So we go up against Harvard. Most the guys are still not 100% recovered from the flu, with our starting opposite being the most recently sick player. We had a tough practice the day before, and come out sluggish, dropping the first two sets. However, we pick up a second wind and end up winning sets 3 and 4, before their middle absolutely catches fire from both the front and back row to lead his team to a 15-12 5-set victory. A tough loss, but it could have been worse.
Thursday we head to Endicott, and we have a game where they played some of their best ball, we played some of our worst (including yours truly, who after rolling his ankle the day before hobbled to a 11-11-37 hitting line. One of the worst games of my career). They absolutely destroyed us, and all of a sudden you could see in our eyes that we began questioning our system, despite being 16-3.
Saturday we head to Rivier, the 3rd ranked team in the nation, 19-1 at the time I believe. They have one of the best home-court advantages in the nation, a low ceiling, echo-filled gym with the fans right on top of you. We have yet to beat them there, and although it WILL happen, it was not meant to be this day. We played them tough, going to 4 and losing 33-31 in the final set. Rivier is 27-1, with an early road loss to Carthage being the only blemish on their record.
The next week is when things got interesting. The flu finally hit me the day of the Elms match. As I probably have a lifetime .400 hitting percentage against elms, including a 20 kill 11 dig performance against them earlier in the season, I was aggravated with this situation. I was exhausted during the day, even missing the first exams of my collegiate career (which in order to avoid a call from my dad I will note both were made up). I talked with my coach, and the plan was this:
After remembering how badly I played against Endicott less than 100% the week before, as well as wanting to show confidence that we would win regardless, I would watch the game in street clothes, prepared to throw the uniform on if a scenario called for it. Unfortunately, things got complex...
Rewind to an hour before the game, and I'm laying down in the training room. One of the trainers asks me what is wrong. I explain in full detail why I'm laying down, why I'm not in bed, and clarify that I am here to play if necessary. The trainer asks me if I have a fever, I said I wasn't sure, at which point she retrieved a thermometer and stuck it in my mouth, which I was fine with... not knowing that when she saw it hit 100, she had an obligation to pull me from the match.
I immediately took the thermometer out of my mouth, enraged that I didn't have a warning. Long story short, I protested, I lost, we lost in 4, teammates didn't know what the whole story was, and now we have conflicts within the team as well as with the trainer.
In the end, it's all settled. I'm sure it will be similar to the "WE WERE ON A BREAK!" debate on Friends: Everyone has their different perspective, there is no 100% here's-how-it-happened closure to it, so let's move on and be done with it. At this point in the season (March 25), we're there. However, it was not an overnight process.
After a line-up change which we worked on for 15 minutes, we go to MIT and lose in 4 again. There is hostility among team members, with people frustrated at results with no idea on how to fix it. Luckily, we all know Spring Break was coming around, and playing in California would hopefully rejuvenate us and get us back to where we needed to be.
Although we went 0-4 on the trip, I felt we competed very well against some VERY solid teams. Took a set from Cal Baptist, who recently swept #6 in the nation for Division I Stanford. Line-ups changed every match, and although none of them seemed to be the right fit, we did find a couple diamonds in the rough, with certain players excelling in positions they never played before (Sorry opposing coaches, you'll have to come see us if you want to know exactly what those are).
Our first game back was Emmanuel... and this is the one that had me concerned above all of them afterwards. We were swept. Emmanuel hit .221. They served VERY well, but frankly I thought they played MUCH better in the match we defeated them. However... our side of the net seemed to have no energy, and that goes for all of us, this is not me pointing fingers.
My fear was this: We had been fighting amongst ourselves a bit more than usual recently. I believe people wanted to avoid that, but didn't know how to do it without taking their competitive drive down a notch. When you REALLY want something, and you don't get it, the frustration is bound to be increased from if you're just going through the motions. And frankly, that's what the Emmanuel match felt like... we were just going through the motions. This was the first sign of a potential white flag for the season.
Which woke me up because I've learned this week it's officially my last.
Although an appeal was being conducted in order to get my last year of eligibility left, there hasn't been any progress on it. I'm tired of pointing fingers at who exactly isn't doing the legwork on it (I'd be knocking on the NCAA's door myself if the policy didn't force a member of the college to do it for me), the bottom line is it's not happening. Add in a few financial realizations that have surfaced over the last few weeks, and odds are I'll graduate a semester earlier. It's one thing to play a season knowing it's your last: It's another to find out two to three weeks before it's going to end (or 3 days before Senior Night. It's going to be hard enough without Dave, it's going to be even more depressing without family).
We proceeded to do one more new line-up, and although everyone worked hard to do their best, there were so many flaws exposed in it that there was no way it was going to work out. Still, we had an easier patch of our schedule during it, and managed to pile on a few wins before the big home match against Endicott, where a loss COULD have potentially knocked us out of the NECVA tournament.
Part 3 by the end of the night.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Mental Toughness: Part 1
I began writing this post last week. I never ended up finishing it, but I think it's important to note. This all was written the night after we defeated Daniel Webster, which was Thursday, March 19. I will do my best to use Part 2 to continue exactly where I left off.
I'll be honest: I could have probably filled 2-3 posts a day with my thoughts on everything. There is so much emotion going on regarding our season that my mind seems to switch tracks by the day, if not more. Therefore, I try my best to stay off of this because I don't want to say something simply to vent.
The irony of all this is on the court, I seem to be able to focus better than ever. For the time we have a match, I'm completely honed in on the task. All the drama is so far away at the time. As soon as the match is over, it hits me like a train, and again I'm unable to quiet the thoughts..
We've lost 10 of our last twelve, both wins coming from Daniel Webster, a first year program. We've tried about 7 different line-ups. The flu, injuries, players, coaches, refs, and a ton of other excuses have been voiced/thought by just about everyone on the team. In the end, we can't seem to get back to where we were just one month ago.
It's very disappointing to be in the situation, but when I'm able to look at it, I can't deny the fact that it's intriguing. How does a team go from starting 16-1 to a 2-10 stretch? I feel like we'd be a sports psychologist's dream, and if we turn it around as I hope, I'll begin writing a book, because I can't even think of a sports team that's had such a strong start, collapsed this hard, then bounced back to win it all.
The scary thing is, I still have complete faith in this team. Everyone has their different theories. Mine is this: We started off the season EXTREMELY confident. When we played at BU back in December, we didn't drop a set. There were times we didn't play our best physically, we were down a couple sets 5-6 points, but in the end we always pulled through, as we never said die.
