Harclerode Week 3- MLK Volleyball Tournament

    Even though this past weekend was very stressful for me thanks to all of my school work, I was able to get away from that stress for a little bit by doing one of my favorite things: playing volleyball. This weekend was the Pennsylvania Kick Starter Tournament, and I think it went fairly well for only being our second tournament of the season. It was on Sunday and Monday in Reading, PA. We went down early on Sunday to spend the day with another family from my team that we're good friends with. We didn't have to report to the sports center until 3:30, so we went to a nearby mall and then went to lunch before returning to our hotel to get ready to go. Sunday was the first half of pool play, and it went very well! We were playing up in the 18s National division, so I was a little nervous, but we actually went undefeated. We finished by 8:30, so then we were able to have dinner and hang out at the hotel with some other families. 

    The next day, our first game (and last game of pool play) was at 9:00, and we actually played against a team that was in our age group but was also playing up. We won and placed first in our pool, so then we made it to semifinals. We were so excited, but also really nervous; after making it this far, we wanted to win the whole thing! Semifinals were tough, but we won in two sets and made it to the finals. Now we had a different problem, though-- our volleyball club's 18s team was also there, and they are a really, really good team. Since this was an 18s tournament, and they are a very talented team, we had to face them in the finals. We scrimmage them all the time at practices and are always able to keep up with them, but this was different. It was an actually competitive environment now because the gold was at stake. It was kind of weird to be playing against our own club's team, especially since a lot of us are friends with a lot of them outside of volleyball. Nevertheless, everyone knew they were in for a good match.

    This game was probably the toughest one that we had to play in the entire tournament. But, it was also really fun. We won the first set 25-20, so we were hopeful that we were going to be able to win. However, we lost the second set 18-25, and in the third tie-breaker set, we lost by two-- 13-15. I was a little disappointed, but I was also really proud of how we played, not just during that match, but in the whole tournament. We ended up getting silver medals, and for this tournament being for the 18s age group, I think we did great. I can't wait for the next tournament, but unfortunately I'm going to have to because our next one isn't until March! It's really upsetting that I have to wait a whole month, but now my team is going to have a whole month of practice. Next tournament, we want to come home with the gold!