Mid East Qualifier in Indianapolis

This weekend my team was competing at the Mid East qualifier in Indianapolis. MEQ is a national qualifier so if you place in the top 3 you get a bid to nationals which are in New Orleans this year.  We played in the open division against some really good teams. We weren’t really expected to do well but we did better than we were ranked. It was a three day tournament and we played in the Indianapolis Convention Center. 
The first day we were in a pool with the third ranked team overall. We played really well against them and took them to a third set. We went 0-3 the first day, which was tough but we played hard and left it all on the court. After we were done playing we went shopping in a huge mall and then went out to eat at Granite City. The second day were in a pool with another Iowa team, Iowa Rockets 17R. We hadn't played them before, but we knew they were going to be tough competition and we really wanted to win. We won the first set, lost the second set and it was going to 3. During the third set we got a couple of stuff blocks which I think really brought the momentum to our side and helped us get the W. During that game I was a little nervous because it was the first time my coaches at Loyola were watching me play since I committed there, but after the first couple of points I was all good and I think having them there actually made me play better. It was a sweet win and it helped our regional ranking for next weekend. We ended up 2-1 the second day, and overall I thought we played well.
The final day of the tournament we won our first game in 2 and then we played OP2, who got 2nd place in the open division in Omaha. They are a really good team and we didn't play as well as we could have, so we lost to them in 2. We ended up getting 33rd out of 48 in Open. I was really proud of us for never giving up and proving that we were better than our ranking. 

MEQ Website

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Colorado Crossraods

I was counting down to the day we left for Colorado for a long time. Getting to play my favorite sport in my favorite state with my favorite people was something to look forward to. My dad and I flew out of Chicago and arrived in the Mile High City on a Thursday. We went to Colorado over thanksgiving break last year to ski and it was the best vacation I have been on so I was pumped when I heard we were going to be playing at Crossroads this club season. I had never been to Crossroads before this year, but I had heard nothing but good things about everyone’s experience there. Walking in to the convention center on Friday before we played I could see why everyone said this was their favorite tournament. Everywhere you looked it was either sweet volleyball clothing, everything you can think of that is Nike, every different food vendor, or courts. It was like a volleyball players dream in a big convention center.

            We went 2-1 the first day, which made us a second seed in our pool the next day. The second day we went 2-1 again but we were in a 3 way tie for first. We thought we might have had to play a challenge match but we ended up getting first because we had the highest winning percentage out of the other teams. We were pretty excited about that, because we were now in the gold bracket and had a shot at qualifying for nationals. After we were done playing on Saturday, some of my teammates wanted to go see some mountains in Vail because they had never seen them before. I decided to go with, even though I knew it was going to be hard seeing the mountains and not being able to ski. I am obsessed with skiing and being in Colorado and not going skiing is really hard let me tell you. It was still awesome driving around through the mountains, and afterwards we went to a pizza place that had been there for over 200 years!

On Sunday we played at 8 in the morning against a pretty solid team from Florida I think. We won the first game, and then lost the second game. In the third set we fought hard and everyone really wanted to win but we just had a few too many mistakes and some bad calls. We lost 12-15. Losing sucks and I don’t think there is a worse feeling. It was not the way we wanted to end that tournament but I think we became more of a team experiencing that tough loss. We realized how much we all wanted it and the next chance we had to qualify we were going to take it.

Colorado Crossroads Website

Word Count: 475

Being Committed to a Team

Teamwork: the combined action of a group of people, especially when effective and efficient.

Playing for a competitive team in any sport is a big deal and a huge commitment. Knowing that you are going to be a part of a team where everyone wants to be there and loves the sport just as much as you do is a factor in many athletes’ decisions to join a team. A lot of other factors go into playing for a team but the commitment level of every single person is one of the most important.

