Club Volleyball: Power League #1 in the Books

My alarm goes off at 5:30 every weekday morning, so when the weekend rolls around, it feels pretty good to wake up WHENEVER....but when that familiar beeping started on a Sunday morning, I leapt out of my warm bed excited to drive to PUYALLUP, and let me tell you, no one is ever excited to be driving to Puyallup. But soon, in the freezing darkness, I was on the road with hot coffee and classic rock and by 7:15 I was in a giant barn that held 4 volleyball courts, sported Wi-Fi, and even had a TV so the football fans could keep track of the playoffs. It was a little cramped with no side viewing (which makes it difficult to take pictures) but I've been in worse venues. Maddie looked pretty cool in her new duds (extra special thanks to my folks for supporting Maddie's Club experience by paying for all the ITVC gear):

The girls, pre-ranked at #43 out of 96 teams, had a tough task by starting right out against the #11 Sudden Impact 16's and the 22nd ranked Kent Juniors 15's. Soon the warm-ups were over and Maddie was ready to make the first serve of the 2011 Club Season:

In those first two matches that only went to 15, the girls just didn't seem to gel and 90 minutes later we were 0-2 and reeling a little...but a break of a couple hours, some food and a pool which included a couple of lower ranked teams, helped us break out of the doldrums and play some pretty good volleyball. By late afternoon, we were on a roll, going undefeated in 6 games to win the pool and play one more game against a struggling (yet 27th ranked) OPVBC 15 team that we killed in game 1. Feeling cocky, us dads were high fiving and breathing a sigh of relief only to be melancholy wrecks 15 minutes later as the girls seemed to wilt after the long day and play like kids on a playground. I think the final was 25-10. Now the dads were nervous wrecks. One game to 15 to make or break the entire day and somehow the girls dug deep and Maddie came out with a 4 point serving run to start the game and we never looked back, winning handily and moving decidedly up from our pre-tournament ranking. Lots of high fiving now! It was a nice drive home and 14 hours after leaving, I was back on the couch.

Maddie played really well. She was the only girl on the team who never came out. In 13 games, she missed one serve. I like this team. They're solid on fundamentals. What they lack in genetic fortune, they make up for with grit, spirit and teamwork. I think it's going to be a fun year. Maddie woke up sore and bruised, but fired up because JUMP and EXPLOSIVENESS training begins tonight with FUEL. The girl wants to be the best. Here's to ya, babe.