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.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
One of Those Nights as Well...
Quick sidenote to the previous post: With everything that happened today, I managed to keep a positive attitude up until about 2 pm. When life continually knocks me down in the span of one day, usually something pushes me over the edge.
That happened when I received a Valentine's Day card from my grandparents (adorable, I know). Given the type of day I was having, this actually was a nice change of pace... Until I opened it, and saw that my grandma (the one NOT battling dementia mind you) spelled my name Brian. It was at that moment I died a little inside.
After sulking for the next hour or so, I decided to suck it up and begin focusing on the Harvard match. I was feeling pretty good going into the match, and felt like we would make a big statement if we took care of business.
Game 1 does NOT start well. Serve receive is a train wreck (myself included, aced 2 times in the match, both in the first set). Proceeded to get housed 3 times, attempting to swipe off hands in an unsuccessful manner. We proceed to lose 30-28. Second set we come out flat, they end up putting a pounding on us 30-23.
I can tolerate losing to the better team, and Harvard is a decent squad. However, we were playing WAY below our normal ability. Luckily, we snap out of it for sets 3 and 4 and win convincingly. Serve received started communicating more, our offense starts clicking, we're picking up more digs.
Unfortunately... set 5 starts a bit rough. Their middle is 6'9 and plays all the way around, and he catches fire. We go down 8-5 on the switch, and can't seem to chip away at their lead. Looking defeat in the eye at 14-10, we string together a few points to make it interesting, but a missed serve by Tally gives Harvard the 15-12 win as well as the match (I feel awful for Matt. Knowing the competitor he is, he'll dwell on that missed serve, but he was by far our most consistent player all night, as well as our best server, and if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have made it that far. Keep your head up bud).
The frustrating thing is, I don't feel like it was a matter of us being lazy or complacent, we simply didn't have our best stuff at the beginning, and although we picked it up towards the middle of the match, we finally met a team that took advantage of an opportunity when we gave it to them. It hurts to lose a match like that, but I have to keep telling myself that in the big picture, it has no effect on the goal at hand. Thursday's match at Endicott and Saturday's match at Rivier are much more important, and perhaps this is what we needed to toughen the skin so we're ready for those matches.
That's pretty much all I have to say about that. Today has been rough, but tomorrow's a new day. Time for bed.
That happened when I received a Valentine's Day card from my grandparents (adorable, I know). Given the type of day I was having, this actually was a nice change of pace... Until I opened it, and saw that my grandma (the one NOT battling dementia mind you) spelled my name Brian. It was at that moment I died a little inside.
After sulking for the next hour or so, I decided to suck it up and begin focusing on the Harvard match. I was feeling pretty good going into the match, and felt like we would make a big statement if we took care of business.
Game 1 does NOT start well. Serve receive is a train wreck (myself included, aced 2 times in the match, both in the first set). Proceeded to get housed 3 times, attempting to swipe off hands in an unsuccessful manner. We proceed to lose 30-28. Second set we come out flat, they end up putting a pounding on us 30-23.
I can tolerate losing to the better team, and Harvard is a decent squad. However, we were playing WAY below our normal ability. Luckily, we snap out of it for sets 3 and 4 and win convincingly. Serve received started communicating more, our offense starts clicking, we're picking up more digs.
Unfortunately... set 5 starts a bit rough. Their middle is 6'9 and plays all the way around, and he catches fire. We go down 8-5 on the switch, and can't seem to chip away at their lead. Looking defeat in the eye at 14-10, we string together a few points to make it interesting, but a missed serve by Tally gives Harvard the 15-12 win as well as the match (I feel awful for Matt. Knowing the competitor he is, he'll dwell on that missed serve, but he was by far our most consistent player all night, as well as our best server, and if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have made it that far. Keep your head up bud).
The frustrating thing is, I don't feel like it was a matter of us being lazy or complacent, we simply didn't have our best stuff at the beginning, and although we picked it up towards the middle of the match, we finally met a team that took advantage of an opportunity when we gave it to them. It hurts to lose a match like that, but I have to keep telling myself that in the big picture, it has no effect on the goal at hand. Thursday's match at Endicott and Saturday's match at Rivier are much more important, and perhaps this is what we needed to toughen the skin so we're ready for those matches.
That's pretty much all I have to say about that. Today has been rough, but tomorrow's a new day. Time for bed.
One of Those Days...
I usually don't use this journal as a venting tool, but I feel that current thoughts could serve a purpose as it has to do with politics/frustrations of being a Division III athlete.
Not to get into detail, but we were called into the Athletic Director's office to get an exact number of money remaining for our fundraising efforts for the California trip. I had spent more time in this office than I had wanted to in December trying to save our trip. At the time, I was told that if everyone stayed on target from that point on in our raffle tickets, the trip would be good to go.
Long story short, this year we find out we have until Monday (6 days from now) to turn in the FULL year's fundraising amount of 1200 dollars. I will take responsibility in the fact that our contract had listed January 30th as the date that it was going to be due. On the other hand, it bothers me that it was never pointed out to us, and almost feel like it was a case of smoke & mirrors, as a) when the contract came about, we were pretty much focusing on the raffle portion, b) Jan. 30th came and went with no issues, nor was there a new date for it to be due, c) Previous years had given us the entire semester to do fundraising for it, d) why was there not more advance notice? Many of us are hundreds of dollars short. Had we known the date it was due, it probably would have changed the pace at which we were going. I know personally it would have changed mine.
