Hylte, Angelholm and a Holiday ahead

I felt very good about playing against Hylte. I thought we had a very good chance to beat them. We had a great warm up and were ready to go in the first set. Our team got to 6 points first and eventually 25 to finish off the first set with a win! The second set was a disappointment and we lost pretty badly. The next 2 were close with a win and a loss. So, we were at last in a 5th set with a team we could seriously beat. However, with our team being inconsistent in our play and the outsides (myself included) not scoring enough it was difficult to finish victorious. We ended the match with a loss, 8-15 in the last set. The up side, we got a point for taking it to 5 sets! I was awarded player of the match for my team however I didn't feel I deserved it. My attacking was not as it should be. Being consistent is the main thing that I personally need to work on, its important to the outcome of the match and my own game.

On a side note, Miss Sweden was there handing out the player of the match prizes. Apparently she is from Hylte and had just come back from competing in Miss World, taking 8th place in over 100 contestants. Anyway, she was wearing an eye catching gold sparkly dress that went to the floor in length. If you know me you know that I can be easily distracted, especially with shiny dresses. Well, her dress caught my eye a few times during the match but I tried to stay as focused as I could. After the match, I had to tell her that her dress was gorgeous. We then proceded to take a few pictures which I was not expecting and a little embarrassed about since I was still red faced from the match and sweating! It was like I was standing next to a barbie doll, she was tiny. The manager from the Hylte club sent the pictures to me and so I chose the one that was not so close up and you can also see the dress she is wearing, enjoy:

The last match we played before the holiday was non other then Angelholm, my old team. The trip down went fast since I had been sleeping most of the time. It felt almost surreal to play them. I didn't really know what to expect. When I walked into their new gym, things seemed slightly foreign to me. The people I saw and remembered were cordial and welcomed me back "home" with open arms. It was nice to see all my old teammates and coach as well.

 They are a strong team, on top of the league as always. Us being inconsistent in passing was a real problem this match. There was no way we could get ourselves out of a hole if things went awry. We started out great in the first set but the glory did not last long. We got to 6 points before they did but things went downhill after about point 8. They put a little more pressure on the serve and that was it for us. Our nerves got the best of us. We ended up lossing in 3 sets. It went by so fast for me, felt like it didn't even happen really. To beat them we would have had to play our top match. Unfortunately we were not on our game. Our blocking was weak making our defense even weaker by not being able to pick up hard hits. Our passing was inconsistent making our attack struggle as well. And our serving was not tough enough. We were all trying hard, I don't deny that, it just wasn't enough to win us the match or even a set. What we need is more confidence in ourselves to go out there and get the job done. 

After the match I talked to a lot of the girls from A-holm and the coach Tina. It was really nice to catch up a little. I just hope next time we meet them, we will be able to give them a lot more of a challenge. As a team we have a lot to work on but mainly its what is going on in our heads (nervousness and so on) that needs to be figured out. We have the skills to pass perfectly and make the ball better, its the nerves that blind us when it comes down to it. Practice makes perfect, lets hope that after the holiday break everyone will be ready to give it their best and to make the second half of the season better then the first. Making moves starts now! 

For Christmas I will be reunited with my parents in Stockholm. This will be the first time I spend Christmas with them in 2 years. I am super excited and very happy to have them here. Jake will be coming as well which will be even better. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Take care! 

Win!

FINALLY! We won tonight and what a great win it was. The match began with a first point win taking it to a 6 point lead. Our goal was to get to 6 points before the other team did in every set of every match. That goal was achieved indefinitely. The team we played was not a very strong team which is why our coach put emphasis on what we do on our side of the court making all the difference in the match. It always makes us or breaks us in every match but this time we really had to make things happen and fast to win the match. This was the only match where we would be given time to get our team out of a hole we put ourselves in. I knew we were going to win and so did everyone else. It was a great feeling after the match to finally have a win under our belt. The girls were excited and over joyed. Now its time for more wins!

A Change is Going to Come.