            When you commit to a team you need to make sure that everyone has the same intentions and goals for the team as you do. If what you want to accomplish is different than one of your teammates it might not be the right team for you. This goal could be making it to nationals, winning regionals, etc. You also should be informed of what conflicts your teammates will be having with practices or tournaments. If some of your teammates are going to be missing practice a lot or won’t be able to come to a tournament that could show you their dedication towards the team. Also you should find out what your teammates are giving up or sacrificing to be on this team, which could also show how dedicated someone is.

            Before you commit to a team you need to take in to consideration a lot of different things. Especially how your actions are going to affect your teammates. If you are going to miss a big tournament where college coaches are going to be watching that might affect what coaches watch your team if they are missing players. If you are going to pick a high school sport over your competitive club sport that decision is going to affect more than just yourself.

A team is a group of people that can rely on one another to accomplish a common goal. If you aren't willing to do this you shouldn't be a part of a team.

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Watching My Sisters Play

            This weekend I got to watch both of my sister’s play, which is rare because usually we have tournaments on the same weekends. It was awesome to finally get to see my sisters play. While watching I realized a lot about how much younger players look up to older players and what younger girls are thinking about when they are playing or after they lose.

            On Saturday I was in Tiffin, Iowa watching my youngest sister, Mara play. Her team is 11U but they were playing in a 12u tournament. On our way there she said “I am so glad you can finally come and see me play.” This made me realize how much it means to her that I could go watch. She was telling me how excited she was, but nervous at the same time. I told her not to be worried, you have nothing to lose. During the first game, whenever her team would get a point she jumped up and down and gave everyone high fives and it was so cool to see how much she was enjoying it. Her team ended up getting 3^rd place which was really good considering they were playing an age division up. After they lost in the semis Mara was upset and I could tell how much she wanted to win that game. It was weird because I could totally understand what she was feeling because it has happened to me many times. It’s crazy how much potential she has and I can’t wait to see what her future holds.

            On Sunday I went to West Branch to watch my other sister, Claire play. Her team is 13u and they played in the top division of 13’s with probably the best teams in the state at that age. Claire is more like me when she plays, sort of quiet but pays attention to details and is always thinking ahead. She is a libero and I was very impressed with her ability to keep the ball alive, and how consistent she was with her serve receive passes. Her team got 1^st place and I was so proud of Claire. She has things to work on but she has improved so much already since the beginning of the season and I can’t wait to see what the upcoming years have in store for her.

            After Claire’s tournament was over my mom told me that one of Claire’s teammates mom came up to her and said that her daughter looked up to me and loved how I talked to Claire’s team and got to know them and gave them compliments. This was probably the best thing anyone has ever said to me. I have always looked up to college players, but I never thought someone would look up to me like that. It was just really humbling to hear that.

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Volleyball Drills to try

Coming up with drills to do in practices is sometimes hard because they have to involve all positions, be productive, and be fun at the same time. Some of my favorite drills are Pra-ja, Columbia, George, Baseball, WIN, and Split Court. All of these drills are fun, productive, and everyone gets a lot of touches.

Pra-ja is a game I learned at HP this year. It is definitely my favorite drill because it involves a lot of quick thinking and communication between you and your partner. Pra-ja is a 2 on 2 game with 2 balls being played at the same time. You and your partner are allowed 3 touches on each ball like normal but you can let the ball bounce in between each contact. In order to get each ball in play one partner from each side will serve one ball to the player on the other side who is not serving. After each ball is in play you play normally but you can let the ball bounce once in between each contact. If one team wins both points they stay and the other team waves through, but if both teams win one point they are both off and two new teams come on. I like this drill because it tests how well you can communicate with your teammate and it trains you to look across the net to tell your partner where he/she should attack the ball to. A hint for this drill is to never tip short. Tipping in the drill is an easy pass for the other team because the short tip will bounce up directly to a player on the other side.