Yesterday, I ran two suicides in practice for being late due to a miscommunication with a teammate, who said to a few of us that the leaving time for practice had changed when it indeed had not. No argument was made. Suicides were ran, practice went back to normal. After practice, I briefly talked with the coach, discussing the word-of-mouth error, and it was agreed that things need to be more concrete (e-mail was specifically mentioned).
Fast forward less than 24 hours, and I learn less than an hour before we're to head to Harvard that the time has changed. Word of mouth. From a player.
I don't ask for much, but it seems that the theme for the day (there are actually a few other things, but I figured whining about 2 sufficed for this post) is poor communication where in the end I'm being affected by it, which is a pet peeve. I suppose the lesson learned is to depend on others as little as possible and be thorough double checking situations. The joys of Division III.
Getting that off my chest, big match versus Harvard today! Did a little scouting report, and it looks as if they rely on 4 hitters, with that second middle position registering a total of 29 attempts in their 6(could be off one or two) matches. BIG senior middle, freshman 6'6 banger from Serbia that's mistake-prone, and 2 other outsides who get a decent amount of sets. Defense looks iffy. Definitely need to come to play tonight, but I'm confident. Time will tell.
Recap later tonight.
Not to get into detail, but we were called into the Athletic Director's office to get an exact number of money remaining for our fundraising efforts for the California trip. I had spent more time in this office than I had wanted to in December trying to save our trip. At the time, I was told that if everyone stayed on target from that point on in our raffle tickets, the trip would be good to go.
Long story short, this year we find out we have until Monday (6 days from now) to turn in the FULL year's fundraising amount of 1200 dollars. I will take responsibility in the fact that our contract had listed January 30th as the date that it was going to be due. On the other hand, it bothers me that it was never pointed out to us, and almost feel like it was a case of smoke & mirrors, as a) when the contract came about, we were pretty much focusing on the raffle portion, b) Jan. 30th came and went with no issues, nor was there a new date for it to be due, c) Previous years had given us the entire semester to do fundraising for it, d) why was there not more advance notice? Many of us are hundreds of dollars short. Had we known the date it was due, it probably would have changed the pace at which we were going. I know personally it would have changed mine.
Yesterday, I ran two suicides in practice for being late due to a miscommunication with a teammate, who said to a few of us that the leaving time for practice had changed when it indeed had not. No argument was made. Suicides were ran, practice went back to normal. After practice, I briefly talked with the coach, discussing the word-of-mouth error, and it was agreed that things need to be more concrete (e-mail was specifically mentioned).
Fast forward less than 24 hours, and I learn less than an hour before we're to head to Harvard that the time has changed. Word of mouth. From a player.
I don't ask for much, but it seems that the theme for the day (there are actually a few other things, but I figured whining about 2 sufficed for this post) is poor communication where in the end I'm being affected by it, which is a pet peeve. I suppose the lesson learned is to depend on others as little as possible and be thorough double checking situations. The joys of Division III.
Getting that off my chest, big match versus Harvard today! Did a little scouting report, and it looks as if they rely on 4 hitters, with that second middle position registering a total of 29 attempts in their 6(could be off one or two) matches. BIG senior middle, freshman 6'6 banger from Serbia that's mistake-prone, and 2 other outsides who get a decent amount of sets. Defense looks iffy. Definitely need to come to play tonight, but I'm confident. Time will tell.
Recap later tonight.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Recap of the Last Week, as well as Other Thoughts.
It's been awhile since I've written, just haven't had the energy to do so. I'll try to recap the majority of events.
Thursday we played Emerson, which we swept, although it wasn't pretty on our side of the net. I know I personally need to work on coming with the same intensity every match, because I struggle to play with the same fire against weaker teams that I get against the stronger ones.
Coach addressed the team as a whole on this the next day, and pretty much introduced the elephant in the room, as I don't think anyone was shocked by the concept that we weren't exactly burying certain teams the way we should. It seems like it was what we needed to hear, because we proceeded to have one of the best practices we've had all season.
The next morning (Saturday) we leave at 5:30 AM to head to Vermont for a tri-match vs. Southern Vermont and Lesley. Both teams were winless so far this season, but they were important matches to us for various reasons. First, they were conference games, and these are big no matter who is on the other side of the court. Also, it was going to be interesting to see whether we'd do what we did against Emerson, or come out of the gates playing up to our potential.
Which is exactly what we did. All 6 games were strong on our side of the net, and everyone got a little playing time. On a more interesting note to me personally, Tim Cole is the new Head Coach at Southern Vermont. Tim played for Juniata during 3 of their National Championships, and spent 2 years overseas, one in Germany and the other in Holland. After our match, I introduced myself and we talked a bit, seems like a really nice person, even told me to e-mail him if I had any questions on how to start my process of going overseas. Glad to have met him. More on thoughts that followed this later.
Sunday I ended up going with a teammate to watch the Endicott tournament, and it was definitely worth it! Talk about chaos, Emmanuel proceeds to lose to NJCU, then sweep Hunter and beat Baruch in 4. Endicott goes up 2 sets to 1 on Ramapo then loses in 5 (I swear, Ramapo loves playing that 5th game). Also, watching Rivier was nice before our huge match-up on Saturday. I'm doing my best to focus on the Harvard match tomorrow, but Rivier pops in my head every now and then. I'm glad I was able to see a preview of both Endicott/Rivier before our matches, I feel a bit more prepared, and am confident as long as we play as well as we have that we'll be 19-1 at the end of the week!