Fast forward to the regular season, and we still had that swagger. A couple plays swing a different way against Ramapo, and we could have easily have started 17-0. We were aggressive, we had talent at every position, and you could feel teams' nervousness when stepping on the court with us. We were going to come at you, and we weren't letting up.
About the time of the NJCU tournament, a flu bug slowly made its way around the team. We seemed to survive the first few games a bit short-handed, but the timing was unfortunate, as we were about to hit one of the toughest weeks of the season. Tuesday at Harvard, Thursday at Endicott, Saturday at Rivier...
Part 2 will be up shortly...
I'll be honest: I could have probably filled 2-3 posts a day with my thoughts on everything. There is so much emotion going on regarding our season that my mind seems to switch tracks by the day, if not more. Therefore, I try my best to stay off of this because I don't want to say something simply to vent.
The irony of all this is on the court, I seem to be able to focus better than ever. For the time we have a match, I'm completely honed in on the task. All the drama is so far away at the time. As soon as the match is over, it hits me like a train, and again I'm unable to quiet the thoughts..
We've lost 10 of our last twelve, both wins coming from Daniel Webster, a first year program. We've tried about 7 different line-ups. The flu, injuries, players, coaches, refs, and a ton of other excuses have been voiced/thought by just about everyone on the team. In the end, we can't seem to get back to where we were just one month ago.
It's very disappointing to be in the situation, but when I'm able to look at it, I can't deny the fact that it's intriguing. How does a team go from starting 16-1 to a 2-10 stretch? I feel like we'd be a sports psychologist's dream, and if we turn it around as I hope, I'll begin writing a book, because I can't even think of a sports team that's had such a strong start, collapsed this hard, then bounced back to win it all.
The scary thing is, I still have complete faith in this team. Everyone has their different theories. Mine is this: We started off the season EXTREMELY confident. When we played at BU back in December, we didn't drop a set. There were times we didn't play our best physically, we were down a couple sets 5-6 points, but in the end we always pulled through, as we never said die.
Fast forward to the regular season, and we still had that swagger. A couple plays swing a different way against Ramapo, and we could have easily have started 17-0. We were aggressive, we had talent at every position, and you could feel teams' nervousness when stepping on the court with us. We were going to come at you, and we weren't letting up.
About the time of the NJCU tournament, a flu bug slowly made its way around the team. We seemed to survive the first few games a bit short-handed, but the timing was unfortunate, as we were about to hit one of the toughest weeks of the season. Tuesday at Harvard, Thursday at Endicott, Saturday at Rivier...
Part 2 will be up shortly...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Spring Break: Halfway Through!
After waking up to a lovely 8 am alarm clock my roommate accidentally forgot to shut off, I find myself unable to go back to sleep: Meanwhile, the other 3 in the room are comatose. It's not fair how quickly other people can fall back asleep. Oh well.
Anyways, it's Wednesday morning, and we've played two matches. The first was Monday night against Hope. I had the pleasure of going up against their 6-10 opposite, who played well, but didn't move particularly well.
Overall, I thought the team played hard. We lost 3 close games, but the effort we put forth that night probably would have given us wins in 3 or 4 of our previous 6 losses. Still, coach let us have it after the game... and honestly I believe her speech was 3 weeks late. She was right about a lot of things, and I hoped that it would translate into us coming in strong against Cal Baptist, top team in the nation for NAIA.
Cal Baptist was probably the most talented team I've seen since coming to Newbury, even moreso than Lewis last year. They serve INCREDIBLY tough. They have a 6'6 outside hitter from Brazil with near perfect form - you could teach a clinic with his fundamentals. They ran one of the fastest offenses we've played. There is a reason they are the top team in NAIA.
Despite all that, I feel our best effort could give them a run. When we're hot, we play the best volleyball I've ever been a part of. Talent at every position, good energy, all the things necessary to compete at this level.
We took a set from them, and had stints of great play, but ended up losing in four. Overall, I was much more aggravated from this loss than I was about the loss at Hope. It isn't about the end result: It's about the way we got there. We played with more fire/heart against Hope from the first point to the last, and although we chose at moments to bring that same intensity to Cal Bap, it certainly wasn't as consistent as it could have been.
We play Hope again tonight, and I look forward to getting some redemption against them. I read a great article at ESPN ( http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=nolan ) that talks about playing every game as if it was your last. From this point forward, I intend on doing so. We will take this game from Hope.
Off to breakfast.
Anyways, it's Wednesday morning, and we've played two matches. The first was Monday night against Hope. I had the pleasure of going up against their 6-10 opposite, who played well, but didn't move particularly well.
Overall, I thought the team played hard. We lost 3 close games, but the effort we put forth that night probably would have given us wins in 3 or 4 of our previous 6 losses. Still, coach let us have it after the game... and honestly I believe her speech was 3 weeks late. She was right about a lot of things, and I hoped that it would translate into us coming in strong against Cal Baptist, top team in the nation for NAIA.
Cal Baptist was probably the most talented team I've seen since coming to Newbury, even moreso than Lewis last year. They serve INCREDIBLY tough. They have a 6'6 outside hitter from Brazil with near perfect form - you could teach a clinic with his fundamentals. They ran one of the fastest offenses we've played. There is a reason they are the top team in NAIA.
Despite all that, I feel our best effort could give them a run. When we're hot, we play the best volleyball I've ever been a part of. Talent at every position, good energy, all the things necessary to compete at this level.
We took a set from them, and had stints of great play, but ended up losing in four. Overall, I was much more aggravated from this loss than I was about the loss at Hope. It isn't about the end result: It's about the way we got there. We played with more fire/heart against Hope from the first point to the last, and although we chose at moments to bring that same intensity to Cal Bap, it certainly wasn't as consistent as it could have been.
We play Hope again tonight, and I look forward to getting some redemption against them. I read a great article at ESPN ( http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=nolan ) that talks about playing every game as if it was your last. From this point forward, I intend on doing so. We will take this game from Hope.
Off to breakfast.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Hello from Anaheim!
I'm currently sitting in my hotel room at noon on Monday, day 2 of our Spring Break trip, and am feeling extremely relaxed compared to previous weeks. It's nice to get away from the normal grind for a bit, and this trip could not have come at a better time.
