Monday, July 28, 2008
Scooter's contact info
Hey team...since I am no longer with IVA I don't have an IVA email address so if you need to get me please email me at skeister33@hotmail.com. Thank you ALL for one of my favorite HP years so far. I had a blast. I am working on evaluations for all the players and as soon as Martha and I are done with those they will be sent to you.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Select Coaches Final Thoughts
Lindsay
I know, I know, I have been absent from this blog. I just wanted to save everything 'til the end so I could collect my thoughts and figure out how to say everything in my mind and heart. This has been one of my favorite teams to have ever coached. I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to have the "little kids," as I consider myself a better tactical coach than skill coach, but wow were my eyes opened!
These kids have been so amazing to coach. I know I was a little hard on them at times, but they all took it in stride and responded immediately, which is a very mature characteristic to display at such a young age. Yes, we may not have won as many matches as we would have liked, but I do know that in the matches we lost, they each gained a greater knowledge of the game and will grow tremendously from the experience.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this group, and will not soon forget all the "rock out" moments in the van and the fun experiences outside the gym as well as the lessons I learned from them.
Thanks to all the parents who allowed us to borrow their amazing children for a short time. It has impacted me forever.
Josh
This whole experience was quite an adventure for me. Getting to work with this group and along side Lindsay was great for me. From the first day in the gym until right now sitting at the airport, I have enjoyed every moment. All of the kids worked hard and did everything we asked of them.
We did an excellent job at the tournament of working to get better. Every match we saw great improvement in each player. They also learned a lot of lessons off the court that they can take into their personal lives. I am so impressed with this group of players and can't thank them enough for all of their hard work over the past 10 days.
Team Awards (Based on stats)
Best Spiker: Rachel Enloe (.255 hitting efficiency)
Best Passer: Rachel Enloe (1.68 passing average)
Best Server: Rachel Enloe (2.78 serving average)
Best Setter: Jessika Long (133 assists)
Best Digger: Brittyn Niemi (120 digs)
Best Blocker: Carley Rasmussen (26 total blocks)
MVP (Most Points): Challie Mitchell (96.0 points)
I know, I know, I have been absent from this blog. I just wanted to save everything 'til the end so I could collect my thoughts and figure out how to say everything in my mind and heart. This has been one of my favorite teams to have ever coached. I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to have the "little kids," as I consider myself a better tactical coach than skill coach, but wow were my eyes opened!
These kids have been so amazing to coach. I know I was a little hard on them at times, but they all took it in stride and responded immediately, which is a very mature characteristic to display at such a young age. Yes, we may not have won as many matches as we would have liked, but I do know that in the matches we lost, they each gained a greater knowledge of the game and will grow tremendously from the experience.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this group, and will not soon forget all the "rock out" moments in the van and the fun experiences outside the gym as well as the lessons I learned from them.
Thanks to all the parents who allowed us to borrow their amazing children for a short time. It has impacted me forever.
Josh
This whole experience was quite an adventure for me. Getting to work with this group and along side Lindsay was great for me. From the first day in the gym until right now sitting at the airport, I have enjoyed every moment. All of the kids worked hard and did everything we asked of them.
We did an excellent job at the tournament of working to get better. Every match we saw great improvement in each player. They also learned a lot of lessons off the court that they can take into their personal lives. I am so impressed with this group of players and can't thank them enough for all of their hard work over the past 10 days.
Team Awards (Based on stats)
Best Spiker: Rachel Enloe (.255 hitting efficiency)
Best Passer: Rachel Enloe (1.68 passing average)
Best Server: Rachel Enloe (2.78 serving average)
Best Setter: Jessika Long (133 assists)
Best Digger: Brittyn Niemi (120 digs)
Best Blocker: Carley Rasmussen (26 total blocks)
MVP (Most Points): Challie Mitchell (96.0 points)
THE GRAND FINALE!!!!