Back to overseas: I've been really struggling lately in the department of knowing what I want. The good news is, I've got plenty of options, and all of them appeal to me. The problem is I can't quite put my finger on which one wants to go first. The main concern is the ability to pay off my school loans. That being said, the Grad Assistant option (hopping on at a college as a volunteer assistant coach, in exchange for tuition being paid while I get my Master's, get a second job, chip away at my loans while deferring them an additional 2 years), seems to be the safest choice.
However...
If you hadn't figured it out by the title of this blog, I want to play volleyball professionally overseas. Really badly. Although it most likely won't be as fruitful financially right off the bat, I DO feel it would help me long term. Reasons being: The overall once-in-a-lifetime experience. The extra chapter it would add to my story as I'd like to be a motivational speaker (specifically to schools). As I want to give volleyball clinics, it would establish more credibility, and most likely allow me to command a higher hourly rate (or at least look more appealing to the potential client). It would also be nice to add to the resume when looking for coaching jobs. I can go back to school for my Masters, but as Tim told me Saturday, "your skills only get worse once you graduate", which makes me feel like this is a one-shot opportunity.
In general, this is how my mind works. The funny thing is, when I'm on the court, I'm completely focused at the tasks at hand. Nothing else clouds my mind. My success has mostly been derived from the ability to go one play at a time, no matter what has happened, and if there's a change it most likely is for the better (usually a player saying something under the net that fires me up and sharpens my focus even more somehow). Once I step off that court, I can't shut my mind down. I over-analyze, break down gamefilm, and find myself struggling to sleep because my brain won't shut up. It's a blessing that all of my little quirks disappear on the court, because otherwise I would most likely be better off as a waterboy than an actual participant.
Anyways, enough ranting for now. I need to shower and get ready for the first RA interview, as my financial situation has caused me to attempt to sign up for it next year. Although I was pessimistic at the idea at first, I find myself kind of excited, as it'll provide a good experience that hopefully will teach me a lot.
Practice from 7-9, then the big game versus Harvard tomorrow!
Thursday we played Emerson, which we swept, although it wasn't pretty on our side of the net. I know I personally need to work on coming with the same intensity every match, because I struggle to play with the same fire against weaker teams that I get against the stronger ones.
Coach addressed the team as a whole on this the next day, and pretty much introduced the elephant in the room, as I don't think anyone was shocked by the concept that we weren't exactly burying certain teams the way we should. It seems like it was what we needed to hear, because we proceeded to have one of the best practices we've had all season.
The next morning (Saturday) we leave at 5:30 AM to head to Vermont for a tri-match vs. Southern Vermont and Lesley. Both teams were winless so far this season, but they were important matches to us for various reasons. First, they were conference games, and these are big no matter who is on the other side of the court. Also, it was going to be interesting to see whether we'd do what we did against Emerson, or come out of the gates playing up to our potential.
Which is exactly what we did. All 6 games were strong on our side of the net, and everyone got a little playing time. On a more interesting note to me personally, Tim Cole is the new Head Coach at Southern Vermont. Tim played for Juniata during 3 of their National Championships, and spent 2 years overseas, one in Germany and the other in Holland. After our match, I introduced myself and we talked a bit, seems like a really nice person, even told me to e-mail him if I had any questions on how to start my process of going overseas. Glad to have met him. More on thoughts that followed this later.
Sunday I ended up going with a teammate to watch the Endicott tournament, and it was definitely worth it! Talk about chaos, Emmanuel proceeds to lose to NJCU, then sweep Hunter and beat Baruch in 4. Endicott goes up 2 sets to 1 on Ramapo then loses in 5 (I swear, Ramapo loves playing that 5th game). Also, watching Rivier was nice before our huge match-up on Saturday. I'm doing my best to focus on the Harvard match tomorrow, but Rivier pops in my head every now and then. I'm glad I was able to see a preview of both Endicott/Rivier before our matches, I feel a bit more prepared, and am confident as long as we play as well as we have that we'll be 19-1 at the end of the week!
Back to overseas: I've been really struggling lately in the department of knowing what I want. The good news is, I've got plenty of options, and all of them appeal to me. The problem is I can't quite put my finger on which one wants to go first. The main concern is the ability to pay off my school loans. That being said, the Grad Assistant option (hopping on at a college as a volunteer assistant coach, in exchange for tuition being paid while I get my Master's, get a second job, chip away at my loans while deferring them an additional 2 years), seems to be the safest choice.
However...
If you hadn't figured it out by the title of this blog, I want to play volleyball professionally overseas. Really badly. Although it most likely won't be as fruitful financially right off the bat, I DO feel it would help me long term. Reasons being: The overall once-in-a-lifetime experience. The extra chapter it would add to my story as I'd like to be a motivational speaker (specifically to schools). As I want to give volleyball clinics, it would establish more credibility, and most likely allow me to command a higher hourly rate (or at least look more appealing to the potential client). It would also be nice to add to the resume when looking for coaching jobs. I can go back to school for my Masters, but as Tim told me Saturday, "your skills only get worse once you graduate", which makes me feel like this is a one-shot opportunity.
In general, this is how my mind works. The funny thing is, when I'm on the court, I'm completely focused at the tasks at hand. Nothing else clouds my mind. My success has mostly been derived from the ability to go one play at a time, no matter what has happened, and if there's a change it most likely is for the better (usually a player saying something under the net that fires me up and sharpens my focus even more somehow). Once I step off that court, I can't shut my mind down. I over-analyze, break down gamefilm, and find myself struggling to sleep because my brain won't shut up. It's a blessing that all of my little quirks disappear on the court, because otherwise I would most likely be better off as a waterboy than an actual participant.