This is my first time to California, and I have always joked that the reason I never visited previously is because I knew I'd never want to leave. To an extent, my theory is somewhat accurate. Why anyone would grow up here and decide they want something else floors me. It's a "cold" day in the 60's, it's clean, there isn't rain. Pure utopia. For grad schools, I'm looking at home mostly, but if I go anywhere else it'd most likely be somewhere here.
We went to Huntington beach yesterday, and it was absolutely gorgeous out. We laid claim to 2 of the nets and played some friendly games of doubles. The wind was definitely in full-force, and it definitely led to conservative play. It was great to get back on the sand, sprawl out for dives without that sharp pain of hard floors, and get some sun to battle the transparency that's taken over my skin this winter. Rumor has it we'll be going to Manhattan beach Thursday. I can't wait, I'll definitely be getting my picture on the pier where they have plates with names of all previous Manhatten Open winners.
As for volleyball, we dropped a tough one to MIT in 4 last week. Although this was our 5th loss in 6 matches, I think we're ready to bounce back from the trainwreck of injuries/illnesses/other factors that led to a brief slump. The right discussions have taken place, we know what we have to do, and everyone is ready to get back to being the team we were before the slip-up.
We play Hope International tonight, and it should be an interesting match. Hope is the 4th ranked NAIA team in the nation, beating defending NAIA national champion Park in the process. They have a MONSTER 6-10 opposite from Brazil, as well as a 6-6 outside from Germany that they go to constantly. There will be a large height difference between the two teams, but I think we will give them a good match regardless. Livestats will be on their website for anyone that wants to follow the action at http://athletics.hiu.edu/volleyball/mens/ , gametime is 7:30 pacific (9:30 central/10:30 eastern). My cousin Mike will be in attendance, and I look forward to catching up with him a bit after our match.
Enough typing for now. Time to grab some food, hit the hot tub, and get ready for the match tonight. Recap later.
This is my first time to California, and I have always joked that the reason I never visited previously is because I knew I'd never want to leave. To an extent, my theory is somewhat accurate. Why anyone would grow up here and decide they want something else floors me. It's a "cold" day in the 60's, it's clean, there isn't rain. Pure utopia. For grad schools, I'm looking at home mostly, but if I go anywhere else it'd most likely be somewhere here.
We went to Huntington beach yesterday, and it was absolutely gorgeous out. We laid claim to 2 of the nets and played some friendly games of doubles. The wind was definitely in full-force, and it definitely led to conservative play. It was great to get back on the sand, sprawl out for dives without that sharp pain of hard floors, and get some sun to battle the transparency that's taken over my skin this winter. Rumor has it we'll be going to Manhattan beach Thursday. I can't wait, I'll definitely be getting my picture on the pier where they have plates with names of all previous Manhatten Open winners.
As for volleyball, we dropped a tough one to MIT in 4 last week. Although this was our 5th loss in 6 matches, I think we're ready to bounce back from the trainwreck of injuries/illnesses/other factors that led to a brief slump. The right discussions have taken place, we know what we have to do, and everyone is ready to get back to being the team we were before the slip-up.
We play Hope International tonight, and it should be an interesting match. Hope is the 4th ranked NAIA team in the nation, beating defending NAIA national champion Park in the process. They have a MONSTER 6-10 opposite from Brazil, as well as a 6-6 outside from Germany that they go to constantly. There will be a large height difference between the two teams, but I think we will give them a good match regardless. Livestats will be on their website for anyone that wants to follow the action at http://athletics.hiu.edu/volleyball/mens/ , gametime is 7:30 pacific (9:30 central/10:30 eastern). My cousin Mike will be in attendance, and I look forward to catching up with him a bit after our match.
Enough typing for now. Time to grab some food, hit the hot tub, and get ready for the match tonight. Recap later.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Much Needed Break.
What a rollercoaster of a week. I don't want to dwell too much on the it, but I'll just say this: I finally caught the flu bug everyone else did, and learned the hard way that if a trainer takes your temperature and it's above 100, she will hold you out of the match. Furthermore, she will not warn you of this before doing so. Lesson learned, and next time I'll know exactly where to tell her to put that thermometer!
After watching Elms hand us our first loss at home all season, much reflection was done regarding the first four-game losing streak since my time at Newbury. I haven't played volleyball since last Wednesday, and perhaps that's a good thing. Other than sitting in my bed recovering, I've been reading, cleaning up, doing some homework, calling people back at home, just sort of taking a break, re-charging the batteries. We have a match tonight, and I'm excited to get on the court again, stretch with teammates, get that camaraderie going.
There has been a lot of talk among teammates regarding the last two weeks, and although there has been many different scapegoats for the "downfall", I think what it all will come down to is simple - How bad do we want to win? Yes, we all battled the flu. Yes, my ankle is not 100%. Yes, our chemistry hasn't quite been where it was earlier in the season. We can either dwell on this, or dig our heels in and push even harder, work together, and refuse to let things we can't control affect how we act regarding the things we can.
That being said, I look forward to doing everything I can to be a good teammate the last half the season. Pick teammates up when they're down, chase every ball in sight while on defense, give my all on every point as if it was the last I'd ever get to play.
Daniel Webster at Hellenic tonight. Can't wait!
After watching Elms hand us our first loss at home all season, much reflection was done regarding the first four-game losing streak since my time at Newbury. I haven't played volleyball since last Wednesday, and perhaps that's a good thing. Other than sitting in my bed recovering, I've been reading, cleaning up, doing some homework, calling people back at home, just sort of taking a break, re-charging the batteries. We have a match tonight, and I'm excited to get on the court again, stretch with teammates, get that camaraderie going.
There has been a lot of talk among teammates regarding the last two weeks, and although there has been many different scapegoats for the "downfall", I think what it all will come down to is simple - How bad do we want to win? Yes, we all battled the flu. Yes, my ankle is not 100%. Yes, our chemistry hasn't quite been where it was earlier in the season. We can either dwell on this, or dig our heels in and push even harder, work together, and refuse to let things we can't control affect how we act regarding the things we can.
That being said, I look forward to doing everything I can to be a good teammate the last half the season. Pick teammates up when they're down, chase every ball in sight while on defense, give my all on every point as if it was the last I'd ever get to play.
Daniel Webster at Hellenic tonight. Can't wait!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Rivier Recap in Running Diary Form!
It's Sunday morning, and my ankle/shoulder are not feeling too good. Luckily I have a day of rest. More importantly, I found the right amount of pain medication to allow me to play at a somewhat acceptable level last night, so the feelings after the game were not at Endicott-levels.