Hey, this is Jessika and Challie for the FINAL BLOG! Today we started off bright and early with a match at 8:00 a.m. and man was that early!!!!!!!!!!!!! We ended up losing in four games against a team from New York. It was a disappointing loss, but after we looked back on the entire experience we realized that we had learned so much. We all grew in our own personal ways.
After our match we went and watched the first 2 games of the youth's team match (they lost in 5 sets). Later we went to In and Out Burger for lunch, and we almost witnessed an arrest. Then, we went to Target for a scavenger hunt. The teams were Jessika, Lyndie, Tipper, and Hannah then, Challie, Carley, Crystal, and Brittyn. (Rachel and Jackie had already left with their families to drive home) The teams had to find items from left handed golf club to polydenture cream. We finished with a tie breaker so to find the winners we went into a bonus round. As we were running threw the building a police officer stopped us and almost kicked us out for taking pictures in the store. Eventually the team including Jessika, Lyndie, Tipper, and Hannah won and their prize was pink party hats while the other team had to wear pirate patches over their eye, and a fake earring.
Now we are at the airport about to leave for our flight home. The whole experience of High Performance was exciting and lots of fun, and as we said before a great learning experience. We are excited to see our family and friends, but at the same time were all sad the trip is almost done. We would like to say thank you so much to the coaches, and everyone who has made this trip possible for us, and we will see you all soon!!!!!!
After our match we went and watched the first 2 games of the youth's team match (they lost in 5 sets). Later we went to In and Out Burger for lunch, and we almost witnessed an arrest. Then, we went to Target for a scavenger hunt. The teams were Jessika, Lyndie, Tipper, and Hannah then, Challie, Carley, Crystal, and Brittyn. (Rachel and Jackie had already left with their families to drive home) The teams had to find items from left handed golf club to polydenture cream. We finished with a tie breaker so to find the winners we went into a bonus round. As we were running threw the building a police officer stopped us and almost kicked us out for taking pictures in the store. Eventually the team including Jessika, Lyndie, Tipper, and Hannah won and their prize was pink party hats while the other team had to wear pirate patches over their eye, and a fake earring.
Now we are at the airport about to leave for our flight home. The whole experience of High Performance was exciting and lots of fun, and as we said before a great learning experience. We are excited to see our family and friends, but at the same time were all sad the trip is almost done. We would like to say thank you so much to the coaches, and everyone who has made this trip possible for us, and we will see you all soon!!!!!!
Youth Team Match #8 vs. Oklahoma (Bronze Medal Match) Recap
Intermountain Youth defeated by Oklahoma 2-3 (23-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 15-11)
Statistical Leaders
Digs - Jenna (15)
Blocks - Bailey (8)
Aces - Rae (5)
Passing - Jenna/Nikki/Cortney (all had a 2.18)
Kill % - Turia (1.000)
Kills - Bailey (13)
Thoughts from Scooter:
Today was another hard fought match but yet another where we lost in 5 games. It was very similar to last night but none of the girls really seemed to have the "fire" today...more of a going through the motions kind of thing and almost seemed to be afraid to lose. Martha and I just kept trying to tell them the tactical information as to where to hit, serve and defend but rarely were those items excecuted. We talked after the match and talked about how losing is not fun but it does make you better so long as you take what you experience and learn from it by applying the lesson next time so that you are better. We are about to go to lunch at the place of choosing by the girls so I will let someone right their thoughts and then we are off.
