Best Blocker in Week #2

I am excited to tell you guys that I was named best blocker in the league for week number 2. Each week in the Spanish Superliga a MVP is named, which is the best all around player for that week. They also put together what they call "EL SIETE IDEAL DE LA JORNADA," or the Ideal 7 Team. Its put together according to who has the best stats in each position. Last week I lead the league in blocks. As I said in the previous blog my team had a really good blocking game, and according to the stats I had 7 blocks. After the first game my coach was pretty disappointed with our blocking and we practiced really hard on blocking the next day. So it feels really good that it payed off in our match. I am honored to get recognized and I couldnt have done it without my teammates. So thanks guys and Vamos Finestrat!

First Win in Our House!

We won our first game of the season last night at home. It feels so good to win. Everything is different. The atmosphere is so much happier. Everyone is nicer and wants to talk and give you high fives. I guess that is one of the perks of winning so we need to do it often. Last night we played and beat Oxidoc Palma (25-23, 25-20, 13-25, 25-12). They were a bit short-handed because their middle hitter forgot her passport and had to stay at home. No matter what happens, everyone has to come to play. You have to continue as if nothing happened and try not to use it as an excuse. Everyone has a weak spot, an open window. So with that said... we hit them where it hurt.

The game started off pretty steady, like when you're first meeting someone and you try to get a feel for them. They kept it close pretty much the whole game, but we focused up and pulled out the win in the end. At times in the match, we got really tense and started to panic. Thats when a team can really make a move. The key is to stay "tranquila." In game two we exploited their weakness of not having one of their better players on the court. With her gone we could focus on other hitters directly. Its like with the Lakers back in the day. If Shaq were not playing, you would double-team Kobe. This is where our blocking came up big for us. We outblocked them 7-2. Defense at the net takes a lot of pressure off our backrow players and opens up the offense for us.

At the beginning of game three, we were rolling. We needed one more game to win the match. This can be very tricky. A lot of times a team can lose focus and slack off, which can give the their opponent an opportunity to sneak up and steal a win. That is exactly what happened. Our passing broke down as well as the well formed wall of a block we established in game 2. Actually we recorded no blocks this game as a team at all. We forgot the little things, and as in life those little things count more than the big things. Game 4 proved to be very different. Our block was back and our offense opened up for our attackers. We hit a 50% as a team, and that was the match.

After it is said and done a win is a win. This one felt good, especially in front of our home crowd. I hope there are many more to come, but only time and hard work will tell. Our next game is away on Saturday versus Haro Rioja Voley. Check out our stats to our game here -> http://www.rfevb.com/cnac/super/femenina/est/SF/est012.pdf

First Game of the Season

Last night we had our first regular season match versus Murcia. We lost 0-3 in our first official competition. I must say I was very disappointed in the outcome. We started off the game very well. Getting Murcia down 16-9. Things were flowing and we blocked them off the court. But volleyball is such a game of momentum and it can change very quickly. With a couple of errors and aces, a team can totally lose their footing and get down. Well after some pretty tough serves and blocks from Murcia, we found ourselves down 23-16. What a turnaround right? It is just a testament to how tough Murcia is as a team. We lost the first game 25-19. It was a heart breaker, because things were going so well on our side and we lost it.

The next two games were pretty much the same except Murcia started off on top and never game up the lead. I think after getting beat in the first game, it sucked the air out of us and we felt defeated. Our block also had a major breakdown; something we will need to work very hard on in the future. Our coach was pretty up upset, as he should be. He was very upset with the middles and blocking especially. Ofcourse I felt like I could have played better. Looking at my stats, you wouldn't think I had a bad game. It actually said I was the best player from my team. But my coach and my teammates expect a higher standard from me and I should too. I do not need to settle for what is just alright or expected of me. I need to aim higher.

Much credit to Murcia. They are a very good team and the fact that we had them down lets me know that as this season goes on, we will be a team others will need to pay attention to. I have no doubt in my mind. There are a lot of things I wish I could take back from last night both mentally and physically. But life doesn't work that way and neither does sports. The only thing I can control is what I do, and how I do it right now. The past is gone. Gotta focus on the next game. Till next time- Vamos Finestrat.