Columbia is another awesome drill. Columbia is run with 4-6 players on each side of the net. The scoring and rules of a normal game apply, the only thing that is different is that every player rotates when your team attacks the ball over the net. I like this drill because you get to experience playing every position. George is similar to Columbia with 4-6 players and regular rules/scoring applies, but if you make a mistake you are out and the next person in line on your team replaces you. I like this drill because it puts pressure on you to not make a mistake. Volleyball is a game of mistakes, every point is caused by a mistake. So everyone is going to make mistakes at some point in a game but it is the team who makes the least mistakes that will come out on top. When you are playing the game George it really makes you focus on the position you are playing because if you want to stay on the court you can’t make a mistake.

These are just some of my favorite drills I have played. I hope this helps if you are looking for fun drills for a practice :) 

Word Count: 487

Day 2 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Today our first match wasn't until 3 in the afternoon, so surprisingly we got to sleep in. For breakfast I went to a place called George Webb with a couple of my teammates. After that we watched Divergent and just hung out until we had to check out of the hotel and head to the convention center. Our first game was against Skyline, but it was postponed for a little bit because they were reffing a different game so we started playing Nukem, a game where you can catch the volleyball and take 1 step then throw it to the other side and try to score. When we started playing it other CIA teams asked if they could play and pretty soon there were around 30 girls (some of 12 Black, 16 Black, my team and 18 Black) playing. It was pretty awesome because a ton of people came to watch and asked where we were from and thought it was awesome that our club was so close to each other.

When skyline was done reffing our match started and we beat them in the first set easily. It was a little weird because 18 Black was reffing us and if we beat Skyline we were going to have to play them next. We ended up losing the second set and having to play a third. I don't know why but we are really good at third sets so I wasn't worried. We beat them easily in the third and now it was time for the real test, playing 18 Black the team that we practice with every practice and the team that we look up to. It was a little weird knowing that we would be playing them but I was excited for the challenge. In the first set we did not play well at all, I don't really know what it was but we just couldn't stop them from getting runs. So during the second set we knew we had to step it up and we definitely did. We were ahead until the last couple points, it was 24-23 and we were losing and they won on a bad call. That second set was one of the best games we have ever played so I was proud of my team.

After losing in the semi's to 18 Black we played another 18's team called Capital. They were a tough team but we should have beat them. I think we were still upset about losing to 18's and we just weren't really focused on winning that last game. We lost in 2 sets, both of the scores being close and ended up getting 4th out of 16 teams overall.

I think this weekend showed us what we have to continue working on and what we are doing well, but most importantly it showed us that we can compete with the open division teams and we are going to have to fight for every point in upcoming tournaments.

Word Count: 503

Day 1 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Tournament time is finally here and that means playing my favorite sport with my favorite people almost every weekend. This weekend was no exception and we competed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the open 17 and 18's division. We faced some pretty tough competition but overall it was a great weekend.

On Friday at 4 I left with my parents and headed to Milwaukee. 5 hours later we arrived at our hotel, which was connected to the convention center where we would be playing the next 2 days. The hotel was really nice and once we got there I unpacked and then hung out with some of teammates that were there. Some girls on my team had basketball games Friday night, so they didn't get to the hotel until 2 in the morning!

On Saturday we played at 9 so we had to be at the convention center at 7:30 to watch the teams that we would be playing compete. I was pumped to play. Our first match was against Wisconsin Juniors and we beat them in 2 sets. After that we played right away and beat New Wave in the third set. During the game against New Wave the Wisconsin head volleyball coach was standing at the end of our court. I was a little nervous, but I knew I just had to play like I always do and I wold be fine. Winning the third set of that match was awesome. We played West Power Bend in our last match of the day and beat them in 2 sets.

After we were done playing we headed back to the hotel and took ice baths, showered and changed to go watch 16 Black play. Once they won their match we headed back and then went out for dinner as a team. when we got back to the hotel we hung out until it was time for "CIA's Got Talent", It was a team bonding activity that consisted of mini competitions that each team competed in together. The first competition was who could make a paper airplane that flew the furthest, which 18 Black won. there were probably 10 competitions overall and after the last one my team was tied with the 18's. So the tie breaker was an individual dance off. We lost and we were pretty bad but it turns out we were going to get a chance at revenge against them the next day, on the court.

Word Count: 415