Thoughts from Martha:
It is hard to loss three 5 game matches! As we circled up after our last match today, I thought about what needs to be addressed. You players need to be better. You need to play more, risk more, touch more balls, be around volleyball more! You need more more more! There are no small things and we lost because of small things. We lost because we need to be better. Better in skills and technique, better in our minds, better in our hearts. I feel I can write this because you did get better. This team wants to get better. This team needs to get better simply because you can. If we get better, we will crave 5 game situations. We will crave to serve the last game point ball. Crave to pass, set, KILL! There is something inside you players that needs to awaken, and do not be afraid of the beast you may awaken. Never settle. Never Quit. Never let yourself beat you. I challenge all you players to reflect upon how you felt when it came down to the wire, were you scared, were you nervous, were you unhappy? If you were...something is wrong. Something needs to change. I say all this because I love you. I believe you can be more. You all can become more! Thank you for your time, effort and love. Volleyball is an amazing sport and I am proud to be a part of it. I hope you leave this experience with joy in your heart and an overwhelming desire to become more!
Statistical Leaders
Digs - Jenna (15)
Blocks - Bailey (8)
Aces - Rae (5)
Passing - Jenna/Nikki/Cortney (all had a 2.18)
Kill % - Turia (1.000)
Kills - Bailey (13)
Thoughts from Scooter:
Today was another hard fought match but yet another where we lost in 5 games. It was very similar to last night but none of the girls really seemed to have the "fire" today...more of a going through the motions kind of thing and almost seemed to be afraid to lose. Martha and I just kept trying to tell them the tactical information as to where to hit, serve and defend but rarely were those items excecuted. We talked after the match and talked about how losing is not fun but it does make you better so long as you take what you experience and learn from it by applying the lesson next time so that you are better. We are about to go to lunch at the place of choosing by the girls so I will let someone right their thoughts and then we are off.
Thoughts from Martha:
It is hard to loss three 5 game matches! As we circled up after our last match today, I thought about what needs to be addressed. You players need to be better. You need to play more, risk more, touch more balls, be around volleyball more! You need more more more! There are no small things and we lost because of small things. We lost because we need to be better. Better in skills and technique, better in our minds, better in our hearts. I feel I can write this because you did get better. This team wants to get better. This team needs to get better simply because you can. If we get better, we will crave 5 game situations. We will crave to serve the last game point ball. Crave to pass, set, KILL! There is something inside you players that needs to awaken, and do not be afraid of the beast you may awaken. Never settle. Never Quit. Never let yourself beat you. I challenge all you players to reflect upon how you felt when it came down to the wire, were you scared, were you nervous, were you unhappy? If you were...something is wrong. Something needs to change. I say all this because I love you. I believe you can be more. You all can become more! Thank you for your time, effort and love. Volleyball is an amazing sport and I am proud to be a part of it. I hope you leave this experience with joy in your heart and an overwhelming desire to become more!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Skudoosh (word of the day)
Hey this is Carley and Jackie aka Shrimp (Carley) and The Green Giant (Jackie). Today we played Gulf Coast...again. We almost won the first game but we killed them the next three games and we won the match. We passed a 1.56 (and reached our goal) and we served really well in the match.
After the match we went back to the hotel and showered and then we went to the mall!! We ate lunch at the mall and we bought stuff...pretty exciting!! Guh!
Some of us swam when we got back to the hotel and then some of us went with Lindsay and Josh to watch Scooter's team play.
Today I, Carley, was an idiot and stood up on my bed after swimming and the fan turning full speed whacked me in the head and gave me a lump and a cut on my head and that I guess was the funniest thing that happened today...but it really wasn't.
For dinner we went with the parents that are here and the team to Sweet Tomatoes. It was superb.
And thats about it, tomorrow we will play to win our bracket...so wish us luck and skudoosh!!
After the match we went back to the hotel and showered and then we went to the mall!! We ate lunch at the mall and we bought stuff...pretty exciting!! Guh!
Some of us swam when we got back to the hotel and then some of us went with Lindsay and Josh to watch Scooter's team play.
Today I, Carley, was an idiot and stood up on my bed after swimming and the fan turning full speed whacked me in the head and gave me a lump and a cut on my head and that I guess was the funniest thing that happened today...but it really wasn't.
For dinner we went with the parents that are here and the team to Sweet Tomatoes. It was superb.
