Sunday Bloody Sunday

Not really feeling the creative buzz this morning so this update may be lacking charisma. Frankly, it's going to be about as dull as Sunday's game against Lugi. It was tough starting the engine Sunday afternoon for an unnatural 3:00 start time. I had lifted heavy Friday and my legs were a bit tight. There was a Christmas parade in town so we had a very small crowd of about 50, so finding an emotional lift was difficult as well. To top it off with a rotten cherry, we were playing a Lugi, a team we should always beat, but on any given day...

I had my elementary school fans in the front row of the crowd cheering me on, and a couple oohs and aahs on my first 3 kills which came from the right side. I played opposite this match in place of Tarik, so that we could get another passer on the court in my usual position. The game felt easy and natural to me until I went back for my first serve and caught my toss with my fingertips, fluffing the ball into the bottom of the net. From then on it was an interesting ride. I managed to dig more balls this match than any other thus far (2 I think, yippee!) but the rest of my game struggled. We lost the first set 22-25, mainly because we couldn't serve a ball in the court and they were RIPPING jump serves at us.

We gathered ourselves and played tremendous defense in the second set, though I continued to struggle. Tarik was subbed in for me to hit in the backrow because I had hit 2 or 3 "D" sets just long. It was good to get me out of there, but Tarik struggled just as much as I did. He missed into the net with no block up! A rough day for the right-sides. In any case, this was about when Erik came alive and started to thunder some balls hitting, and CLAMP their hitters time and time again. We took set 2 by a score of 25-22.

Set three we were back on track and jumped out to a huge lead behind stellar blocking. We maintained about a 1o point lead the entire set, even gave a up a couple in the end, and still won 25-12. It was a joke. We knew where every set was going and blocked or dug every ball. It was great to see some results after all the defensive work we put in at practice that week.

The fourth set I was subbed out again as I continued to suck it up, but like I said, Tarik wasn't of much use either. The distribution of sets was great and the other guys really plugged along to carry us to victory. Erik went on a rampage finishing 7 blocks, 7 kills, and an ace. He lead the team, but Linus and Vedad (our two outsides) contributed nicely with 13 and 11 points, respectively. I finished the game with a kill off the block which gave me a total of just 9 points (every time I was subbed I would go back in by the end of the game).

In the end Tarik and I joked about how poorly we had played, but even amidst all the subbing and bench time, I managed to have a good time. I was all smiles and jokes on the bench and so long as we're winning that will be okay. If I can get by saving myself every few matches and sharing sets with the other guys I'll be a happy camper. They all think I WANT to be set so much!

We travel on Saturday down to Orkelljunga where Brian Beckwith plays. It's about a 6 or 7 hour drive I think, so that'll be REALLY fun. Will be good to talk with Brian a bit - we've exchanged a couple of emails since the Swedish Cup.

If we can continue to win we'll be in a good spot to make the Grand Prix, the tournament after New Years. I think if we win 2 of our next 3 we're in, unless something crazy happens in the other matches. If we win all 3 we're in for sure. Cross your fingers or "hold your thumb" as they say in Canada - if we make it I get a bonus!

That's the latest on the volleyball front! Stay tuned!