14's GOLD came to play in RENO!!!
Kirsten Day
7/8/2008 6:29:32 PM
What an amazing week!!
We came into the tournament as the 49th seed out of 140 teams. We never fell below 49. The girls came to play and raise their game at just the right time.
SUNDAY -
We started off with the #118 seed - Channel Island
We won the first game 25-13. We played very well....stayed focus throughout the match....struggled a bit with serving but a total team effort helped us push forward and take the first game. The second game we won 25-14. Another great effort by all. For the first match of the tournament our defense was really moving well. Mikaela had a great kill outside....our passing was strong so we were able to use all hitters. A great way to start it off for sure!!
We then had to face the #22 seed OCVBC-Crush from California.
I think we lost our focus because of the seed. We didn't play our game and let Crush control the entire match. This team was beatable but the numbers played with our heads. We lost 13-25 / 14-25.
Our third match in pool play was against the #92 seed - Capital City
I felt this team was weaker than the #118 seed. The girls redeemed themselves with this match. A nice job by all. Solid defense and keeping the ball in play and letting them make the mistakes helped us keep the momentum on our side. We won 25-13 / 25-18
We finished 2nd in our pool so at this point we are sill 49th. But we have to play a challenge match against the #64 team - Northwest Juniors from Seattle. First game was a great game. Girls worked hard...again keeping focused and staying aggressive we took the first game 25-18. The second game NW Juniors came back and wanted to win!! We found ourselves down 7 points....then coming back to tie 19-19. It was very exciting!! Some wonderful plays made to get the point our side out. But in the end we lost our focus and our serve receive and we lost 23-25. Third game.....we are down 9-12!! at that point the girls new what was at stake and they played some incredible volleyball!! We tied...no easy feat!! SOOO scary!!! But the girls showed confidence and took care of the ball and pulled out the win 15-13!! WHEW!!! This was a heart stopper and I told the girls NEVER again!! (they didnt listen to me....you will read on.....) We kept our seed after Sunday.
MONDAY -
We started off with the #15 Seed in bracket play - Sport Shack. It was an awesome game from the beginning. Again the girls came to play.....we had many soft blocks this game which allowed our defense to make the pass so we could run our offense. Our defense was "ON". Mikaela and Nicole both made some great digs at left back. Everyone made that extra effort.....they gave it their all...they looked like they were having fun and loved the competition. We lost this game 16-25. But the score does not really reflect the way the match was played. To me, I didnt care if we had lost. The girls played incredibly!!! Second game - so much fun to watch!!! An amazing job by all! We came just a bit short 21-25 but they had to earn every point!!
We then played the #48 seed - Balboa - Ouch! this one hurt! We lost our intensity big time!! Not consistent....just not there....we lost 16-25. Second game with a little coaxing from the 'ol coach we brought the intensity back.....we gave that effort that was needed....again made some plays that we hadn't done all year.....and Mollie moved the ball around to all her hitters and ran a quick offense. Now, as you know service is a must!! We had struggled with this Monday and a bit today as well....but this was our 6th match, 13th game, soon to be 14th game.....and Maddie had yet to miss a serve!!! We had already had some very close, pressure games and Maddie came thru every time. That is amazing!!! We won the second 25-17, thanks to Maddie's serves and everyones great effort. So we play a third game.....and we are UP 11-2!!! YEA!! It looks good!! This is great!! SCREEEEEECH!! The brakes come on!! Serve recieve relaxes.....Balboa battles back to tie it 11-11!!! (I told you they didnt listen to me!) But the girls never quit. They made some key blocks and stayed calm and took the game and match 15-12!! WHEW!!!! Do you really need to do it this way girls?????
Then the #31 Seed - Ripcurls Blue
Great effort....solid play...incredible team work. Just really stepped their game up and made ripcurls earn every point. A great match to watch. We came up short on this one 22-25. Second game WOW!!! Again, they came out strong and aggressive. Confidence you could really see. We took this game 25-22. The third game we found ourselves down 9-13 again did not give up made every play count and did an awesome job....but they got us 12-15. Who cares right? When you watch incredible play.....the team and player improvement.....and the girls competing and having fun!!!