And thats about it, tomorrow we will play to win our bracket...so wish us luck and skudoosh!!
Youth Team Match #7 vs. Iowa Recap
Intermountain Youth defeated by Iowa 2-3 (25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 13-15)
Statistical Leaders
Digs - Jenna (16)
Blocks - Tasi (9)
Aces - Kaitlyn (3)
Passing - Jenna (2.09)
Kill % - Tasi (.285)
Kills - Kaitlyn/Maline (7 each)
Thoughts from Scooter:
Tonight was a tough one. We came out strong which is something that we have not done this whole tournament and won the first game. Then it became a see saw battle. Game 2 went to Iowa, Game 3 to us, Game 4 to Iowa and then Game 5.......we did not start all that well and never could quite regain our composure. We finally made a run at the end and then I made a bonehead coaching move and made an illegal substitution. I was in the heat of the moment, went to put in Cortney for her incredible serving and had forgotten about the "international rule" that says only 1 player can sub for the other. I had already subbed Bailey in for Maline which meant I could not sub Cortney then for Bailey (it would have to be Maline)...this is not the rule in club volleyball but that is no excuse. I blew it and so rather than the score being 10-12 for Iowa, we were down 10-13. The girld fought hard and scored three straight to tie it up but we were over powered in the next two points and lost the match. I will always wonder, had I not made that mistake, would we be playing in the finals tomorrow? We'll never know and I'm sure that I will not sleep much tonight as I try and keep from throwing up over my mistake. These girls have earned the right to play for a championship and I am sick and feel so sad for them knowing that we won't be playing for it. We do, however, get a chance to gain a little revenge on the Oklahoma team that we lost to last night as we will be playing them for the third place title.
I have been so proud of all these girls and I really enjoyed our team party tonight. All of the family members came. We ordered these great sandwiches from a local eatery here and they sure were tasty. The parents brough drinks and desserts. After we ate us coaches made a little presentation. We had each of the girls come up one by one and tell us about their favorite moments, things they have learned and anything else they wanted to share. As they came up we gave them each a journal that they could write down their experiences, write notes to each other in, collect addresses and anything else they wanted to put in them. They seemed to really like that. We then gave out individual statistical awards. In International volleyball, they give out 7 individual awards as they relate to statistics. Our winners were:
Best Spiker (Tasi)
Best Blocker (Tasi)
Best Server (Dannen)
Best Digger (Jenna)
Best Setter (Rae)
Best Receiver (Jenna)
Best Scorer/MVP (Maline)
I shared my thoughts with the family members and expressed my desire and hope that all the girls have learned something that they can not only take with them to their next team but something that they can apply to their everyday life.
We hope to end tomorrow with a win before we come back to Salt Lake tomorrow night. Hopefully we will be able to blog before we get on the plane but not sure if we will have internet access. If not, then i will give a full recap once we return to Salt Lake.