Anyways, enough ranting for now. I need to shower and get ready for the first RA interview, as my financial situation has caused me to attempt to sign up for it next year. Although I was pessimistic at the idea at first, I find myself kind of excited, as it'll provide a good experience that hopefully will teach me a lot.
Practice from 7-9, then the big game versus Harvard tomorrow!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Bubonic Plague? Also, My First Collegiate Match as a Setter.
I write this blog thankful for my health. I had been feeling under the weather the week before, but NOTHING compared to what half my teammates have been going through the last couple days. I won't even go into details about it, but it pretty much shuts the people afflicted with it down for a good 2-3 days. Some sort of flu I suppose, although after hearing about 2 lab rats that disappeared which they injected with Bubonic Plague, I have my suspicions! Ok... maybe it's not the plague, but I've been nervous about getting sick, especially with both my roommates apparently having the worst of it.
So last night we had a match against New Haven, who seems to be having a transition year, although as a Division II team you can never take them for granted. Although we only were one player short on Saturday's tournament due to the sickness, there were FOUR players experiencing the effects of it yesterday.. including both setters.
The starting setter can't even come to the game it's so bad. The second-stringer plays the first game, but as he was up all night and unable to eat much during the day, you can tell he's drained. We put up a good fight, but they end up taking the first set 30-28.
With the setter pretty much out of steam, I get thrown into setting, which I enjoy doing at practice, but the stakes were a bit higher this time around. Still, I had all four starting hitters around me, as well as scrappy defense. I huddled the guys up, asked them to be patient, keep the intensity up, communicate to let me know what adjustments they want on the ball and we'd take it from there.
Luckily for me, my job was easy, as everyone played GREAT. Serve receive was practically flawless. The hitters were bombing, and even when the set wasn't there, they made a smart shot and let the defense do their thing. The block was huge, and the backrow was scrappy. Add some aggressive serving to that, and we cruised through the next 3 sets, winning 30-23, 30-20, 30-16. Congrats to Mark Thomas, 4th guy in school history with 1,000 kills! He hit for a ridiculous 24-1-34 hitting line, I would throw the ball anywhere in his vicinity and he'd put it down.
I had 8 kills, 10 digs, 29 assists, 3 aces, and 2 blocks to finish the night. Still looking for my first career triple-double, and bummed that I was only 2 kills away, but we got the win and so I can't complain. That being said, I hope the team is never desperate enough to need me to set again :).
Coach gave us the day off so the sick people can get better, and I'll be using it to catch up on all my work. This has been the most difficult semester by far, and it's going to take a LOT of work, but if I get through this, the last year should be a great one.
We've got three pretty easy matches coming up, then the real tests of the month: Harvard, Endicott, Rivier, and Elms. Endicott will basically be the NECVA New England regular season championship, and Rivier will be a HUGE statement match. We're 13-1, ranked 7th in the nation. They're 11-1, ranked 6th in the nation. We've gone 4-2 against them the last 2 years, with 3 of those matches being decided by 5 games. I love the rivalry, and look forward to getting the first win at their gym in Newbury history!
Anyways, time for dinner. Feeling energetic, slept a DEEP 9 hours last night, best night of sleep I've had at Newbury! Probably will turn into another post tonight.
So last night we had a match against New Haven, who seems to be having a transition year, although as a Division II team you can never take them for granted. Although we only were one player short on Saturday's tournament due to the sickness, there were FOUR players experiencing the effects of it yesterday.. including both setters.
The starting setter can't even come to the game it's so bad. The second-stringer plays the first game, but as he was up all night and unable to eat much during the day, you can tell he's drained. We put up a good fight, but they end up taking the first set 30-28.
With the setter pretty much out of steam, I get thrown into setting, which I enjoy doing at practice, but the stakes were a bit higher this time around. Still, I had all four starting hitters around me, as well as scrappy defense. I huddled the guys up, asked them to be patient, keep the intensity up, communicate to let me know what adjustments they want on the ball and we'd take it from there.
Luckily for me, my job was easy, as everyone played GREAT. Serve receive was practically flawless. The hitters were bombing, and even when the set wasn't there, they made a smart shot and let the defense do their thing. The block was huge, and the backrow was scrappy. Add some aggressive serving to that, and we cruised through the next 3 sets, winning 30-23, 30-20, 30-16. Congrats to Mark Thomas, 4th guy in school history with 1,000 kills! He hit for a ridiculous 24-1-34 hitting line, I would throw the ball anywhere in his vicinity and he'd put it down.
I had 8 kills, 10 digs, 29 assists, 3 aces, and 2 blocks to finish the night. Still looking for my first career triple-double, and bummed that I was only 2 kills away, but we got the win and so I can't complain. That being said, I hope the team is never desperate enough to need me to set again :).
Coach gave us the day off so the sick people can get better, and I'll be using it to catch up on all my work. This has been the most difficult semester by far, and it's going to take a LOT of work, but if I get through this, the last year should be a great one.
We've got three pretty easy matches coming up, then the real tests of the month: Harvard, Endicott, Rivier, and Elms. Endicott will basically be the NECVA New England regular season championship, and Rivier will be a HUGE statement match. We're 13-1, ranked 7th in the nation. They're 11-1, ranked 6th in the nation. We've gone 4-2 against them the last 2 years, with 3 of those matches being decided by 5 games. I love the rivalry, and look forward to getting the first win at their gym in Newbury history!
