I figure the recap will be a three-parter: The first one was strictly results. This post will deal with the team aspect of the tournament, and the third will be my personal experience of the tournament as an individual.
As stated in the previous post, we ended up winning the tournament in strong fashion, winning every set we played. I was extremely impressed with the poise we showed, having a couple sets begin in a rough manner, but staying positive, pushing back, and eventually breaking the other team down.
Despite being exhausted from a 2-day tournament, I found myself waking up in the middle of the night to watch the finals at 4 am with my roommate Josh. Watching the film from this tournament was eye-opening on many levels. I'll do my best to keep it organized.
Chemistry: Definitely the strongest of any team I've been on. The starters had all of one day to practice together, but I felt like we clicked better than we had all last season. You look at how we react to both good and bad plays, and there's a genuine enjoyment playing together. We didn't necessarily dislike playing together last year, but the bond between teammates is much stronger this year, and I feel that it shows. On top of that, the offense was MUCH faster than last year. James is running shoots to the outside, our middles are constantly running 31's/1's/slides, and we're utilizing our backrow attack more than ever before. On top of that, I feel like our defense was much more effective, with strong blocks and scrappy defense picking up the rest. Serve receive had a couple sloppy moments, but with a setter like ours, we can still put a decent hit on a pass even if it's not quite perfect.
Diversity: Our offense is extremely balanced this year. On the second day, four of our hitters averaged over 2 kills a game, and we hit over .400 for 4 of the 7 games. Tally (our nickname for our setter) did a great job distributing the ball evenly, with each of the four hitters having at least one 4-kill set. Towards the end last year, one of our strongpoints was having a three-headed monster in Erik Kostantski, Mark Thomas, and myself, with all of us starting to peak at the right time, normally averaging 3-5 kills a game. With the potential of four players able to play at that level, I think the sky's the limit for our offense this season. Add that with a deep bench, and it gives us a lot of stability.
Passion: From the first game to the last, every single guy on our team was fired up, and after watching us on film, I think the only teams I've seen with the same energy happened to be in the National Championship the last two years. It remains to be seen if we can keep it going until April, but I feel that this group has a desire, has the goal, and is willing to work hard for it. I've always been pretty motivated, but I found myself playing with a fire that I'm not sure if I've ever had before, being more vocal, feeding off of others and hopefully giving them a bit of a jumpstart as well.
One thing that gets me from this weekend is two words that have been constantly floating around about us: cocky and arrogance. From fans to opponents to coaches, people seem to always use those two words to describe us, and the amount I've heard it in the last 48 hours is quite surprising.
When I think of those two words, two things come to mind. A) People who think they're better than others due to whatever they do, and B) People that think they're good, but don't have the work ethic necessary to match their perception of themselves. We are a loud group. We are confident. We get on the court with a killer instinct. Personally, I want the other team to walk off the court feeling like they had no right to be on it with us in the first place. However, we don't talk under the net. We work our asses off year-round, hitting the weight room religiously in the fall. Myself and others are constantly going to other teams' games to support them, and feel that each sport brings something to the table for the school.
I used to feel obliged to defend our team when people would say these things, but you know what? It's pointless. If a classmate/teacher feels that way about us, then they simply don't know the real us. And if another team/coach feels that way? Stop whining. Work harder. Play better. There are only 85 NCAA teams in the entire country, from Division I to III. Imagine if there was only 85 football/basketball/baseball teams. Can you imagine how competitive it would be?
It is a privilege to play at one of these institutions. I feel bad for the schools that struggle to recruit, but honestly, we're here to win a championship, and if you're on our schedule, I'm doing everything I can to make sure we win that match. Frankly, it'd be arrogant or cocky to do anything less. I used to get pissed off when talented players would start mailing in a game when they thought the win was secure. Giving anything less than 100% is implying that your opponent isn't worthy of your best effort, and I just don't beleive in that mindset at the collegiate level of athletics.
That being said, I hope the teammates have a good break, and can't wait to hit the ground running at our first official practice on January 5th. Off to bed for now, but Part III will be up tomorrow!
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