The Fine Line between Good and Mediocre

Had a solid if uninspired 3-0 vs. Samammish to put us nicely in contention to take sole possession of 4th place in KingCo with a win against a struggling Juanita team. They are a team that has lost their coach and although they have a superstar setter and a solid OH, they are not surrounded by much. Sadly, we came out and made the same mistakes that have plagued us for years (and plague many a team, I'm sure). Bad serve receive. Most serves were greeted with a shank or a poor pass to the setter. Our hitters were OK if not a bit inconsistent, but poor passing often resulted in sets that had our gals simply pushing balls over the net, and once JF set to DM it was all over. We came back to win Game 2 in an absolutely awesome OT game where the Kangs finally looked HUNGRY...but it all fell apart in the next 2 games with those unforced errors and weak offense. We really should have won this match and it's probably the most disappointed I've been with the team this season. We beat the Bellevue's and Liberty's and are beat in turn by the MI's and Mt. Si's, which is probably right...and that leaves Interlake and Juanita where we need to win. And we just don't. This team has never won a match we shouldn't have won and that is really frustrating. Oh, Club Volleyball Dad has lots of ideas, but is not one to get involved with coaching suggestions. It seems our philosophy is to play everyone. Juanita runs a 5-1. Just sayin. Doesn't get any easier next week with MI and Interlake...sigh...we just really needed that match last night. I gave up a trip to see a bunch of friends in Denver because of the KingCo playoffs...now I'm not so sure I should have. But as much as I rant in this blog, I don't put it in Maddie's face; I made a conscious effort to not even mention the match to her this morning on the way to school and I could tell from her mood that she would have exploded had I brought it up...so tip to Club Volleyball Parents: sliiiide into game critique conversations. :) Have a nice weekend, everyone.