Anyways, time for dinner. Feeling energetic, slept a DEEP 9 hours last night, best night of sleep I've had at Newbury! Probably will turn into another post tonight.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Playing to our Potential, 3-Peat, and the Road Ahead.
We're off today, and I know it's a much-needed day of rest, especially with Division II Rival New Haven coming to town tomorrow. We've played them the last two years at their gym, losing a 5-set heartbreaker my freshman year, then getting revenge in a 4-set win last year. I'm looking forward to taking the rubbermatch from them!
We played in the Gothic Knights' Tournament this year, which is hosted by New Jersey City University. We've won the past two years, and were excited for the chance to make it a three-peat. A rough start to the tournament as our other starting outside was sick as a dog, and ended up sleeping on the bleachers all tournament. Still, we had plenty of players ready to rise to the occasion, and played what I felt was some of our best ball since I've been at the school.
This was almost a relief, as Thursday we swept Wentworth, but did so in a very ugly manner. There was no energy on the court, the people on the sidelines weren't clapping or celebrating, and to be blunt, it was a boring match to watch because we certainly didn't do anything special. I felt like we needed a spark, and for whatever reason we ended up finding it at the tournament.
Our first match was against SUNY-IT, who was still looking for their first win of the season. The second-string hit the floor, and really did a good job! Defense was strong, hitters put the ball away, and the energy was great. We won 30-22 30-22 30-11. Next up: SUNY New Paltz.
SUNY New Paltz is an interesting team. I didn't remember much about them because last year when we played them in a tri-match at Elms I ended up getting sick and passed out on the bleachers (perhaps we're allergic to them). I knew from their wins over MIT/Emmanuel that they were no joke this season, and figured the winner of this match would win the tournament.
They have a 6'4 senior middle that plays all the way around, a decent 6'8 freshman middle, a couple bigger hitters at the pins, and a somewhat versatile offense. However, their setter is 5'5, so that provided for some BIG mismatches on the outside. I felt our defense was stronger as well, and that our 4th/5th hitting options were stronger than theirs.
We come out hot the first game, serving aggressively, blocking well, making them force shots and hit error after error. We out-hit them .364 to .094, and cruised to a 30-19 win. Game 2 is a bit different, with both teams trading points back and forth. New Paltz is starting to run more combo plays, and catching more solo blocks, even getting a no-block or two in the process. Still, good teams find a way to win even when it's ugly, and despite them outhitting us .314 to .171 we squeaked out a 30-28 win. Game 3 we start playing much scrappier defense, picking up a lot of strong hits by them. They're playing well but we refuse to give them any ground, and although we failed to finish on the first few match points we had, we end up winning 30-25 to take the sweep.
This puts us in the finals, and although we've played NJCU the last two years, Stevenson (formerly Villa Julie) beats them in 4 to earn a trip to the finals against us. They have a couple strong hitters, but with a smaller setter and suspect defense, I felt that as long as we played our game we'd have no problem. And sure enough, it was one of the best all-around matches we've played. We didn't get aced once. We had no hitting errors the third game, and hit .402 for the match. Six of our players had 5 kills or more. We blocked well, and our serve receive was about as good as it gets. We ended up winning 30-18, 30-25, 30-11, to take home our third championship in a row!
I honestly thought everyone pulled their weight and then some. Everyone had brought something to the table, and when we're able to get production from everyone, I don't think there's a team we can't beat in Division III. It'll be nice to have Beck back tomorrow hopefully, but it's good to know that when he's not around there are plenty of people able to fill that void.
Individually, I've been on a decent stretch. I'm taking less swings, but my production is about the same. In the last six matches, I've hit 76-20-154 (.364), 13 aces, 61 digs, and 8 blocks (through 19 sets). Because of the lower amount of sets, I feel like all my other numbers are much better, as I'm not nearly as tired towards the end of matches. I'm hoping to only continue getting better, as I don't feel like I'm doing anything incredibly special, just playing consistent all-around volleyball. With any luck this is only the beginning!
I need to do homework, but I have other thoughts I'll try to post later. We're 12-1, with a big 2 weeks ahead of us, starting with New Haven tomorrow, as well as matches versus Harvard/Elms/Emmanuel/Rivier. Looking forward to it!
We played in the Gothic Knights' Tournament this year, which is hosted by New Jersey City University. We've won the past two years, and were excited for the chance to make it a three-peat. A rough start to the tournament as our other starting outside was sick as a dog, and ended up sleeping on the bleachers all tournament. Still, we had plenty of players ready to rise to the occasion, and played what I felt was some of our best ball since I've been at the school.
This was almost a relief, as Thursday we swept Wentworth, but did so in a very ugly manner. There was no energy on the court, the people on the sidelines weren't clapping or celebrating, and to be blunt, it was a boring match to watch because we certainly didn't do anything special. I felt like we needed a spark, and for whatever reason we ended up finding it at the tournament.
Our first match was against SUNY-IT, who was still looking for their first win of the season. The second-string hit the floor, and really did a good job! Defense was strong, hitters put the ball away, and the energy was great. We won 30-22 30-22 30-11. Next up: SUNY New Paltz.
SUNY New Paltz is an interesting team. I didn't remember much about them because last year when we played them in a tri-match at Elms I ended up getting sick and passed out on the bleachers (perhaps we're allergic to them). I knew from their wins over MIT/Emmanuel that they were no joke this season, and figured the winner of this match would win the tournament.