The reason I'm doing a running diary from watching the film (other than the fact that I find them somewhat entertaining when I read someone else's) is that the match was absolute insanity. I can say confidently I've never played in a match with that type of emotion, from both sides of the court, on top of the rowdy fans. I could just throw random memories from last night into a couple paragraphs and leave it at that, but it won't do the match justice. Without further adieu...
Set 1: (Numbers preceding entries will be our score - their score format).
1-0: After Sadowski serves, Josh gets a good touch on the block, I pass it to Tally who sets Josh on the opposite. The ball slams off the block, hits the 25-foot ceiling in the middle of the court, and lands on our side for the point. Rivier's ceiling makes ball control VERY important, as well as staying on your toes chasing down shanks. Still, good start for us.
2-0: Similar play: Sadowski serve, I dig, Josh puts ball down. I do an over-dramatic fist pump to express my satisfaction.
4-3: After a brief run by Riv, we sideout and block a right-side attack by Anderozzi. This is a good start. It seems the games we've lost our block has been noticably below our norm. Seven points in and we've got a couple touches and an actual block. Energy is high and things looking good.
4-4: They set their middle a push, who proceeds to pound the ball through the gap and almost take away Josh's ability to create children. I have jinxed the video with my previous statement.
6-5: Wright puts down another 1 ball for the kill for Riv. He's the Zoolander of middles: Very strong, but he can't swing left. Unfortunately, he's also 6'7 and contacts high, so it's difficult to stop even when you know it's coming.
10-8:After Tally digs a tip by the outside, Josh gets a ball handling error called on him. The crowd lets him have it. This becomes a theme for the next 2 hours.
11-9: Although hitting feels good (4 kills on as many attempts), my jump serve seems to have suffered the most during this week of injuries/fatigue. I launch one out of bounds, with a lack of snap seeming to be the cause. A member of the crowd proceeds to explain to me that it's not legal.
11-10: Max hits a quick that blatantly nicks the defender. Line judge does not call it. This is not a "to each their own" moment. Robberies by line judge: 1. We protest somewhat peacefully, then return to our respective positions.
12-10: Biuso overpasses the next serve, which lands for the kill. The volleyball gods have intervened for the previous call it seems.
16-13: After Beck gets an ace, Riv proceeds to call timeout. They are 5th in the nation, they have talent in every position, but it seems like little vulnerabilities show themselves now and then. Blockers reaching back for tips, taking an out-of-system set and trying to force something... We're certainly not flawless, but there's definitely not that big of a difference between the two teams (then again, there never seems to be).
16-17: Speaking of flaws, we've managed to compile two hitting errors and get aced in about 12 seconds. Timeout Newbury.
23-26: After some sideout ball by both sides, they block a 2-ball attempt by Mark. Although at the collegiate level you rarely see the 2-ball, I can't argue how successful it's been for him this season, being used for most of his 36 kills against Ramapo. Still, it seems early on like Riv's height in the middle will make it a bit more difficult to pull off this match. Timeout Newbury.
25-27: Mark gets a kill on the right side to bring us within 2. The lack of excitement on our side is alarming. Unfortunately, we've recently developed a Jekyll and Hyde type personality on the court, and at the moment we're lacking the sense of urgency necessary to be the better half...
25-28: I take an out-of-system set and place a rollshot on the line. I watch the ball hit the line. The line judge calls it out. Robberies by the line judge: 2. Before I can express my displeasure with the call, Josh jumps up and down, Beck holds his head in disbelief, Mike proceeds to express his feelings in words I can't put up here in case my mother reads, and the bench lets the ref have it. At this point, I have nothing to say that my teammates haven't already expressed.
27-29: After a hard-fought rally, Soucy hits one of of bounds... or so it seems. They call a touch on the block, at which point Josh proceeds to go to his dark place. Watching the film, it's close. Do I see a touch? No. It doesn't help matters when the ref tells our floor captain that she doesn't know who did it, just that it touched the block. Although I can only see so much on camera, I don't see anything that tells me the ball touches the block, from a change in spin/trajectory, to sound, to the actual sight of seeing it hit. Josh still swears he didn't touch it. As I'm afraid he may attempt to rip my face off and eat it if I disagree, I'll go with it. Robberies by the line judge: 3.
27-30: Ace Rivier. We can argue the calls all we want, but shame on us for bringing our frustration into the next plays. People are avoiding high-fives and sulking, and I feel no sorrow for saying that openly. We are a good team, but one of our biggest obstacles is the team getting in its own way due to emotion getting the best of us. The refs sucked, but we still had plenty of hitting errors/shanked passes/blown opportunities that we could have utilized to make it a moot point. On to set 2.
Set 2:
3-5: Austin Soucy tools the block for the kill. Great hitter in that aspect. I can't count how many kills he had, but at least 2/3's of them were slamming it off the block. Very impressive.
3-8: Ace by Riv. We're definitely out of system. Not a good start.
5-8: Solo Block by Josh. Energy picking up a bit.
11-17: Nice back-1 by Opposite/slide by middle puts Rivier up by six... bleeding needs to be stopped.
12-18: Timeout Newbury. Dwelling on mistakes, not meeting in the middle, struggling to play our game.
16-19: Showing signs of life, playing good defense.
16-20: approximately our 29356th net violation of the match.
16-21: Josh hits a ball that appears to hit the blocker's arm and go out of bounds. The ref calls no touch. At this point, Josh begins a 40-second tangent that will stay with me til the day I can't tell volleyball stories anymore. How he didn't get a yellow/red card I'll never know. Funniest part was when we try to meet in the middle and yell to Josh to join us, who is explaining his interpretation of physics to Jaime. He turns around and yells "I'M ALLOWED, TO TALK, TO MY COACH (commas dictate an inhale of breath for the next two words)... although it wasn't a time-out and the refs seemed to give us this time so he could get his steam out. Never seen anything like it. I looked at Beck, who lives in the triple with Josh and I, and my exact words were "I don't want to sleep in the same room as him tonight". Another effect of this situation is we've appeared to awaken the crowd, who will proceed to heckle us non-stop from this point on.
16-22: Ace Rivier. Anyone else see a pattern? Goddammit.
17-25: (insert cliche about how we're beginning to lose it here). Timeout Newbury.
