23.9 (20.9)

So we did pretty damn well in the tournament on Thursday! Won two games out of three - losing to ISKL's varsity and winning against KLASS and ISKL!

Team: Fiona, Gown, Sofea, Danielle, Natasha, Olivia, Ashleigh, Lauren, Wakako and I. (Lauren and Ashleigh left after the first game to attend the Maroon 5 concert)

First game - We went against the hardest team to beat first - ISKL's varsity. We were down by at least half a dozen points in the first set and by at least 3 or 4 in the second set. They beat us in two sets and that really brought the whole team's spirit down. Our serve receives weren't the best and there were errors made here and there. Quite a bit of the points that we got were given to us by service errors or spiking errors. On a positive note, we didn't let one ball drop in front of us for the most part. Only once or twice. We scrambled for every ball. Regardless, they still beat us. However, we managed to regroup and gained our confidence back after the game ended.

Second game - ISKL's junior varsity. We had two and a half hours to regain our confidence and set ourselves straight in terms of confidence and team spirit. We began coming together after each point we earned or lost. This really brought each other's spirits up and it led us to victory in THREE sets. ISKL JV won the first set by about three or four points and we came back with a vengeance with a point difference of at least 4. Then came the nerve-wracking third set which only went up to 15. We were down by about half a dozen points and our hope slowly faded away but our confidence was still there. We had faith in each other. We constantly cheered each other on, had our game on and called for every ball that came our way. We managed to catch up. We switched sides with 8-5 or 8-4 on the scoreboard and we HAD to catch up. We did. We were tied at 14-14 when ISKL made an error and we had an advantage of 14-15. Since we had to win by two points, I had to go on for service. It was either I get an ace or ISKL makes an error or we gain our winning point by spiking or putting the ball into an empty spot. Either way, it was a team effort. I was tense on the inside knowing that there was tons of pressure on me. I make a service error, the JV team gets a point and we're tied again at 15-15 or I make the serve and hope for the best. I tried to calm myself down when I saw that my shoelace was untied and I asked the ref if I could tie it. Thankfully, he allowed me to and I used the time to calm myself down. Moments after tying my shoelace, I tossed the ball into the air and hit it with confidence and the appropriate amount of strength. An ISKL player dove for the ball but to her dismay it hit the  net and nobody could save it. I GOT AN ACE, IT WAS THE WINNING ACE. Oh, I was so happy. Everyone on the team started whooping with joy. We won our first game. And it was extra special because when the ISKL JV team came over to our school for a friendly, we lost to them in two straight sets. We got them back!

Third game - Our third and final game was against KLASS and it was immediately after our game against the ISKL JV so we BARELY had time to refill our water bottles and chill out. But this all didn't matter because we won against them in two straight sets! Each set by at least four points! Ahh, this was the best game. I managed to volley the ball into the 'perfect spot', which was in the middle of all the players' positions. It resulted in nobody going for the ball out of confusion on who was going to go for the ball. Proudest moment yet. Olivia did exceedingly well with her serves with at least three aces! Gown's serves, Fiona's serves, Sofea's serves, Natasha's serves ahh they were all SO good. Each one of them earned at least one ace and I was so happy. We expected KLASS to be a tough team to beat because their game against ISKL Varsity was tight! But we beat them in two straight sets and that made me SO happy.

I'm so happy to be a part of this team, let alone being on the starting six and having coach call me a versatile played. This team drives me to push myself to work harder and improve faster. Our determination is off the charts and matchless. I cannot wait for us to improve further. I'm so, so proud of everybody. It seems like during the tourney, we improved in just a matter of hours but it all boiled down to team spirit and our support for each other.

Fiona's face when her spikes worked, Gown's face when her serves were powerful and in, Danielle's face when one of her tips worked, Sofea's face when she attacked effectively and smartly, Olivia's face when she aced a serve, Ashleigh's face when she successfully blocked a spike, Natasha's face when she had three of her serves unreturned in a row, Wakako's face when she had a good serve, Lauren's face when one of her bumps was perfectly targeted. We all had a moment of success and this makes me sooo happy that we got at least one thing good out of the entire tournament. Train harder, play smarter and we'll be even better! Looking forward to the rest of the season!!!!

YAY!