They have a 6'4 senior middle that plays all the way around, a decent 6'8 freshman middle, a couple bigger hitters at the pins, and a somewhat versatile offense. However, their setter is 5'5, so that provided for some BIG mismatches on the outside. I felt our defense was stronger as well, and that our 4th/5th hitting options were stronger than theirs.
We come out hot the first game, serving aggressively, blocking well, making them force shots and hit error after error. We out-hit them .364 to .094, and cruised to a 30-19 win. Game 2 is a bit different, with both teams trading points back and forth. New Paltz is starting to run more combo plays, and catching more solo blocks, even getting a no-block or two in the process. Still, good teams find a way to win even when it's ugly, and despite them outhitting us .314 to .171 we squeaked out a 30-28 win. Game 3 we start playing much scrappier defense, picking up a lot of strong hits by them. They're playing well but we refuse to give them any ground, and although we failed to finish on the first few match points we had, we end up winning 30-25 to take the sweep.
This puts us in the finals, and although we've played NJCU the last two years, Stevenson (formerly Villa Julie) beats them in 4 to earn a trip to the finals against us. They have a couple strong hitters, but with a smaller setter and suspect defense, I felt that as long as we played our game we'd have no problem. And sure enough, it was one of the best all-around matches we've played. We didn't get aced once. We had no hitting errors the third game, and hit .402 for the match. Six of our players had 5 kills or more. We blocked well, and our serve receive was about as good as it gets. We ended up winning 30-18, 30-25, 30-11, to take home our third championship in a row!
I honestly thought everyone pulled their weight and then some. Everyone had brought something to the table, and when we're able to get production from everyone, I don't think there's a team we can't beat in Division III. It'll be nice to have Beck back tomorrow hopefully, but it's good to know that when he's not around there are plenty of people able to fill that void.
Individually, I've been on a decent stretch. I'm taking less swings, but my production is about the same. In the last six matches, I've hit 76-20-154 (.364), 13 aces, 61 digs, and 8 blocks (through 19 sets). Because of the lower amount of sets, I feel like all my other numbers are much better, as I'm not nearly as tired towards the end of matches. I'm hoping to only continue getting better, as I don't feel like I'm doing anything incredibly special, just playing consistent all-around volleyball. With any luck this is only the beginning!
I need to do homework, but I have other thoughts I'll try to post later. We're 12-1, with a big 2 weeks ahead of us, starting with New Haven tomorrow, as well as matches versus Harvard/Elms/Emmanuel/Rivier. Looking forward to it!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Talented to a Fault.
Ugh. Something's been going around campus, and I believe it's finally caught up to me. I find myself tired all the time... even though I'm going to bed earlier and waking up later. Trying to Emergen-C it away, but so far no luck.
On a positive note, we beat MIT for the first time in four years Tuesday, and I had a decent box score of 18 kills on .304 hitting, 13 digs, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 aces. The last two games were brutal, I believe the scores were 30-18 30-20. However, we gave them the first game of the match, so it took us four sets to put them away.
We're 8-1 on the season, losing a nailbiter 15-13 in the fifth to Ramapo early on in the season that could have gone either way. Other than that, we've been pretty convincing in our wins. When things click, this team has something special going for it. However...
It seems like lately we've been turning it on and off at will. I don't believe that it's intentional, but I do feel like our focus going into games is a bit shaky. Our warmups look sloppy, and our killer instinct is a far cry from our energy at BU. We played some AWFUL teams then, but never used that as an excuse to play down.
The scary thing is, we always seem to turn it around and punish the teams... to the point where I can't even pinpoint how we drop games to these teams. I think the big difference is how we treat each other on the court. Last year, we were clique-ish, and when someone made a mistake, certain people would get aggravated with them. With this team? Everyone works hard for the most part. Everyone gets along. When someone makes a mistake, everyone tries to pick them up. No grudges are held overall. But when we come out flat, we seem to get more frustrated with ourselves individually, which affects our energy on the court. Once we get the energy back though... it's unbelievable how well we play sometimes. I feel like if we consistently brought that to the table, we'd be a front-runner for the National Championship.
Eventually, a team is going to make us pay if we come out flat, continually pushing us back and not relinquishing their leads. How do you keep everyone up from the first point to the last? We still haven't quite figured it out. I hope we do it on our own rather than learning the hard way, with some tough matches coming up in the next few weeks with New Haven, New Paltz, Harvard, Rivier, Elms, and Endicott.
The sky's the limit, but we need to continually push forward. I'm a bit concerned short-term with how we come out of the gate, but things WILL pick up. Individually, I've had a nice 3-match stretch, compiling 53 kills, 33 digs, 8 aces, and 6 blocks in 11 games. I feel like I've been cutting down on my errors, simply making smarter decisions, and not forcing shots when the set isn't there. Amazing what happens when you play smart, who would have thought?
Anyways, going to take a power nap, head to dinner, and then we're off to Wentworth. They've taken a game from MIT, and they have an outside putting up monster numbers, so we can't take them lightly. However, if we play our game we should be 9-1 heading into our tournament this weekend. Time will tell. Wish us luck!
On a positive note, we beat MIT for the first time in four years Tuesday, and I had a decent box score of 18 kills on .304 hitting, 13 digs, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 aces. The last two games were brutal, I believe the scores were 30-18 30-20. However, we gave them the first game of the match, so it took us four sets to put them away.
