It seems the theme this season is lossing matches and players...It sucks for us but through it all I am proud to say we have kept our heads up and our faces smiling. If you haven't read about our team yet, we have lost every match we have played thus far and to add we have also lost two of our starters, Kiah Fiers. A very talented setter and an awesome roommate to me and Nikki Bishop an Aussie outside hitter who has mad respect for the game and is also one of the more funnier Aussies I have met in my life. Can you say we have had bad luck so far? Yeah of course, but you could also say that this is a test for us. A challenge that our team can rise above and conquer in the end. I don't think I have to "admit" that winning is the best feeling, a safe feeling for everyone included. When you win, you don't have to explain how you did it, what happened, etc. You can just say "we won" end of story. With losing you need to explain every detail of the loss, not only because people ask but because you want to explain the faults that were had in the game. To go over some of the points in the match that if only you had a time machine you could go back and do something different.
I know that our team is going to win eventually. The teams that are winning a lot right now and are on the top may not realize that anything is possible in this league. Or they know because they have played it a million times, either way this league can flip around. Of course those top teams will continue to be top teams but maybe they won't win the championship. Its happened before, I have experienced it for myself. I believe we can win with the team we have right now at this very moment. In the second set of the RIG match we beat them 25-13....25-13! We took control of the match and never looked back. So it is possible. The fact that we are lacking players is a burden...yes, but once that is fixed or even before that, we are a team that people should be afraid of. Who would have thought that our Libero could be an affective outside hitter? Or that our second Libero had inner power to be a digging and passing machine and had more confidence then anyone of us could see? I saw it in practice and was so excited about the possibilities. Yes, we need a setter, a spiker and a middle to make ends meet but on Wednesday night we took advantage of the other teams weaknesses and went for it. We just couldn't finish again. Our energy on court (including my own in the last couple points, due to an on coming migrane from hell. However I really tried to push it away and continue although I was half blind in my right eye, I wanted to keep playing there is no question there) was lacking. We had them, we were so close.
Lately its been that way as well. We are so close and we can taste the victory but once we realize it might not happen the fighting begins to fade. A fighting spirit is something to be valued, never giving up is the key. Our team will never give up I assure you. Right now we are having a tough time but its what happens in the end that really matters and I have a feeling we will make things happen. No I believe we will make things happen. Its not a choice with us its a commitment to ourselves and to one another to make this team a powerful force in this league again. Bring back what was once a team that took Championships. Its time to get back on track, work harder then ever and to stay focused on the ultimate objective, winning matches! Not necessarily winning the Championship but winning matches. One game, one set, one point, one ball at a time we will end up successful. Its only a matter of time girls before we get ours :)
Positive thinking and hard work will get us there. Welcome to your committed relationship to the game enjoy it :)
Friday, November 18, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Free Weekend Leads to Unfortunate Loss
Hey all! After the 3 losses in a row, the team had a free weekend to shake off the disappointment and have a little fun. Kiah (American setter and roommate) and I went to Vingaker (town Jake lives and plays in) to socialize with people other then our team, not that we don't like our team, its just a natural thing to want to do for everyone.
After the weekend it was back to work, we had an important game coming up against a top team in the league. We studied their tactics and our coach told us their 2 main middles would not be there for this game but that didn't matter, their outside and opposite were getting most of the sets anyway. There was so much desire in us to win and to get back what we had lost so many times before, however our team has been in a slow downward spiral this past week. Our outside hitter Nikki has been told by the team Physical Therapist that she has one ligament in her ankle left which is why she has been having so much pain in her ankle. Unfortunately the injury has led to the end of this season. It is frustrating to know that there is nothing any one of us can do to get her back to playing (unless one of us can perform orthopedic surgery for free...anyone? anyone?), however what we have succeeded in is comforting her by giving her chocolate and lots of hugs. We love her and want her to know that just because she can't play does NOT mean she is not part of this team anymore. She will always be an Orebro volley player no matter what.
