After the loss against HPK, as a team we were determined to strike back with a win. How possible was it to accomplish this against a team at the 3rd spot on the totem pole in this league? Seemed a bit of an impossible feat for the team at the bottom of the rankings, some people would think. We were under our own pressure to win, even though people said the match didn't mean anything, that it wouldn't move us up or down in the rankings, blah blah blah. But wouldn't it be nice to win on Finish National television to a team that was supposed to kill us? Hell yeah it would. Well, thats exactly what we did! We played Orpo on national TV and beat them in 4 sets. This team is stacked with tall players, aggressive middles, a consistent setter and a pretty damn good libero. The odds were definitely not in our favor. People who bet against us losing, well, to bad for you! We all played consistent, shutting down the outsides, serving tough, hitting smart and most of all, we were passing. Personally, I wouldn't say it was my greatest match but it was a good one. I wasn't positive 20 points or anything but I contributed to the win with other areas of my game not just through attacking. Overall, I felt proud of my team. So what if it didn't matter who won or lost, it mattered to us and everyone who watched saw that we beat them, thats enough for me. A win is a win, no need for an explanation and I like that...a lot, who wouldn't? The one teammate who was killing it that night was Lauren Bledsoe. I believe 98 percent of the sets she received she put down...and hard. She was awarded best player on our team that match and I think she deserved it.
The last league match was two days later against Eura, the 4th place team in the league. Well, needless to say some of our heads were still in the clouds and just down right exhausted (including me) and we bombed the first 2 sets. We went into the locker room for the 15 minute break between the 2nd and 3rd sets for a chat. Our coach was pissed as were the rest of us. How could this be happening after such a great win? We needed to get our collective heads out of our asses and play. Which is what we ended up doing in the 3rd and 4th set, but unfortunately it was to late and we lost 27-25 in the 4th set. That, was a slap in the face. Our passing wasn't very good, some of us couldn't put the ball away, the referees were bothersome and our team confidence was a bit low. The fight was gone in a few teammates which hurt us. It was a hard loss but at the same time the momentum we gained at the end of the match will help us later when we play to stay in this league. I refuse to let this team drop down to division 1, it won't happen.
That night after the match we went to the ABC rest stop for some food and a little ice cream. The ABC menu is pretty good considering its a "rest stop" but rest stops here are not even slightly the same as ones in America, they are clean, safe, and the food is so much better then what you would find at an AMPM or 7/11. So I decided to go the "healthy" route and order salmon with shrimp and potato. I didn't realize that was going to be the worst decision EVER! A couple hours later, a cider and half a beer deep at home, I was full and feeling super tired. I went to bed only to wake up an hour later with a stomach ache and vomit sweats. Yep, you guessed it, I got food poisoning. I thought for a second that it was the alcohol I drank but I hadn't drank nearly enough to be sick, trust me. Then it flashed in my head the fish and shrimp I had eaten at the ABC and thats when I knew I had made a big mistake. Well needless to say I got to see it again that night...so fun. The following day I spent my day off going from the bathroom to the couch every hour. I couldn't eat very much for two days except over cooked rice, Ritz crackers (best decision ever), and chicken broth. Note to self: order pizza like a normal person from ABC next time. Now, I am happy to report that my stomach is back to normal and I am eating normal foods again :)
Tomorrow morning we are going to check out what brunch is like to the Fin's at a well known restaurant with some of the girls. I can only hope that it is very very good since I am coming off a bland food diet. Monday its back to work and I am very thankful, this time off has been long and with out working out (for obvious reasons). I am excited to get these 3 weeks off underway and to work hard through them all finishing this season with a bang and hopefully another job :)
No comments:
Post a Comment