We're 8-1 on the season, losing a nailbiter 15-13 in the fifth to Ramapo early on in the season that could have gone either way. Other than that, we've been pretty convincing in our wins. When things click, this team has something special going for it. However...
It seems like lately we've been turning it on and off at will. I don't believe that it's intentional, but I do feel like our focus going into games is a bit shaky. Our warmups look sloppy, and our killer instinct is a far cry from our energy at BU. We played some AWFUL teams then, but never used that as an excuse to play down.
The scary thing is, we always seem to turn it around and punish the teams... to the point where I can't even pinpoint how we drop games to these teams. I think the big difference is how we treat each other on the court. Last year, we were clique-ish, and when someone made a mistake, certain people would get aggravated with them. With this team? Everyone works hard for the most part. Everyone gets along. When someone makes a mistake, everyone tries to pick them up. No grudges are held overall. But when we come out flat, we seem to get more frustrated with ourselves individually, which affects our energy on the court. Once we get the energy back though... it's unbelievable how well we play sometimes. I feel like if we consistently brought that to the table, we'd be a front-runner for the National Championship.
Eventually, a team is going to make us pay if we come out flat, continually pushing us back and not relinquishing their leads. How do you keep everyone up from the first point to the last? We still haven't quite figured it out. I hope we do it on our own rather than learning the hard way, with some tough matches coming up in the next few weeks with New Haven, New Paltz, Harvard, Rivier, Elms, and Endicott.
The sky's the limit, but we need to continually push forward. I'm a bit concerned short-term with how we come out of the gate, but things WILL pick up. Individually, I've had a nice 3-match stretch, compiling 53 kills, 33 digs, 8 aces, and 6 blocks in 11 games. I feel like I've been cutting down on my errors, simply making smarter decisions, and not forcing shots when the set isn't there. Amazing what happens when you play smart, who would have thought?
Anyways, going to take a power nap, head to dinner, and then we're off to Wentworth. They've taken a game from MIT, and they have an outside putting up monster numbers, so we can't take them lightly. However, if we play our game we should be 9-1 heading into our tournament this weekend. Time will tell. Wish us luck!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Hitting my Stride, and a Wonderful Birthday Weekend.
It's been awhile since my last post, but there's been so many things going on this weekend that I haven't had a chance to put all my thoughts on here.
After a couple practices Thursday/Friday, we had the big game at Elms on Saturday. This game was FULL of meaning. First off, Elms is in the NECC/NECVA New England. The NECC is a first-year conference, and we're really the only two strong teams in it, so this match was essentially the regular-season championship. On top of that, with Endicott/MIT/Elms all in NECVA New England, we can't afford to drop any games to them. The seeding for the NECVA tournament is very important, especially with the conference being pretty top-heavy this season. With the addition of Saquiel (Former member on Puerto Rican National Team), they looked to be a force. He made his debut with the team a couple days before as they played #1-in-the-nation Springfield, and although they were swept, the first two games were 33-31 and 39-37. This was not going to be easy.
My birthday was Sunday, and I had asked my dad to come visit as I'd been a bit more homesick than normal this year. He had seen me play 2 other matches, but both were against D-I/II competition, and I figured it'd be nice to show him how I can play at my own level. It'd be nice to have him see a win before I graduate! :)
On top of that, Dave was going to have a memorial service before/after the game. Tomorrow will be 6 months since he passed. It still is something I'm coping with, and I was a bit nervous to see how I would react to all of that.
The ceremony was absolutely phenomenal. Kudos to the Elms staff, they did a fantastic job. So many memories flooded my mind in such a short period of time. Pulling in the BK Parking lot and seeing him get off the train. The dinner where we first discussed the team. Picking me up from the airport for my visit. A couple fights on the court, and a couple silent nods of approval from others. Talks in the basement, including our last one. So many things... but although I still miss him a lot, I was filled with happiness to have known him as well as I did.
The game starts. Sideouts on both sides keeps the game close. Elms surprisingly starts by establishing the middle, which is the weakest position they have on the floor. Tally (setter) does a great job utilizing every mis-match on every play, and we basically dare the team to stop us as all 5 of our hitters are able to do damage. We start to pull away, and end up on top 30-22.
The second game is much of the same, and although we had a comfortable lead at one point, we let them back into the game. I go back to serve at 28-28, and jump serve an ace down the line at 29-28. Getting a bit excited, I proceed to launch the next one to the backwall (oops) which proves to be costly as we lost 30-32.
Game 3 we come out hot, taking a 19-12 lead. As usual, we start to let the other team back in the game, making it close again, and I started to get that feeling I had at the BU tournament, where every play looks like its in slow motion. With some great passing, draws by Max (who had a career day as far as I'm concerned), and picture-perfect sets by Tally, I put down 29 and 30 for a 30-27 win.
Game 4 starts and we're trading points back and forth. We finally break off to a 21-16 lead, but serve receive (specifically me) melts, and we give up a 6-0 run to give them a 22-21 lead. We quickly snapped out of it, and ended up finishing the game 30-26, giving us the match!
We hit .349 as a team, compared to Elms' .220. They had good serve receive and a tough attack, but when all 5 of your primary hitters hit over .350, it's gonna take a lot to lose the match. They are still getting the kinks out of their system, and when they come to our gym on Feb. 26, I expect that it won't be as easy.
Individually, I had my second strong game in a row. Other than my little serve receive drought at the end of the match, my passing was decent, and I finished with 20 kills, 11 digs, 4 assists, 2 block assists, and an ace. I'm starting to see the court better, as well as make good decisions instead of blasting away on every point. My jump serve is finally coming around, and I hope to continue using it to keep teams on their heels in matches to come.
