Volleyball is here!

Well we are off and running in our last year of high school sports. Lucy decided to play volleyball again this year after a very tough junior year. Lots and lots of very unfortunate drama (too much teenage estrogen). So, even though she played plenty, it took a lot of the joy out of the deal. It was particularly hard for Maggie, as she ended up riding the bench her senior year after a promising junior year on the varsity squad. She came through fine however. She is a tough kid and even though things went very poorly for her, she refused to quit, and I believe made the best of a frustrating and difficult year. Kind of a bummer though, you want your senior year to go well. That's life!

Moe last year

This last weekend was our (last) Yerington tournament. The girls did very well.  They went 5 and 2 over two days.  The only two losses were to Yerington and Truckee who ended up playing for the championship.

They lost their first match to Yerington, then won 5 in a row before succumbing to Truckee in the last game. Lucy played her usual middle hitter spot, and got to serve and play one rally in the back row for several of the games. She made good passes, and while she made a couple of service errors, overall her serving was excellent. Against Fernley, both teams traded points to about twelve with the maximum lead being 2 and switching back and forth.  Lu got the serve and made a 5 point run to give Portola some breathing room, and the team never looked back.

Between games

Lu and her setters had a tough time with the "short set".  It is called a "one" and demands a precise set about 6 inches above the net with perfect timing by the hitter to catch the ball at the top of its arc, and smash it through the defense. She did score an a couple of "ones" and was especially happy after killing a "one" for the match winning point against Lowery high school (Winnemucca NV). One area she contributed lots was blocking. She and her fellow outside hitters had numerous blocks throughout the tourney.

She is feeling very good about her decision to play this year. So far little if any drama, and her coach seems to appreciate her, and is being very encouraging. So tomorrow we head up to Susanville to play Lassen, then this weekend we go to our second tournament in Hamilton City (just south of Chico CA). Kim and I found a "cheapo" room for only $50. We need to stay on top of expenses as it looks like there will be no supplemental fire income for me this year. I missed one assignment while I was laid up after my surgery, and last week, they caught the fire and put it out before I could get there (I was delayed due to a couple of Dr checkups).

Me relaxing during warm-ups

Anyway, it is good to watch Lucy tackle her senior year. All I want is for her to have a great one! She is off to a good start (you can't see, but I am crossing my fingers)!

That's All