24-30: Traded points back and forth, but the damage had been done. Ferreira blasts a cross court shot to finish the game. Still are shooting ourselves in the foot, as well as Rivier is playing we certainly aren't making them earn it.
Set 3:
2-0: Refs miss a ball CLEARLY hit the ground, Mike "digs" it with his leg and Tally puts it over for the kill. After 3 matches with this up-ref, I have decided I respectfully disagree with a lot of her calls (and the only reason it isn't disrespectful is in the .0001% chance she ever reads that sentence).
3-1: I cheat up on my coverage, and the ball ricochets off the defender to the back of the court for Riv's first point. I'm beginning to think video is harmful to my self-esteem.
4-2: I redeem myself with a half-way decent pass, at which point Josh puts it down. Crowd starts getting into this set, and when Wright destroys the next ball they are roaring. This is going to be a fun set...
5-3: Josh misses a serve, crowd lets him have it. The camera is across the court from their student section and it's still clear as day.
6-3: Josh with a good pass, Tally with a good set, Mark tools a triple-block. We retaliate with some yelling of our own. Our confidence seems to be re-appearing.
12-6: Tally serves his fourth ace of the match, and Riv calls a timeout. We're finally beginning to put it all together.
13-8: Second service error of the match by me. Not sure where my arm strength went but I really miss it.
16-14: Block by Riv brings them within 2. Rallies are getting longer and both teams are starting to be more aggressive.
18-17: My passing's starting to get a bit shaky. It's been pretty consistent all match, do-or-die time would not be a good time to change that.
19-20: Riv gets first lead of the set. People seem pissed off, but the good news is it seems to be in the right manner. We're communicating still and directing it towards doing our job rather than dwelling on what we can't control.
20-20: Tally gives me an incredible one-handed backset, game to ten now.
21-21: The first blatant ankle-buckling occurs on a dig attempt, which proves to be a great set for their middle who puts a crater in the floor to show his appreciation. Not now please.
23-22: Josh absolutely destroys a right-side attack to give us the lead. Both sides are pushing back and forth, with no real momentum advantage on either side.
26-24: I proceed to destroy a line-shot... about a foot out of bounds. Luckily, the block got excited and hit the net. I pretend like it's no big deal but in my head I realize the bullet I just dodged.
26-25: Another missed touch. Unbelievable. We're clearly not happy with it, but we seem to realize how it's useless to waste energy arguing it, so back to our positions we go.
26-26: Timeout Newbury after Hansen pushes it to the back left corner on 2. Everyone seems focused at the task at hand though, and the whole time I know we're going to 4.
27-26: Tally goes back to serve, at which point the crowd begins a "You're not Hansen" chant, implying that their setter is better than ours. Not very clever, but I suppose a bit more tasteful than at Harvard when 2 fans notified me that apparently I have a pregnant girlfriend thanks to their services.
30-26: Tally proceeds to respond to their chant by setting off a 4-0 run, capped off by a solo block by Josh (No opposite in D-3 can finish a game with a block like him. If that was a stat, he'd lead the nation). Set 4's coming up, and we're on the side with the students. Looking forward to it, as they drown out the voices in my head that usually bother me.
Set 4:
5-5: I hit a line-shot to tie it up. Why my arm seems fine in the front row but I can't serve very well is beyond me.
10-9: Second ankle-buckle of the match, this time on a ball switching directions due to the ceiling. I look like the anti-gazelle shanking it and taking a tumble in the process.
12-9: Mark absolutely houses Wright. Huge block.
12-14: They counter it with 5 straight points, the last 3 coming from blocks. Timeout Newbury.
13-14: About 5 plays back, Josh tweaked his calf. In the timeout, he taped it up a bit. The crowd now peppers him with "Suck it up!" chants for the remainder of the game.
16-17: Rivier not happy about a non-call on Mark contacting the ball before it crossed the plane. Like we haven't been getting robbed all day.
18-20: Mis-communication in the backrow lets a tip drop. Crucial point for Riv.
22-23: The crowd starts peppering one of our bigger players, chanting "Love Handles". Our AD would never let this happen. My complaint here is not with the crowd.
24-24: HUGE rally gives us a tie game. Was almost a minute long. Ends with a net violation by Riv. Brutal.
24-27: Speaking of brutal, an awful hitting decision by me caps a 3-0 run by Rivier.
25-27: Tally wins a joust for a crucial sideout.
26-27: Solo block by Mark!
26-29: I get blocked attempting a swipe.
28-29: One missed serve/block later, and we're one point away from making it a game to two!
29-29: Hitting error by the opp!
29-30: Kill by Ferreria gives them their second match point
30-30: Another joust by Tally ties it up.
30-31: I over-run the set a bit, and the rollshot I hit grazes the antenna. Not pleased. 3rd match point for Riv.
31-31: Josh gets blocked on the outside, but Mike gets a huge cover and I go over the outside and JUST around the middle to tie it up. Feeling a bit better about the previous play.
31-32: long volley ends with a kill from Soucy. 4th match point for Riv.
31-33: Another decent volley ends with Josh's hit grazing the antenna.
It was a hard loss, but a much better showing than the previous two matches. A lot of us are coming off sickness/injuries, and we just picked a tough week in the schedule to do it. Morale is still good, and with 4 days before our next match, I expect to bounce back from all of this starting with Elms Thursday. Although it was a loss, the excitement of the match was about as good as it gets at this level. I wish all matches had a crowd like that... but unfortunately it's not how it goes.
Anyways, off to do some homework. I'll update in the next few days probably.
The reason I'm doing a running diary from watching the film (other than the fact that I find them somewhat entertaining when I read someone else's) is that the match was absolute insanity. I can say confidently I've never played in a match with that type of emotion, from both sides of the court, on top of the rowdy fans. I could just throw random memories from last night into a couple paragraphs and leave it at that, but it won't do the match justice. Without further adieu...
Set 1: (Numbers preceding entries will be our score - their score format).
1-0: After Sadowski serves, Josh gets a good touch on the block, I pass it to Tally who sets Josh on the opposite. The ball slams off the block, hits the 25-foot ceiling in the middle of the court, and lands on our side for the point. Rivier's ceiling makes ball control VERY important, as well as staying on your toes chasing down shanks. Still, good start for us.
2-0: Similar play: Sadowski serve, I dig, Josh puts ball down. I do an over-dramatic fist pump to express my satisfaction.