Thoughts from Jenna and Kaitlyn (nobody else seems to want to write):
This morning we got to sleep in a little later again! AHHHH....wasn't that great! Then we went miniature golfing...and who was it that said they were gonna demolish us?...scooter...but did he back that up...NO!! Rae totally beat him out!! For the rest of us...we should just stick to volleyball....let's leave it at that. :) Now about volleyball....today we played against Iowa. They were a good team but we had them the first game and the third. And we took them to a fifth game, where we only lost by two points. It was a close game we just needed to give a little more to finish it off. Now the best we can do is place third. We will play the team that we played yesterday and lost to, so we're gonna come out even stronger and push even harder! That's all we have to say for today. Keep it real!!! PEACE! :)
Statistical Leaders
Digs - Jenna (16)
Blocks - Tasi (9)
Aces - Kaitlyn (3)
Passing - Jenna (2.09)
Kill % - Tasi (.285)
Kills - Kaitlyn/Maline (7 each)
Thoughts from Scooter:
Tonight was a tough one. We came out strong which is something that we have not done this whole tournament and won the first game. Then it became a see saw battle. Game 2 went to Iowa, Game 3 to us, Game 4 to Iowa and then Game 5.......we did not start all that well and never could quite regain our composure. We finally made a run at the end and then I made a bonehead coaching move and made an illegal substitution. I was in the heat of the moment, went to put in Cortney for her incredible serving and had forgotten about the "international rule" that says only 1 player can sub for the other. I had already subbed Bailey in for Maline which meant I could not sub Cortney then for Bailey (it would have to be Maline)...this is not the rule in club volleyball but that is no excuse. I blew it and so rather than the score being 10-12 for Iowa, we were down 10-13. The girld fought hard and scored three straight to tie it up but we were over powered in the next two points and lost the match. I will always wonder, had I not made that mistake, would we be playing in the finals tomorrow? We'll never know and I'm sure that I will not sleep much tonight as I try and keep from throwing up over my mistake. These girls have earned the right to play for a championship and I am sick and feel so sad for them knowing that we won't be playing for it. We do, however, get a chance to gain a little revenge on the Oklahoma team that we lost to last night as we will be playing them for the third place title.
I have been so proud of all these girls and I really enjoyed our team party tonight. All of the family members came. We ordered these great sandwiches from a local eatery here and they sure were tasty. The parents brough drinks and desserts. After we ate us coaches made a little presentation. We had each of the girls come up one by one and tell us about their favorite moments, things they have learned and anything else they wanted to share. As they came up we gave them each a journal that they could write down their experiences, write notes to each other in, collect addresses and anything else they wanted to put in them. They seemed to really like that. We then gave out individual statistical awards. In International volleyball, they give out 7 individual awards as they relate to statistics. Our winners were:
Best Spiker (Tasi)
Best Blocker (Tasi)
Best Server (Dannen)
Best Digger (Jenna)
Best Setter (Rae)
Best Receiver (Jenna)
Best Scorer/MVP (Maline)
I shared my thoughts with the family members and expressed my desire and hope that all the girls have learned something that they can not only take with them to their next team but something that they can apply to their everyday life.
We hope to end tomorrow with a win before we come back to Salt Lake tomorrow night. Hopefully we will be able to blog before we get on the plane but not sure if we will have internet access. If not, then i will give a full recap once we return to Salt Lake.
Thoughts from Jenna and Kaitlyn (nobody else seems to want to write):
This morning we got to sleep in a little later again! AHHHH....wasn't that great! Then we went miniature golfing...and who was it that said they were gonna demolish us?...scooter...but did he back that up...NO!! Rae totally beat him out!! For the rest of us...we should just stick to volleyball....let's leave it at that. :) Now about volleyball....today we played against Iowa. They were a good team but we had them the first game and the third. And we took them to a fifth game, where we only lost by two points. It was a close game we just needed to give a little more to finish it off. Now the best we can do is place third. We will play the team that we played yesterday and lost to, so we're gonna come out even stronger and push even harder! That's all we have to say for today. Keep it real!!! PEACE! :)
Youth Team Pre Game
Hey all you fans! Just a couple of brief pre game notes. We had breakfast this morning at 9 and then we went to play 18 holes of miniature golf. Rae was the big winner and will recieve her award at our team dinner this evening. Right now the girls are in their nice cool rooms, then lunch at 1:00 and off to the gym at 2:15. We play Iowa at 3:30 for the right to play in the championship match tomorrow. Tonight after the match we will have a team dinner where all the family members are invited. We are pretty sure it will start at 7:30 in the hotel conference room.
