One player talks in her sleep, another is known for her pregame meal concoctions. A third can't seem to lie still at night.

Such is the way of life on the road as part of Southern Illinois University's softball team.

"I like rooming with Alicia (Garza); she makes me laugh," SIU senior Lauren Haas. "We roomed together in Hawaii, so when the time difference had our body clocks off and we couldn't sleep, we would just lay there and laugh together."

During weekend series, the upperclassmen will get beds to themselves. If there are two upperclassmen and an underclassman in the room, the upperclassmen get the beds while the underclassman has a different sleeping arrangement.

"They like the freshman to sleep on the floor," Haas said.

"(Chelsea) Petty used to bring an air bed," said Becky Wegmann, another senior.

Freshmen pitchers Nikki Waters and Danielle Glosson room together on campus, while Cristina Trapani commutes from nearby Herrin and Chelsea Held has a non-teammate roommate at SIU. On the road, assistant coach Christy Connoyer rotates their sleeping arrangements with the rest of the team.

Connoyer also has a chart of who has roomed with whom.

"I make sure all the freshmen room with somebody different," Connoyer said. "I never room the freshmen together because I want them to get to know the rest of the team."

As seniors, Haas, Wegmann and Krystal Stein have seen their share of road trips. While the hotels and scenery may change, sleeping habits do not.

"I roomed with (Katie Wilson) one time, and I woke up in the middle of the night and she was murmuring 'Allie, Allie, Allie,'" Stein said. "I was like, 'What?'"

Sophomore Allie Hanson is also known for talking in her sleep, even complete sentences. The Marion graduate tends to toss and turn during the night as well.

"Allie's a maniac who can't lie still," Haas said.

Haas has her own story from a road trip to Wichita State.

"I'm one to talk, because Tiffanie (Dismore) told me that when we were in Wichita, I sat up in the middle of the night and said 'Ribbit' like a frog and laid back down," Haas said.

Petty's meals consist of something that involves "ranch dressing, mayonnaise and strawberry jelly," according to the seniors. Petty is also a big Coke drinker, a tendency she shares with SIU coach Kerri Blaylock.

"Not diet - it's gotta be the real thing," Blaylock said. "She will bring me a Coke before every game. I was really mad at Frito-Lay because they did away with pepper jack Doritos, which was my pregame chip.

"Now I have Jalapeno cheddar potato chips and Arnold's Market sandwiches."

From her playing days at Evansville, Blaylock remembered Staci Hatz and Michelle Casella as two of her favorite teammates to room with.

"I was like the kid from Southern Illinois that didn't know any better," said Blaylock, who pitched for Herrin High School before departing for Evansville. "Two city kids, one from Chicago and one from Sacramento, had to show me the ropes."

Blaylock also suffered through the low-budget, van transportation days of mid-1980s small-school athletics. A tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., was one of her favorite road trips.

"Our big day was at the beach; we didn't get to go to Hawaii like these guys," Blaylock said. "Back then, I ate potato chips and Coke. We got a per diem of $12 a day and it was just a different time.

"I'm glad these guys have it better because that's the way it should be."

pete.spitler@thesouthern.com / 351-5073