The next day was my birthday, and my dad's 8:55 AM call wasn't exactly a present I was looking for! However, his time in town was limited, so I wasn't mad about it. We went down to Quincy Market/Newbury street and just shot the breeze as we went into random shops looking around. A brief nap afterwards, then back to the hotel with a couple friends to meet him at their restaurant to watch the Super Bowl. Lots of laughs, good food, and a great game... low-key while still a lot of fun. I'm not big on celebrating my birthday, but it was definitely one of the best ones I've had!
Dad flew back today after we had lunch. It was really good seeing him, and a quick reminder on why I could never go a summer without heading back to Chicago. I'm enjoying the season, but it's always nice in May to head back home and be around friends and family there. It was a good break from the normal grind!
However, we were back to work at practice today, and tomorrow we play MIT at home. BIG GAME. They seem to be in a transition year, but we've never beaten them (they were the only D-III team to beat us at home last season). I look forward to redemption!
Getting late, off to bed. Update after the match.
After a couple practices Thursday/Friday, we had the big game at Elms on Saturday. This game was FULL of meaning. First off, Elms is in the NECC/NECVA New England. The NECC is a first-year conference, and we're really the only two strong teams in it, so this match was essentially the regular-season championship. On top of that, with Endicott/MIT/Elms all in NECVA New England, we can't afford to drop any games to them. The seeding for the NECVA tournament is very important, especially with the conference being pretty top-heavy this season. With the addition of Saquiel (Former member on Puerto Rican National Team), they looked to be a force. He made his debut with the team a couple days before as they played #1-in-the-nation Springfield, and although they were swept, the first two games were 33-31 and 39-37. This was not going to be easy.
My birthday was Sunday, and I had asked my dad to come visit as I'd been a bit more homesick than normal this year. He had seen me play 2 other matches, but both were against D-I/II competition, and I figured it'd be nice to show him how I can play at my own level. It'd be nice to have him see a win before I graduate! :)
On top of that, Dave was going to have a memorial service before/after the game. Tomorrow will be 6 months since he passed. It still is something I'm coping with, and I was a bit nervous to see how I would react to all of that.
The ceremony was absolutely phenomenal. Kudos to the Elms staff, they did a fantastic job. So many memories flooded my mind in such a short period of time. Pulling in the BK Parking lot and seeing him get off the train. The dinner where we first discussed the team. Picking me up from the airport for my visit. A couple fights on the court, and a couple silent nods of approval from others. Talks in the basement, including our last one. So many things... but although I still miss him a lot, I was filled with happiness to have known him as well as I did.
The game starts. Sideouts on both sides keeps the game close. Elms surprisingly starts by establishing the middle, which is the weakest position they have on the floor. Tally (setter) does a great job utilizing every mis-match on every play, and we basically dare the team to stop us as all 5 of our hitters are able to do damage. We start to pull away, and end up on top 30-22.
The second game is much of the same, and although we had a comfortable lead at one point, we let them back into the game. I go back to serve at 28-28, and jump serve an ace down the line at 29-28. Getting a bit excited, I proceed to launch the next one to the backwall (oops) which proves to be costly as we lost 30-32.
Game 3 we come out hot, taking a 19-12 lead. As usual, we start to let the other team back in the game, making it close again, and I started to get that feeling I had at the BU tournament, where every play looks like its in slow motion. With some great passing, draws by Max (who had a career day as far as I'm concerned), and picture-perfect sets by Tally, I put down 29 and 30 for a 30-27 win.
Game 4 starts and we're trading points back and forth. We finally break off to a 21-16 lead, but serve receive (specifically me) melts, and we give up a 6-0 run to give them a 22-21 lead. We quickly snapped out of it, and ended up finishing the game 30-26, giving us the match!
We hit .349 as a team, compared to Elms' .220. They had good serve receive and a tough attack, but when all 5 of your primary hitters hit over .350, it's gonna take a lot to lose the match. They are still getting the kinks out of their system, and when they come to our gym on Feb. 26, I expect that it won't be as easy.
Individually, I had my second strong game in a row. Other than my little serve receive drought at the end of the match, my passing was decent, and I finished with 20 kills, 11 digs, 4 assists, 2 block assists, and an ace. I'm starting to see the court better, as well as make good decisions instead of blasting away on every point. My jump serve is finally coming around, and I hope to continue using it to keep teams on their heels in matches to come.
The next day was my birthday, and my dad's 8:55 AM call wasn't exactly a present I was looking for! However, his time in town was limited, so I wasn't mad about it. We went down to Quincy Market/Newbury street and just shot the breeze as we went into random shops looking around. A brief nap afterwards, then back to the hotel with a couple friends to meet him at their restaurant to watch the Super Bowl. Lots of laughs, good food, and a great game... low-key while still a lot of fun. I'm not big on celebrating my birthday, but it was definitely one of the best ones I've had!
Dad flew back today after we had lunch. It was really good seeing him, and a quick reminder on why I could never go a summer without heading back to Chicago. I'm enjoying the season, but it's always nice in May to head back home and be around friends and family there. It was a good break from the normal grind!
However, we were back to work at practice today, and tomorrow we play MIT at home. BIG GAME. They seem to be in a transition year, but we've never beaten them (they were the only D-III team to beat us at home last season). I look forward to redemption!
Getting late, off to bed. Update after the match.
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