4-3: After a brief run by Riv, we sideout and block a right-side attack by Anderozzi. This is a good start. It seems the games we've lost our block has been noticably below our norm. Seven points in and we've got a couple touches and an actual block. Energy is high and things looking good.
4-4: They set their middle a push, who proceeds to pound the ball through the gap and almost take away Josh's ability to create children. I have jinxed the video with my previous statement.
6-5: Wright puts down another 1 ball for the kill for Riv. He's the Zoolander of middles: Very strong, but he can't swing left. Unfortunately, he's also 6'7 and contacts high, so it's difficult to stop even when you know it's coming.
10-8:After Tally digs a tip by the outside, Josh gets a ball handling error called on him. The crowd lets him have it. This becomes a theme for the next 2 hours.
11-9: Although hitting feels good (4 kills on as many attempts), my jump serve seems to have suffered the most during this week of injuries/fatigue. I launch one out of bounds, with a lack of snap seeming to be the cause. A member of the crowd proceeds to explain to me that it's not legal.
11-10: Max hits a quick that blatantly nicks the defender. Line judge does not call it. This is not a "to each their own" moment. Robberies by line judge: 1. We protest somewhat peacefully, then return to our respective positions.
12-10: Biuso overpasses the next serve, which lands for the kill. The volleyball gods have intervened for the previous call it seems.
16-13: After Beck gets an ace, Riv proceeds to call timeout. They are 5th in the nation, they have talent in every position, but it seems like little vulnerabilities show themselves now and then. Blockers reaching back for tips, taking an out-of-system set and trying to force something... We're certainly not flawless, but there's definitely not that big of a difference between the two teams (then again, there never seems to be).
16-17: Speaking of flaws, we've managed to compile two hitting errors and get aced in about 12 seconds. Timeout Newbury.
23-26: After some sideout ball by both sides, they block a 2-ball attempt by Mark. Although at the collegiate level you rarely see the 2-ball, I can't argue how successful it's been for him this season, being used for most of his 36 kills against Ramapo. Still, it seems early on like Riv's height in the middle will make it a bit more difficult to pull off this match. Timeout Newbury.
25-27: Mark gets a kill on the right side to bring us within 2. The lack of excitement on our side is alarming. Unfortunately, we've recently developed a Jekyll and Hyde type personality on the court, and at the moment we're lacking the sense of urgency necessary to be the better half...
25-28: I take an out-of-system set and place a rollshot on the line. I watch the ball hit the line. The line judge calls it out. Robberies by the line judge: 2. Before I can express my displeasure with the call, Josh jumps up and down, Beck holds his head in disbelief, Mike proceeds to express his feelings in words I can't put up here in case my mother reads, and the bench lets the ref have it. At this point, I have nothing to say that my teammates haven't already expressed.
27-29: After a hard-fought rally, Soucy hits one of of bounds... or so it seems. They call a touch on the block, at which point Josh proceeds to go to his dark place. Watching the film, it's close. Do I see a touch? No. It doesn't help matters when the ref tells our floor captain that she doesn't know who did it, just that it touched the block. Although I can only see so much on camera, I don't see anything that tells me the ball touches the block, from a change in spin/trajectory, to sound, to the actual sight of seeing it hit. Josh still swears he didn't touch it. As I'm afraid he may attempt to rip my face off and eat it if I disagree, I'll go with it. Robberies by the line judge: 3.
27-30: Ace Rivier. We can argue the calls all we want, but shame on us for bringing our frustration into the next plays. People are avoiding high-fives and sulking, and I feel no sorrow for saying that openly. We are a good team, but one of our biggest obstacles is the team getting in its own way due to emotion getting the best of us. The refs sucked, but we still had plenty of hitting errors/shanked passes/blown opportunities that we could have utilized to make it a moot point. On to set 2.
Set 2:
3-5: Austin Soucy tools the block for the kill. Great hitter in that aspect. I can't count how many kills he had, but at least 2/3's of them were slamming it off the block. Very impressive.
3-8: Ace by Riv. We're definitely out of system. Not a good start.
5-8: Solo Block by Josh. Energy picking up a bit.
11-17: Nice back-1 by Opposite/slide by middle puts Rivier up by six... bleeding needs to be stopped.
12-18: Timeout Newbury. Dwelling on mistakes, not meeting in the middle, struggling to play our game.
16-19: Showing signs of life, playing good defense.
16-20: approximately our 29356th net violation of the match.
16-21: Josh hits a ball that appears to hit the blocker's arm and go out of bounds. The ref calls no touch. At this point, Josh begins a 40-second tangent that will stay with me til the day I can't tell volleyball stories anymore. How he didn't get a yellow/red card I'll never know. Funniest part was when we try to meet in the middle and yell to Josh to join us, who is explaining his interpretation of physics to Jaime. He turns around and yells "I'M ALLOWED, TO TALK, TO MY COACH (commas dictate an inhale of breath for the next two words)... although it wasn't a time-out and the refs seemed to give us this time so he could get his steam out. Never seen anything like it. I looked at Beck, who lives in the triple with Josh and I, and my exact words were "I don't want to sleep in the same room as him tonight". Another effect of this situation is we've appeared to awaken the crowd, who will proceed to heckle us non-stop from this point on.
16-22: Ace Rivier. Anyone else see a pattern? Goddammit.
17-25: (insert cliche about how we're beginning to lose it here). Timeout Newbury.
24-30: Traded points back and forth, but the damage had been done. Ferreira blasts a cross court shot to finish the game. Still are shooting ourselves in the foot, as well as Rivier is playing we certainly aren't making them earn it.
Set 3:
2-0: Refs miss a ball CLEARLY hit the ground, Mike "digs" it with his leg and Tally puts it over for the kill. After 3 matches with this up-ref, I have decided I respectfully disagree with a lot of her calls (and the only reason it isn't disrespectful is in the .0001% chance she ever reads that sentence).
3-1: I cheat up on my coverage, and the ball ricochets off the defender to the back of the court for Riv's first point. I'm beginning to think video is harmful to my self-esteem.
4-2: I redeem myself with a half-way decent pass, at which point Josh puts it down. Crowd starts getting into this set, and when Wright destroys the next ball they are roaring. This is going to be a fun set...
5-3: Josh misses a serve, crowd lets him have it. The camera is across the court from their student section and it's still clear as day.
6-3: Josh with a good pass, Tally with a good set, Mark tools a triple-block. We retaliate with some yelling of our own. Our confidence seems to be re-appearing.
