Volleyball- Barnstable game

Yesterday we had a game agaist barnstable and our team played so well. Well lost two matchs and won one. I got to play in two of the matches and I was very proud of how I played. This game tough I didn't outside hot a lot but I was doing so well with my passing and serve recive.

This was the first time during the game that I felt like every pass that I made when recviving a ball went exactly where I wanted it to. What I did was basically I just relaxed. When that happens and you clam yourself down when you see the ball coming at you it isen't as scary and you just pass it. before I would be nervous and so I would hit the ball it the wrong way. I decided to calm down because this was my last game and i wanted to relaxe and have fun.

Also during this my positioning was on. I have been practicing so long in my one position that I now know how to switch go to my base and be in defense position with out even thinking about it. When I was knew to the game I would have to think 'go here. now" and that would slow me down. During this game I relized I was going to every poistion immidiatly once I read the other team and how they were going to send it over. This is other reason my passing was going so well. Before there was hesitation in getting to my next position but now I could be there 1005 percent and ready for anything.

Volleyball- Missed Hits

During my last practice I focused a lot on my outside hitting. In my last game I had a couple of outside hits and now that i have the confidence to hit during games I want to work on improving and making them even better. My hitting during practice start off a bit slow. I was a little bit off becasue this was my last practice and I was feeling a little bit sad. I continued to work though and one of my teammates even helped me. He told me that my shoulders when I went to hit the play would ratate to much and then send the ball outside. I worked with my teammate and he showed me the way to angle my sholders to get a good shot. It was difficult because it felt natural to me to completly rotate my sholders when hitting put the practice really helped. We also worked on our defensive foot work so when the other team sets up there attack for sending the ball over I know where to be to revive the ball. I felt that my transitions from resiving middle hits, back hits, right hits, outside hits, and free balls were going very smooth.

That practice I even stayed after for a little bit to work one on one. After I left my last practice ready for the next two games.

Volleyball- Excellet game

This Friday I played in one of my most exciting and well played volleyball games to date against Nauset. This was there homecoming game and from the beginning you could tell that it was going to be special. There were more people there then and there was so much excitement everywhere.

The first match I played okay and just played my normal rotation. We lost the first two games and so on the third game coach put me back in. This game I made the most plays I ever had. I recived several balls and was hussling all over the place. Then in the game I madde my first ever spike during a game. I have spiked many times in controled practice seeting but this was different. When I hit it over so perfectly I just felt so great and so powerful.

We won this game match and it felt great to be a part of that. I know that I was playing well because of instead of having me sit out the next match like I normally due every rotation, coach had me go in again. This made me feel so happy and proud. The next game I was so proud of my team. The score was tied almost the entire time. I felt like I played well again and even blocked a ball and made another strike.

I have never played this aggressively in a game before. I loved it. Before I was mostly just a receiver or a passer but now I was attacking balls. I was happy to know that coach was proud of my playing and I was becoming a better player. Especially with volleyball coming to a end in the next. I wanted to have a game to remember playing in and be proud of forever.

SOI

So far in advisory we are working on two major things at the moment and thats a organic tea sale in the morning and getting votes to try and win a grant. So far I have mostly just helped with getting the news out about the fund. I have voted and I have gotten everyone in my family to vote as well. Also I have walked around the school handing out papers to show people how to vote and encourage them to vote. I want to get more involved in the tea sales though because that would be a even more active approch to helping SOI earn money incase we don't get the grant.

Volleyball- So Much News!

So the volleyball team has been making incredible improvements in the last weeks. This week we faced upper cape tech in a match and one 3-1. This means that we lost our first match but were able to comeback and win three in a row to beat them in a best of five match. In the first game I didn't play as well and I sent the ball into the net twice which is a horrible move. This just shows me that this is something that I really need to work on. I am going to talk to my coach about doing net drills because sending the ball to the net is pretty much a fatal move in volleyball for losing a point. I then played in the third game and played much better. My momentum was up and I made good passes that did not land in the net and sent the ball over a couple times. I am very pround to be one Sturgis Storm Volleyball and am pround of my team for playing a great game and winning our first match ever.

In practices I have been playing okay. One thing I have seen improvement in is that I have found my serve. I have stoped serving over hand but am not serveing underhand either. I learned a side derve which just works for me. It gives my serve more power and is more intiminating then a underhand serve. My serve is still not perfect but so much more improved. I would say that during free serve drill I now get the ball over 80% of the time which is such an improvement over the 20% I was serving at the begining of the season. Now that I alsomost have serving down I want to work on saving the ball when it lands in the net.

Volleyball- Improvemnt

I have sen improvment into things so far sence the begining of the season. First I have started to serve under hand instead of overhand because it is easier for me to get moentum for serving that way and so my serves are better. Though they are still far from perfect they are getting better. Now I get about 60 percent of my serves over when before it was only about 20 percent. Also I am getting much better at following the rotations. In volleyball you don't just get out on the court, you have base positions you always have to switch to and the poistion that you are in the rotaton and you have to always remember to be a the right one be base or rotation poistion at the right time. In games teammates used to have to help me out and tell me where to go which made our team look less put together. Now I am really getting the hang of it my self and rotate without having to give to much thought.

Next week I have two things I really want to work on. First is my serve, it needs to be more constant. I want to move up to getting the ballover the net nearly everytime by the end of the season. Also I want to work on making sure that I move out of the way for the settter. The second ball in a volleyball game is supposed to always go to the setter but sometimes I space and I see the ball and I just go for it not thinking about the setters role. I need to be more aware because it is very important for the setter to get the ball so that they can set it up to be hit over by the front hitters. This makes for better playing and makes are team look and feel more put together which is very important.

Volleyball- Practice

So far this season we have been practicing a lot. We do many things to help improve our playing like drills and scrimages. So far I have been playing okay. There are two teams, one that is more advanced and one that spends more time working on smallers drills. So far I have been put into both groups. In scrimages I mostly play in the advanced group but when we are working on serving I get put in the other group. This shows me that I am a good team player and good at passing but I still have a lot of trouble serving. This is something that I really need to work on if I am going to get more time playing and games and be a strong asset to my team