To add to the heartache of losing a fallen teammate, one of the middle/outside fell during a blocking/hitting drill and fractured her toe. GREAT! Thankfully she will be back in about 3 to 4 weeks but she could not play this past wednesday. So our line-up was as follows: myself and one of the liberos as outsides (plus Anna subbing in occasionally who is getting better and stronger every day after being sick for about a month), our coach and Kiah as opposites/setters, our second libero as libero and in the middle was the same as previous matches. We went into the match knowing we may not win but we were going to give them a fight, which we most certainly did for two of the three sets. The first set was so much fun! We could tell the other team was struggling and were surprised at how well we could play with what we had. The energy on the court was some of the best energy I have felt on this team. We played with confidence and picked up where we were lacking on the court. Everyone helped and everyone was putting it all out there. Our second libero was all over the court, picking things up and digging like a mad woman.
With the good comes the bad unfortunately. When we hit the 20 point mark, it was difficult for us to finish the set. Our service was weak and only a few people could put any pressure on the other side. The middles were having trouble keeping up with the quick sets going pin to pin, something they have voiced to the team and the coach to practice this week, I agree. Our attack was also weak, we needed more hitters to share the load.
Overall a loss is a loss and it sucks! However, I hope we can take this match, learn from it and move on. The next time we meet this team and all the others we have played already, we will be stronger, healthier and will be ready to show them that they won because we had a lack of players not because they thought they were better then us. Our next opponent is the volleyball high school RIG. They have two good hitters on their team this year so if we shut one or both of them down we can shut their team down and get ourselves a win! Remember its not how you start that counts, its how you finish and we aren't finished yet. Practice hard this week and keep going, never give up.
After the weekend it was back to work, we had an important game coming up against a top team in the league. We studied their tactics and our coach told us their 2 main middles would not be there for this game but that didn't matter, their outside and opposite were getting most of the sets anyway. There was so much desire in us to win and to get back what we had lost so many times before, however our team has been in a slow downward spiral this past week. Our outside hitter Nikki has been told by the team Physical Therapist that she has one ligament in her ankle left which is why she has been having so much pain in her ankle. Unfortunately the injury has led to the end of this season. It is frustrating to know that there is nothing any one of us can do to get her back to playing (unless one of us can perform orthopedic surgery for free...anyone? anyone?), however what we have succeeded in is comforting her by giving her chocolate and lots of hugs. We love her and want her to know that just because she can't play does NOT mean she is not part of this team anymore. She will always be an Orebro volley player no matter what.
To add to the heartache of losing a fallen teammate, one of the middle/outside fell during a blocking/hitting drill and fractured her toe. GREAT! Thankfully she will be back in about 3 to 4 weeks but she could not play this past wednesday. So our line-up was as follows: myself and one of the liberos as outsides (plus Anna subbing in occasionally who is getting better and stronger every day after being sick for about a month), our coach and Kiah as opposites/setters, our second libero as libero and in the middle was the same as previous matches. We went into the match knowing we may not win but we were going to give them a fight, which we most certainly did for two of the three sets. The first set was so much fun! We could tell the other team was struggling and were surprised at how well we could play with what we had. The energy on the court was some of the best energy I have felt on this team. We played with confidence and picked up where we were lacking on the court. Everyone helped and everyone was putting it all out there. Our second libero was all over the court, picking things up and digging like a mad woman.
With the good comes the bad unfortunately. When we hit the 20 point mark, it was difficult for us to finish the set. Our service was weak and only a few people could put any pressure on the other side. The middles were having trouble keeping up with the quick sets going pin to pin, something they have voiced to the team and the coach to practice this week, I agree. Our attack was also weak, we needed more hitters to share the load.
Overall a loss is a loss and it sucks! However, I hope we can take this match, learn from it and move on. The next time we meet this team and all the others we have played already, we will be stronger, healthier and will be ready to show them that they won because we had a lack of players not because they thought they were better then us. Our next opponent is the volleyball high school RIG. They have two good hitters on their team this year so if we shut one or both of them down we can shut their team down and get ourselves a win! Remember its not how you start that counts, its how you finish and we aren't finished yet. Practice hard this week and keep going, never give up.
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