Volleyball 101...More Than You Wanted to Know!

It's early. I'm wide awake. I think it's that getting old thingy again that won't let me sleep late --even when I can! Lea over at her blog thinks it happens the day you turn 41, but I'm not sure about that.

Since it's so quiet around here, I thought I would post a short note to let you know that even though I haven't blogged since Wednesday, I'm still alive and kicking! It's been a busy end of the week!

On Thursday morning, we had our September to Remember blackberry grits fest at Lea's house. It was my first time meeting Lea (and Lori) and it was totally worth the effort of posting every day in September. Lea is as much fun in person as she is on her blog! We took pictures, but they haven't appeared in the blogosphere yet. Lori impressed and inspired us with her scripture memorization. She REALLY learned those first 2 chapters (plus) in Ephesians. So we had our scripture right along with our grits! We had a wonderful time and the grits, orange scones and fellowship were wonderful!

Yesterday afternoon (Friday), our volleyball team headed to Bainbridge, GA for the first game in the Conference Final Four tournament. Varsity volleyball matches consist of the best 3 of 5 games. A game is 25 points, but you must win by 2 points, so sometimes the score goes over 25. That's what happened yesterday. Our girls seemed to sleep through the first game...but we managed to win, 27-25. For some reason the whole team was just out of sorts and really discombobulated. After the first game, they settled in and played more of their game. We won the next games 25-15 and 25-16.


The other team had a fabulous defense, but didn't generate much offense. We usually call these type teams "bump ball" teams. All they do is concentrate on getting the ball back over the net, not really trying to earn the point. They seemed to be able to defend anything we hit over. Our team, on the other hand, tries to play both offense and defense.

My Bex led the team in kills (for the first time) yesterday! She had 10 kills. No, they aren't talking about a mafia kill; that word has bad connotations. But, a kill is a good thing in volleyball. Yet, a kill can be very violent...because it's usually a ball hit very hard and fast. You earn a kill anytime you hit the ball over the net and it hits the ground without the other team being able to play it. Yesterday, kills were very hard to come by--the other team kept returning those hard balls! Bex had 10 kills, but she probably had at least 40 more good hits that they returned. I was afraid her arm was going to fall off she was hitting them so hard!

It's really hard to be the scorekeeper for these games because scorekeepers aren't allowed to cheer. Scorekeepers are part of the officiating team and must be unbiased (yeah, right...) Being the scorekeeper, I'm up close and personal with the game, but I have to keep my mouth shut. This is why I'm a scorekeeper--so I don't embarrass my daughter. One of the other moms told me she loves watching me...let's just say, I cheer very creatively, and leave it at that. But it is so easy to get caught up in the moment and get carried away. It is VERY hard when your precious girl is on the team and having a tough day -- or a good day! Let's just say I'm such an encourager and it's hard to stay quiet. Yeah. That sounds good. A whole lot better than saying I'm a loud mouth and just can't keep my trap shut!

Yesterday, I actually saved a point for our team! The wrong girl went back to serve and I was able to signal the coach in time to stop it, thus, not giving the other team a point as penalty. Yes, I am a very important part of the team...oh yeah!

Today is the championship game. We watched the other team play yesterday afternoon and they are pretty good. If we play OUR game, we will win. If not, it won't be pretty. So...if you're reading this before 2pm EST, say a little prayer that our girls will play to the best of their abilities today. You don't have to pray for us to win...just pray that they will play as well as they can...that's all we need to be the Champions today. And, if you feel froggy, you can pray for the scorekeeper. She needs to stay focused and do her part today, too. Oh, and she needs to keep her mouth shut, too. You can pray for that.

Stay tuned.