and a hello to Ari who is keeping track of us :).........p.s.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Youth Team Match #5 & #6 vs. Chesapeake and Oklahoma Recap
Intermountain Youth go 1-1 for the day but make the top 4 and the Semi-Finals
Defeated Chesapeake 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-10)
Lost to Oklahoma 2-3 (22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 19-25, 12-15)
Statistical Leaders (vs. Chesapeake)
Digs - Jenna (19)
Blocks - Tasi (8)
Aces - Rae (4)
Passing - Jenna (2.41)
Kill % - Kaitlyn (.461)
Kills - Maline (13)
Blocks - Tasi (8)
Aces - Rae (4)
Passing - Jenna (2.41)
Kill % - Kaitlyn (.461)
Kills - Maline (13)
Statistcal Leaders (vs. Oklahoma)
Digs - Jenna (12)
Blocks - Bailey (8)
Aces - Rae (3)
Passing - Nikki (2.1)
Kill % - Bailey (.454)
Kills - Maline (13)
Digs - Jenna (12)
Blocks - Bailey (8)
Aces - Rae (3)
Passing - Nikki (2.1)
Kill % - Bailey (.454)
Kills - Maline (13)
Thoughts from Scooter:
I am so sorry for the delay everyone. We have spent the entire day in the gym, got back to the hotel, ate dinner, had a team meeting and I have been doing stats the rest of the time in preparation for our battle tomorrow in the semi finals of the tournament. As you can see above we won 1 match and lost 1 match today. Both matches were very hard fought.
I am so sorry for the delay everyone. We have spent the entire day in the gym, got back to the hotel, ate dinner, had a team meeting and I have been doing stats the rest of the time in preparation for our battle tomorrow in the semi finals of the tournament. As you can see above we won 1 match and lost 1 match today. Both matches were very hard fought.
I will start with our first match which was against Chesapeake (Maryland). We came out a little slow in the match and fought ourselves more than anything in trying to get our fire back. We had a game plan in place for the team we were playing but could not execute that game plan until we were all working together as one unit. We lost the first two games without much of a fight. Between games 2 and 3 we talked about learning from our opponents and we talked about Puget Sound and our match with them on day 1 where we went up 2-0 on them and they came back to take us to 5. We talked about what they did in order to do that. They came out with no fear, lots of intensity and lots of teamwork. So, that is what the girls did along with following the game plan that the coaches laid out for them and we were able to push it to a fifth game winning games 3 and 4 both pretty easily. Game 5 was more of the same as we controlled the entire game from start to finish. The match lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes and we were very excited at the accomplishment that we had just made. Unfortunately the other team's players were very disrespectful to ours after the match...half of them not even shaking hands with our players but our girls won with pride and won with class and I was proud of them.
We had about 2 hours to kill before our next match. Typically we have been coming back to the hotel, relaxing, eating lunch and then going back but the girls wanted to stay at the gym today and watch the boys volleyball matches. They are amazing players (I think the girls just wanted to flirt) but they really do play incredible volleyball and we saw a couple of very good matches between our USA team and Puerto Rico.
We started our match with Oklahoma at 5:45 and this time we had the help of Josh and Lindsay (coaches of the Select team). It was great to have more sets of eyes on the bench helping Martha and I pick apart the other team. We started the match play just a little bit better than average but the other team was about 5 notches higher than us and we lost game 1. Our girls held their composure and fought hard to take the next two games fairly easily. Game 4 saw the momentum swing back to Oklahoma and they took us to game 5. Game 5 was a see saw battle as no team made more than a 2 point run any point throughout the match except for the very end. Unfortunately we were not able to pull the game 5 out and we lost 12-15. Our downfall was a few things. 1) Serving errors (15 in the match) 2) Our blockers really struggled with finding their hitters and lining up with them correctly and 3)our passing struggled at key points during the match. The nice part is that we took 2nd in our pool and have made it to the top 4 of the event and will play Iowa (who is undefeated) tomorrow at 3:30 in the semi-finals. The winner of that match will play on Sunday at 10:00am in the finals and the loser will play at the same time for 3rd. The MOST important thing that I was proud of these girls, is that even though they lost, they ALL showed a lot of respect to the other team and sincerely congratulated them on a well played and hard fought match (as opposed to how the Chesapeake region reacted after we beat them). We have a group of very classy and mature young women and that makes me prouder than any victory we have on the court.