Our last match of the day in bracket play was against the # 34 seed - EPIC
This game was back and forth.....slow moving.....but we kept up with them.....playing sideout. We lost 21-25 with a good effort. Hmmm......no notes on the second game.... :(
We finished Monday moving up one seed to #48
TUESDAY -
Back to pool play against #26 Saddleback
My notes say "AWESOME!" We fought for every point. Defense was amazing. Reading and making plays that we hadnt done all year. So fun to watch the improvement!!! 100% effort!! We won 25-22. Just some history.....Saddleback Club is a very strong club....always is every year. Their number #1 team was in the finals this year.....That is a tremendous win for us. Second game Lost focus!! UGH!! Nothing going right....we were down 23-4 and made a push and lost 25-14. So again, a third game....girls worked hard....didnt hand it to them....good job but in the end Saddleback won 15-10.
Next we played # 53 Elite We won the first game 25-20 with excellent team work, tough defense and hitters hitting well and placing theirs sets and moving the ball around. Second game again my notes say "AWESOME!!!!" Great defensive dig!! - solid attacks - service was key!! and still counting Maddie has still not missed a serve!! Are you kidding me!!! The offense was moved around well by Mollie.....the hitters saw that this team really never put up a block and we took advantage of it. We really started blocking well in this tournament and had some solid blocks in this game. We win 25-20 again.
Last for the day we played Oahu from Hawaii - #41. All day I had watched this team....they were 2-0 and the team to beat. Very scrappy!!....hardly missed their serves.....never really showed blockers.....I knew they were beatable if we played like we had all day....but we were going to have to be ready to play long rallies and again give that 100% effort. All I can say was this was our best game of the tournament! We won 25-12. Our service was amazing....not an error on our side....but plenty on theirs and we took advantage of it. Everyone was playing their position perfectly. They were all "ON!" I was truly proud of this team after that game.....they have come a long way and it was awesome to see. Second game we lost 18-25....no notes......BUT the third game there are notes BIGGGGG notes!!! "INCREDIBLE EFFORT!!!!" "AMAZING!!!!" We beat them in the third 15-7. Never looked back! We had total control of this game from beginning to end. What a great match for these girls. Their best!! By us beating them we ended up in a 3 way tie for first. We won more games than the other team in put pool so we finished 2nd in the pool and we are now 41st seed!!!
THURSDAY -
So by finsihing 41st on Tuesday that placed us going for the "Challenge Division" 39th thru 44th place,
We started off playing Midnight Sun from Alaska - UGGGHHH!!! We should have beaten them!! We were up 18-12 playing so well....and then we started to play not to lose.... :( and when you do that...that is when the mistakes happen. We just kind of fell apart and lost 25-27. It was ours.....but the girls came out and gave it their all in the second game, played tough and aggressive, but it just wasnt enough this time and we lost 22-25. We then played Team Yakima immediately after... and kind of fell back again....serve receive was tough to get, we were missing serves.....but still not Maddie...we were down at one point 24-11 and did make a comeback but not doing the basics of volleyball at the beginning makes it tough to dig out of that big hole.....and we lost the first game 18-25. Second game MUCH better played game.....the girls wanted this match....and it looked like it...we took the second 25-16. The third game they gave it their all and that is all I could ask from them....we lost 11-15 and finishing 43rd for the tournament. Maddie finished the tournament 53 good serves out of 54 attempts that is unheard of and I have never seen done!! WAY TO GO MADDIE!!!
The improvement of this team as a whole is incredible. The improvement of each player is tremendous. The confidence of each girl grew immensely during this tournament. Each one of you girls should be proud of yourselves for your amazing accomplishments in 6 months. I told you were going to be a different team from November come Reno.....and you were much more than you or I ever thought, Huh!! :) How "AWESOME" is that!!
Thank you for a FUN and rewarding season!!!
COACH KIRT!!!