Busy Week of Volleyball

Throw in a couple of non-league games in back to back weeks and high school volleyball can feel like a long weekend at Regionals! This week it was Bellevue, Redmond, and Liberty on 3 consecutive nights; and it was busy for Club Volleyball Dad too as I linked up with Bellevue CVD on Tuesday for dinner and beers before the match and did the same thing with a Liberty CVD on Thursday. I'm going to do a longer post on the different parent dynamics in club vs. high school, but I have retained a few dad friends from Maddie's ITVC days and we get together before games when possible. So it was nice to see Bellevue dad and 3 of Maddie's club teammates on an improved Bellevue team. Sadly for us, while they have improved early this season, we are struggling to get our rhythm and unforced errored ourselves into oblivion. We lost 3-1 and there were a few meltdowns near the end. The one win was when Maddie ran a 5-1.

So Wednesday, I felt like we needed a win against non-league Redmond, just to get some mojo. And while we generally played down to Redmond's level, we ended up with a 3-0 win, and it was some much needed confidence. No one likes starting the season 0-3 like last year, and we avoided it.

The big test for me was Thursday in a contest with Liberty, who we seem to match up with evenly every year. I think we went 1-1 in 2010, last year we beat them 3 times but they were all close, and last night was no different. After dinner and a few Lucille IPA's with a Liberty CVD AND a Kang CVD, we watched Maddie run the 5-1 to perfection in a game one win. She really came out and took charge of the team. One of the parents even commented that she was out there directing traffic and being more forceful than usual. I loved it. In game 2, SS (sophomore setter) ran the 5-1 and Liberty pulled it out in a close one. Back to Maddie in Game 3 and a 25-18 win. Same offense in Game 4 and a 19-25 loss. At this point, my blood pressure was starting to rise a bit but we three dads settled in to watch Game 5. To my relief, Maddie was out once again in the 5-1 and though it was close, Lake Washington pulled it out 15-12.

I think it may have been Maddie's finest performance in high school. 28 assists (in 3.5 games), good command of her team, and I was really pumped to see her make 3 or 4 point saving hustle plays; very quick and instinctive efforts for a solid player that is not going to set any speed records. She has a pretty good burst and good instincts as to where the ball will be. Oh, and did I mention the 100% serving percentage this year? You have heard this here so many times, but what the hell, I'll say it again: "When you are playing mediocre teams, the goal is not aces, the goal is to put the ball into play and let the other team make the mistake!" Coaches, please use this at your discretion. :)  We put too many balls out of play on serves. Not Maddie though, thank goodness. At one point, she ran off 9 straight points, and she does not have a killer serve. But she has a consistent serve and she can put it where she wants. Target the opponent's weakest link, servers!

I'm not saying we turned a corner or anything last night; we still have hitting and libero issues, but a 3-2 win against an evenly matched team is certainly good for the soul.

So, a fun week visiting with dads and winning a couple of matches. Another busy week coming up with a Monday non-league match against South Whidbey Island HS; they are 0-2 in the Cascade Conference. Then it's off to North Bend on Tuesday for our annual bittersweet trip. Sweet because we get together at Snoqualamie Brewing for some Wildcat IPS's, but bitter because the #3 ranked 3A Team in the state always kicks us brutally to the gym floor. That's followed up on Thursday with match at Interlake.

Anyway, more this weekend on the sometimes uneasy alliance between club and high school parents as they root for the same team and playing time for DD at the same time, and the beauty of friendships that form at the dad level during the volleyball life cycle.

Good weekend, all!