I am so very proud of all these girls and their performances. They have grown and learned so much in the past few days. I only wish I could have them for more time than that. They are so much fun as well as all the family members who are here supporting not only their own daughter but everyone!!!! The energy that creates is wonderful to be a part of. In our team meeting tonight we re-enforced the fact that our goal (even though we have a good shot of winning the tournament) is NOT winning...our goal is solely our performance level and working together as a team. I am very excited to see what tomorrow brings.
Thoughts from Jenna and Kaitlyn:
Hey ya’ll!! It’s us again! Today we got to sleep in a little later than usual, which was nice. We then ate breakfast and drove over to the convention center. Our car ride over definitely got us pumped up! Our first game we played Chesapeake, it started off slow but we picked it up in the third game. We beat them in five games, and the last three games we brought the Tucson heat! We had a long break before our next game. During our break we ate lunch and watched the men’s volleyball, which was amazing! We also picked up on some guys while we were waiting to play! Can I just say that men volleyball players are just FINE! But uh….VOLLEYBALL…. our next game we played Oklahoma . We took them to five games, and with a fight, we only lost by three. It was a tough game, but close. We still get to go to the semi-finals and fight for the championship! On our ride home, we stopped at target…it was a race to get back to the van. We had exactly ten minutes to get back or else they’d leave. We’re still not sure exactly why we went… but we scored some candy, magazines, and headphones! That is pretty much the day for ya and we’ll talk to ya tomorrow! Nighty-night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bed bugs bite. By the way, there are some pretty scary and weird bugs in Arizona!!
Hey ya’ll!! It’s us again! Today we got to sleep in a little later than usual, which was nice. We then ate breakfast and drove over to the convention center. Our car ride over definitely got us pumped up! Our first game we played Chesapeake, it started off slow but we picked it up in the third game. We beat them in five games, and the last three games we brought the Tucson heat! We had a long break before our next game. During our break we ate lunch and watched the men’s volleyball, which was amazing! We also picked up on some guys while we were waiting to play! Can I just say that men volleyball players are just FINE! But uh….VOLLEYBALL…. our next game we played Oklahoma . We took them to five games, and with a fight, we only lost by three. It was a tough game, but close. We still get to go to the semi-finals and fight for the championship! On our ride home, we stopped at target…it was a race to get back to the van. We had exactly ten minutes to get back or else they’d leave. We’re still not sure exactly why we went… but we scored some candy, magazines, and headphones! That is pretty much the day for ya and we’ll talk to ya tomorrow! Nighty-night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bed bugs bite. By the way, there are some pretty scary and weird bugs in Arizona!!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Youth Team Match #4 vs. Delta Recap
Intermountain Youth defeat Delta 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-20)
Statistical Leaders:
Digs - Jenna (7)
Blocks - Tasi (9.5)
Aces - Maline/Rae (3 each)
Passing - Jenna (2.41)
Kill % - Tasi (.916)
Kills - Tasi (11)
Thoughts from Scooter:
Talk about a complete 180. The girls between matches were able to do something very difficult in putting away (mentally) our previous match where we were so bad and got re-focused and re-dedicated to the next match to start our Round 2 Gold Division Pool. We left for the gym and went to watch our Select team who is on a roll. We were able to watch their first two games and then the girls, without being asked, were responsible and left to go get ready for our match. Martha and I soon joined and arrived to the court seeing our players doing some team bonding and having "fun" together which was a great thing to see. We had a great warm up and even had "virtal warm up" with no balls as they were fixing the net. The entire crowd was laughing and joining in the fun. The match began against Delta (from Arkansas area) and we tried a brand new line up which had 2 outside hitters, 2 right side hitters, 1 middle and our setter setting from the middle position. The new line up was a bit of a challenged and just created a lot of chaos and stress that was not needed and we lost a very close game 21-25. Betweeen games we talked to the girls letting them know that all was well...we played very solid in all aspects of the game except passing. We encouraged them to pass just a little better and gave them a very specific game plan to follow in order to get their best player frustrated (#5 for them was REALLY good). The girls stepped up to the challenge and over the next three games, controlled every aspect of the match even though it was close and a hard fought match. The fans were great (we have a WONDERFUL cheering section that really helps our intensity) and the girls really worked as a team and they started to have that "ah ha" moment. The win felt great not only because we played really well but because we beat a very good team. Tonight we came back to the hotel, had pulled pork sandwiches and then we all went to ice cream. This group of girls is wonderful to be around and all good kids, each with a different personality which makes it so fun to watch them all mesh into one unit. They are really learning and growing so much.