We met up with one of the top teams, Katrineholm, this past weekend. Going in to the match I knew we were going to have a rough time trying to beat them. They had the height, the speed and the ball control needed to win matches. Which they have been successfully doing from the start. I had imagined us playing well and taking them to 5 sets at least. However, my thoughts did not materialize as I had planned them. We played inconsistent, again. There were some very good things and some very bad things through out the entire match. However, our spirits stayed high, we never let our heads hang or show that we were super down on ourselves through our facial expressions. We carried on like we were winning. The will to win was there, we did our homework and studied the other team, we understood and accepted their strengths and weaknesses. They were just a better team then us during the match. We ended up losing the 0 sets to 3. Hopefully further down the line, when we have more players in the second half of the season we will have more of a chance to beat them or make them really earn a win against us.

We have been playing hard in practice lately. Our goals as a team are stuck to my refrigerator door allowing me to look at them everyday. Friday night of this week was by far the best practice we have had this season. Things were flowing together and working beautifully. It felt great! I hope that we can take that feeling into the game tomorrow and kick some butt! This is our chance to play out all the skills we have been practicing and focusing 100 percent of our energy on. This is our chance to show this league and our fans that we are a team to be watched. I invision us taking advantage of every easy ball we get. Taking advantage of every hole in the block we receive. Of every serve they put over the net. I am so excited to get playing tomorrow that I am already fired up! I hope that the rest of the team feels the same and really goes for it tomorrow. Like my coach said, "The outcome of the match this weekend is based entirely on what we do as a team on our side of the net." I totally agree 100 percent. I have confidence in the team and in myself. I definitely think we can pull out a win tomorrow, in fact I know we can!

OREBRO VOLLEY ASSEMMMMMBBLLLLLLLE!!!!!

Next Match..

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 :)

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.

3 Losses But Moving on Up!

The past 3 weeks have been a mini roller coaster of emotions. Orebro's volley went to our first match of the season in Stockholm and walked away with a crappy 3-0 loss to Sollentuna. Positive note: we played better then I was expecting from what we had on the court that night, a sick opposite, a setter who got to Sweden a week earlier, an outside whose arm was ready to fall off, 3 middles two of which have never played middle and me a nervous wreck.

The second match was a home opener against a usually weak team, Gislaved. It was a close match but we ended up losing 3-0. We were low in attack (especially me...) and were making way to many errors. Gislaved was a different team but they weren't unbeatable, no team is. Positive note: Our defense and passing was getting better and becoming more consistent.

The third match was last night against Ljungby. A team coming from the first division with a mission to let the league know they were a team to be reckoned with. The match started out like it was anyones game with constant jockeying for the lead. They came out on top. Second set went to us with a huge lead that shrunk to only about 6 point difference in the end. Third set went to them with 28-26 as the final score. Fourth set we had a fighting spirit in the start however it began to fade little by little once the other team hit 20 points and from then on there was not a whole lot we could do to bring it back. I don't remember how the last point of the game played out but I can remember the other team celebrating loudly and the crowd cheering wildly. It was their first win of the season. Positive note: despite us missing 2 key players that night (opposite still sick and middle working) we won one set! We just proved to ourselves that it is possible to win. We are continuing to improve in all areas, personally my hitting was a lot better last night, the passing and defense was almost perfect and we got to play with our coach and former national team setter. Over all the feeling on court was good and we felt like a team so I count that as improving. Once we get that first win the feeling stays and I know non of us want to lose it so we will continue to fight for that feeling the rest of the season.

Besides volleyball, Orebro is still awesome and alive during the weekends with people and students in the bars and clubs. The leaves are falling rapidly from the trees meaning only one thing, winter is on its way. I am so excited for the first snow, it will make things around here look brighter and believe it or not warmer. So heres to the first snow, Skoal!

TV bit for Orebro :)

Here is a local TV bit for our team, its the second team they talk about so if you don't see me or someone you recognize from my team in the first few seconds just wait a little. Kiah Fiers our setter was also interviewed as was our coach Matilda. Enjoy!

P.S mom your sweatshirt made the cut, look for my arms :)

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