12-6: Tally serves his fourth ace of the match, and Riv calls a timeout. We're finally beginning to put it all together.
13-8: Second service error of the match by me. Not sure where my arm strength went but I really miss it.
16-14: Block by Riv brings them within 2. Rallies are getting longer and both teams are starting to be more aggressive.
18-17: My passing's starting to get a bit shaky. It's been pretty consistent all match, do-or-die time would not be a good time to change that.
19-20: Riv gets first lead of the set. People seem pissed off, but the good news is it seems to be in the right manner. We're communicating still and directing it towards doing our job rather than dwelling on what we can't control.
20-20: Tally gives me an incredible one-handed backset, game to ten now.
21-21: The first blatant ankle-buckling occurs on a dig attempt, which proves to be a great set for their middle who puts a crater in the floor to show his appreciation. Not now please.
23-22: Josh absolutely destroys a right-side attack to give us the lead. Both sides are pushing back and forth, with no real momentum advantage on either side.
26-24: I proceed to destroy a line-shot... about a foot out of bounds. Luckily, the block got excited and hit the net. I pretend like it's no big deal but in my head I realize the bullet I just dodged.
26-25: Another missed touch. Unbelievable. We're clearly not happy with it, but we seem to realize how it's useless to waste energy arguing it, so back to our positions we go.
26-26: Timeout Newbury after Hansen pushes it to the back left corner on 2. Everyone seems focused at the task at hand though, and the whole time I know we're going to 4.
27-26: Tally goes back to serve, at which point the crowd begins a "You're not Hansen" chant, implying that their setter is better than ours. Not very clever, but I suppose a bit more tasteful than at Harvard when 2 fans notified me that apparently I have a pregnant girlfriend thanks to their services.
30-26: Tally proceeds to respond to their chant by setting off a 4-0 run, capped off by a solo block by Josh (No opposite in D-3 can finish a game with a block like him. If that was a stat, he'd lead the nation). Set 4's coming up, and we're on the side with the students. Looking forward to it, as they drown out the voices in my head that usually bother me.
Set 4:
5-5: I hit a line-shot to tie it up. Why my arm seems fine in the front row but I can't serve very well is beyond me.
10-9: Second ankle-buckle of the match, this time on a ball switching directions due to the ceiling. I look like the anti-gazelle shanking it and taking a tumble in the process.
12-9: Mark absolutely houses Wright. Huge block.
12-14: They counter it with 5 straight points, the last 3 coming from blocks. Timeout Newbury.
13-14: About 5 plays back, Josh tweaked his calf. In the timeout, he taped it up a bit. The crowd now peppers him with "Suck it up!" chants for the remainder of the game.
16-17: Rivier not happy about a non-call on Mark contacting the ball before it crossed the plane. Like we haven't been getting robbed all day.
18-20: Mis-communication in the backrow lets a tip drop. Crucial point for Riv.
22-23: The crowd starts peppering one of our bigger players, chanting "Love Handles". Our AD would never let this happen. My complaint here is not with the crowd.
24-24: HUGE rally gives us a tie game. Was almost a minute long. Ends with a net violation by Riv. Brutal.
24-27: Speaking of brutal, an awful hitting decision by me caps a 3-0 run by Rivier.
25-27: Tally wins a joust for a crucial sideout.
26-27: Solo block by Mark!
26-29: I get blocked attempting a swipe.
28-29: One missed serve/block later, and we're one point away from making it a game to two!
29-29: Hitting error by the opp!
29-30: Kill by Ferreria gives them their second match point
30-30: Another joust by Tally ties it up.
30-31: I over-run the set a bit, and the rollshot I hit grazes the antenna. Not pleased. 3rd match point for Riv.
31-31: Josh gets blocked on the outside, but Mike gets a huge cover and I go over the outside and JUST around the middle to tie it up. Feeling a bit better about the previous play.
31-32: long volley ends with a kill from Soucy. 4th match point for Riv.
31-33: Another decent volley ends with Josh's hit grazing the antenna.
It was a hard loss, but a much better showing than the previous two matches. A lot of us are coming off sickness/injuries, and we just picked a tough week in the schedule to do it. Morale is still good, and with 4 days before our next match, I expect to bounce back from all of this starting with Elms Thursday. Although it was a loss, the excitement of the match was about as good as it gets at this level. I wish all matches had a crowd like that... but unfortunately it's not how it goes.
Anyways, off to do some homework. I'll update in the next few days probably.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Rivier.
Lately, I've been reading a book called "Can I Keep My Jersey", written by Paul Shirley, a NBA Journeyman that has played in various countries, flirting with the NBA here and there, writing a journal as he does it. It is one of the best books I have ever read, but in doing so I've realized one of the reasons I wonder if this blog will ever be everything I want it to be.
The details he releases are extremely personal, which has both positive and negative effects. The positive effect is we truly get an inside look on his life, from events on the court to the politics that run off of it. The negatives, and part of the reason I feel I can't do the same thing, is that it shows a vulnerability in some forms, as well as certain things that I'm sure his teammates/coaches woudln't appreciate (as he never stayed in one place too long, I suppose that was never a worry of his).
This is not to say that I have dirt on teammates/coaching staff that I'm just DYING to release, but feel wrong in doing so. However, the thought of giving any opponent any sort of edge has made me very hesitant to put specific details that if I was on the other side reading, would help me in any shape or form when writing up the scouting report on my team.
However, certain details of this past week should be noted.
After a 14-game win streak and 16-1 total record, we dropped 2 matches in a row, one to Harvard in 5, the other in a sweep to Endicott (and boy did they hand our asses to us. No other way to say that).
A couple things that should be noted. In the past few weeks, we have experienced EIGHT players battling the flu, as well as various injuries here and there. It was a matter of time before we had an off night, and Harvard turned out to be that night. After coming out flat the first two sets, we bounced back in sets 3 and 4, only to have their middle (athletic, 6'9, plays all the way around) Brady catch absolute fire and lead them to a 15-12 victory.
Although it was disappointing, everyone shook it off and had a good practice Wednesday. It was very competitive, and the energy was strong. Unfortunately, with about 15 minutes to go, a tight ball led to one of the teammates accidentally going under and I proceeded to land on him, somewhat horrified at how far I felt my ankle roll.
Being stubborn, I tied my shoe as tightly as possible and asked coach to continue the drill before my adrenaline wore off and I had any chance to think about what may have just happened. Things went well, and afterwards we couldn't find any swelling, so I had hoped that I was just lucky.