Tomorrow we play at 12:15 (Chesapeake) and 5:45 (Oklahoma). Both should be tough matches but for sure will be a lot of fun.
Thoughts from Tasi:
This afternoon we played Delta. We started off losing the first game of the match, but we ended the night with a win! We took Delta to four games winning the last three. This is their first loss of the tournament. We all played with high intensity and showed team unity. Overall we are looking pretty good and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. It will be another intense day, and we will have to bring it again to show ‘em what we got. TODAY WAS A WONDERFUL DAY! :]
Wise words from Kaitlyn: "My parents are older than me!"
Statistical Leaders:
Digs - Jenna (7)
Blocks - Tasi (9.5)
Aces - Maline/Rae (3 each)
Passing - Jenna (2.41)
Kill % - Tasi (.916)
Kills - Tasi (11)
Thoughts from Scooter:
Talk about a complete 180. The girls between matches were able to do something very difficult in putting away (mentally) our previous match where we were so bad and got re-focused and re-dedicated to the next match to start our Round 2 Gold Division Pool. We left for the gym and went to watch our Select team who is on a roll. We were able to watch their first two games and then the girls, without being asked, were responsible and left to go get ready for our match. Martha and I soon joined and arrived to the court seeing our players doing some team bonding and having "fun" together which was a great thing to see. We had a great warm up and even had "virtal warm up" with no balls as they were fixing the net. The entire crowd was laughing and joining in the fun. The match began against Delta (from Arkansas area) and we tried a brand new line up which had 2 outside hitters, 2 right side hitters, 1 middle and our setter setting from the middle position. The new line up was a bit of a challenged and just created a lot of chaos and stress that was not needed and we lost a very close game 21-25. Betweeen games we talked to the girls letting them know that all was well...we played very solid in all aspects of the game except passing. We encouraged them to pass just a little better and gave them a very specific game plan to follow in order to get their best player frustrated (#5 for them was REALLY good). The girls stepped up to the challenge and over the next three games, controlled every aspect of the match even though it was close and a hard fought match. The fans were great (we have a WONDERFUL cheering section that really helps our intensity) and the girls really worked as a team and they started to have that "ah ha" moment. The win felt great not only because we played really well but because we beat a very good team. Tonight we came back to the hotel, had pulled pork sandwiches and then we all went to ice cream. This group of girls is wonderful to be around and all good kids, each with a different personality which makes it so fun to watch them all mesh into one unit. They are really learning and growing so much.
Tomorrow we play at 12:15 (Chesapeake) and 5:45 (Oklahoma). Both should be tough matches but for sure will be a lot of fun.
Thoughts from Tasi:
This afternoon we played Delta. We started off losing the first game of the match, but we ended the night with a win! We took Delta to four games winning the last three. This is their first loss of the tournament. We all played with high intensity and showed team unity. Overall we are looking pretty good and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. It will be another intense day, and we will have to bring it again to show ‘em what we got. TODAY WAS A WONDERFUL DAY! :]
Wise words from Kaitlyn: "My parents are older than me!"
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