockton on Friday. Each of those teams will then be placed in a second-round pool, based on their record in the first round.

The second round takes place on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.