The next morning, the side of my leg was stiff, a bit higher up than the actual ankle joint. Pain I can deal with, but my concern was with the actual strength of the joint. We arrived at Endicott early, I stretched as much as I could, took some ib profun, and hit the court.
Endicott proceeded to destroy us, while I played arguably the worst game of my collegiate career.
The funny thing about playing the "worst" game of your career is you're not quite sure how to react. I was pretty much a zombie for the next 1/2 hour, with my mind going a mile a minute, thoughts about the past, the short-term effects, even how I'd react long-term. The aggravating aspect of the performance was my ankle's decision to buckle during my last step of my approach, making me re-adjust my body for a split second which killed all my momentum built up by the previous steps. While I usually see the set, then the block, then back to the ball, I was putting so much effort into making sure I was under the ball that I didn't have the court vision I normally have. Call it the "anti-zone" if you will.
I began texting coaches/friends back at home whom I usually go to for advice, and lo and behold, I get this gem from Mike Landa, a man I've met a total of 2 times at an open gym that's near my house:
"That just gives you more ambition for your next match. Be the leader that your team knows. Everyone has bad days... it's how' you bounce back from them to show your strength"
Sometimes I wonder why I'll randomly make friends with a stranger at an open gym, but moments like that seem to justify it.
With the sexual assault at the school (and that'll be discussed in a later post), the two losses, and issues with my shoulder/ankle, there's been a lot weighing my mind down the last week. Add that to the fact that my sleep has been awful as I keep waking up with either my arm or ankle flaring up, and I've been a bit on edge.
Luckily, I slept DEEP last night, similar to the night before the Elms match (where I had one of my best games of the season). I woke up with a sense of confidence about today like I felt the day of Vassar, although I'm not sure where it came from. I'm certainly not upset about it. I went to the trainer at noon at got some extra work done on my ankle, and feel that it will do just fine for this match. Rivier is a very talented team, but they certainly aren't flawless, and I still feel we're built to accel against a team of their make-up.
I can't say for sure what's going to happen, but this I know for sure: Both teams will be fired up. Their crowd will be ferocious, as they've been advertising this match for almost a match. Although we aren't in the same conference anymore, pride is on the line, and neither team is going to want to swallow theirs.
I look forward to doing some damage. Bus leaves in 7 minutes. If we get back early enough I'll update tonight.
The details he releases are extremely personal, which has both positive and negative effects. The positive effect is we truly get an inside look on his life, from events on the court to the politics that run off of it. The negatives, and part of the reason I feel I can't do the same thing, is that it shows a vulnerability in some forms, as well as certain things that I'm sure his teammates/coaches woudln't appreciate (as he never stayed in one place too long, I suppose that was never a worry of his).
This is not to say that I have dirt on teammates/coaching staff that I'm just DYING to release, but feel wrong in doing so. However, the thought of giving any opponent any sort of edge has made me very hesitant to put specific details that if I was on the other side reading, would help me in any shape or form when writing up the scouting report on my team.
However, certain details of this past week should be noted.
After a 14-game win streak and 16-1 total record, we dropped 2 matches in a row, one to Harvard in 5, the other in a sweep to Endicott (and boy did they hand our asses to us. No other way to say that).
A couple things that should be noted. In the past few weeks, we have experienced EIGHT players battling the flu, as well as various injuries here and there. It was a matter of time before we had an off night, and Harvard turned out to be that night. After coming out flat the first two sets, we bounced back in sets 3 and 4, only to have their middle (athletic, 6'9, plays all the way around) Brady catch absolute fire and lead them to a 15-12 victory.
Although it was disappointing, everyone shook it off and had a good practice Wednesday. It was very competitive, and the energy was strong. Unfortunately, with about 15 minutes to go, a tight ball led to one of the teammates accidentally going under and I proceeded to land on him, somewhat horrified at how far I felt my ankle roll.
Being stubborn, I tied my shoe as tightly as possible and asked coach to continue the drill before my adrenaline wore off and I had any chance to think about what may have just happened. Things went well, and afterwards we couldn't find any swelling, so I had hoped that I was just lucky.
The next morning, the side of my leg was stiff, a bit higher up than the actual ankle joint. Pain I can deal with, but my concern was with the actual strength of the joint. We arrived at Endicott early, I stretched as much as I could, took some ib profun, and hit the court.
Endicott proceeded to destroy us, while I played arguably the worst game of my collegiate career.
The funny thing about playing the "worst" game of your career is you're not quite sure how to react. I was pretty much a zombie for the next 1/2 hour, with my mind going a mile a minute, thoughts about the past, the short-term effects, even how I'd react long-term. The aggravating aspect of the performance was my ankle's decision to buckle during my last step of my approach, making me re-adjust my body for a split second which killed all my momentum built up by the previous steps. While I usually see the set, then the block, then back to the ball, I was putting so much effort into making sure I was under the ball that I didn't have the court vision I normally have. Call it the "anti-zone" if you will.
I began texting coaches/friends back at home whom I usually go to for advice, and lo and behold, I get this gem from Mike Landa, a man I've met a total of 2 times at an open gym that's near my house:
"That just gives you more ambition for your next match. Be the leader that your team knows. Everyone has bad days... it's how' you bounce back from them to show your strength"
Sometimes I wonder why I'll randomly make friends with a stranger at an open gym, but moments like that seem to justify it.
With the sexual assault at the school (and that'll be discussed in a later post), the two losses, and issues with my shoulder/ankle, there's been a lot weighing my mind down the last week. Add that to the fact that my sleep has been awful as I keep waking up with either my arm or ankle flaring up, and I've been a bit on edge.
Luckily, I slept DEEP last night, similar to the night before the Elms match (where I had one of my best games of the season). I woke up with a sense of confidence about today like I felt the day of Vassar, although I'm not sure where it came from. I'm certainly not upset about it. I went to the trainer at noon at got some extra work done on my ankle, and feel that it will do just fine for this match. Rivier is a very talented team, but they certainly aren't flawless, and I still feel we're built to accel against a team of their make-up.
I can't say for sure what's going to happen, but this I know for sure: Both teams will be fired up. Their crowd will be ferocious, as they've been advertising this match for almost a match. Although we aren't in the same conference anymore, pride is on the line, and neither team is going to want to swallow theirs.
I look forward to doing some damage. Bus leaves in 7 minutes. If we get back early enough I'll update tonight.
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