The Volleyball Diaries: Improving by Learning

Walking into the Clayton Valley gym on a Thursday night, you might feel a bit overwhelmed — I mean, with the music pumping, bleachers buzzing, and court bustling it's easy to feel out of place.  

As a volleyball player, you feel a bit differently. This feeling is more exciting — starting as a flutter in your stomach and building to become a rumble that takes control of your entire being — forcing you onto the court and into a world that revolves around one thing and one thing only: A ball and what you do with it.

This is how the 16 girls varsity volleyball players felt walking into their home gym at CVHS last Thursday. Our challenge was to prove our worth as a team, and to show that we were back and stronger than ever before — despite losing six key players last year after making NCS for the first time in years. We had tasted victory once and we were hooked.  

However, going into this game we were a bit nervous. We just faced College Park on Tuesday, barely squeaking by with a win. After being humbled by a five game sequence instead of the projected three, we were on edge about our abilities, and all the more determined to show the other team who was boss, especially because the other team was Concord High School — one of our biggest rivals. On Wednesday, after our win against CP, we were named Cal-Hi Sports "High School Volleyball Team of the Week", so we wanted to live up to the name and stomp Concord into the ground — figuratively, of course.  

Needless to say, we had a lot on our minds at the start of the game. We were nervous wrecks, and it showed. Halfway through the first game, we were down eight points. In an effort to fix the situation, our coach called a time out. The six of us on the court at the time huddled together and tried to relax. We knew that if we wanted to succeed, we would have to calm our nerves. Sixty seconds and a quick pep talk later, we were back on the court and ready to dominate. By the end of the game, we took the lead and won 25-23.

Although we didn't end up taking the win, we stayed with Concord the whole time — scoring within three points of their score every game. We learned a lot about keeping our nerves and egos in check this week and are looking forward to taking these experiences with us to next week's challenges and beyond, hopefully chasing our dreams all the way to NCS.

Come see the Clayton Valley Eagles in action! This week's games are:

Tuesday - @Northgate High School    

Saturday - @Home (Tournament)