Check out the Spanish Superliga website to track my team - Cala de Finestrat. -> http://www.sfv.es/

Ready for a New Season

front row (l-r) Dani Da Silva, Katia Rodrigues, Rebeca Fernandez, Lara German, Ainhoa Miravalles, Ana "Colo" Martinez

back row (l-r) Jaime Gallego, Natali Flaviani, Lauren Ford, Ramon Guerrero, Juan Villinares, Lindsay Stalzer, Maria Revilla, Manu Rubio

Well here is the official team photo, but we have not officially started the regular season. We have one more practice game tomorrow on Monday and then the next one will be the first game of the season. Let me add that it will be against the best team in the Spanish Superliga. They have been the champions in Spain many times. Their team has had great players on there like Glinka, Logan Tom and Aury Cruz. If you don't know them, look em up. YES! What a way to start off a season. I guess it is good that we played them in a practice game last week. I am not going to lie, I was intimidated. But I remember something my father used to always tell me. He'd say, " You know Makia, they have to put their spandex on the same way you do. One foot at a time." It was always funny to me, but oh so true. So that calmed me down a bit. The first game was not so bad. I think the score was maybe 20- 25. The next three were a different story. They are a very good team, but to me it was nothing that was spectacular. Not to take anything away from them because they are all very skilled players. But to me it seemed as though no one was a superstar, yet everyone came to work to do their job and did it well. They worked real well as a unit because every one seemed to be very good in their particular area. They didn't depend on one player to carry them or score all the points. Everyone could score and it didn't matter who had the ball. No discrimination. If that makes sense. I think the next time will be different for me to handle the pressure and be more successful. I can only be the best if I play against the best.

The team before our scrimmage versus Benidorm @ home


In between all the training and weight lifting and conditioning, my team has been involved with many other practice games as well. These games really mean nothing but practice. We get out on the court and try new things, make mistakes, and try to perfect a system for our team. Like at Murcia, we had a specific plan on what we wanted to work on. We play teams from both the top league and the 2nd league. If one were counting wins we are 2-3. Not bad, coming from our view point. Yes, everyone would love to be undefeated, but then what would we learn. In each of those loses I guarantee we found things that we need to do better and could improve on.


Two weeks ago we have scrimmaged a team from Benidorm twice. Coincidently, it was the same team that passed on me two years ago. The first time we played, it was in our gym the Pabellion in Finestrat. I have heard it described as a Barn, which is a pretty good description. But Home is Home, right? We beat them 3-0. I felt it was a pretty good game for us. We clicked. Everyone seemed to connect with the setters, and for me that is huge. Our passing broke down in game two, but we were able to turn it around and come back from behind with huge serves from Dani Da Silva and Maria Revilla. Plus if gave our town a chance to see us in action, since we will not be playing our regular season games there, but in Benidorm. That day we also presented all the teams of the club. Our teams vary from a very young age of about 8 or 9 to anywhere from 30 -35. SO it was nice for all of us to see each other play. Some of the little ones are really good.

At the Pabellion cheering on the youth teams

La presentación del Club Voleibol

The next week we played Benidorm again at their gym. Well its safe to say we share the gym since we will play our home games there. This time Benidorm fought hard and took us to four. My connection with the setters was not so good this game. But when one part of your game breaks down, you need to focus on other ways to help your team score. In my case that is blocking. In game three our passing was not the only thing to break down. Just mentally we were not focused and made a lot of errors on our side. Much credit to Benidorm. They never gave up and continued to fight us the whole night. They scored in all the most important situations, and made some pretty scrappy plays. My American friend Tina Martin (Benidorm) is quite the hustler. In game four, we started off flat once again, but somehow fought through with some pretty good defense both at the net with blocks and back row with digs. Dani da Silva also contributed with some very tough serves. Her serve is very dangerous and at times is very hard to pass. No matter how ugly or pretty it was, we won, but it was still a practice game.


Ralph Marston once said, " When you learn what your weaknesses have to teach, they will become your strengths." I will have to mentally and physically continue to work hard and stay tough as the season progresses. Here we go!