We Never Showed Up

Let me start off by saying that I first and foremost hate losing with a passion! Which I guess all athletes should right? If not then you probably are not very competitive at all. Losing is losing and in a competition my father always tells me that someone has to win and someone has to lose. But when you lose you should go down fighting. You should not be able to walk off the court or the field because you are so dog tired that it is just not possible. You should walk off thinking that I gave my all and there was nothing more. That is championlike to me. Well Saturday, my team was not championlike at all. We walked off the court with our heads hung low as they should have been because we simply did not come to play.

Team Finestrat was defeated by Valeriano Alles Menorca 3-0 (12-25, 17-25, 22-25). Embarassing right? Yes I was. The truth is we were never really in match. I could write all the excuses in the world: we were tired, we only had 8 players, they were more physical, the scouting report was incorrect. The bottom line is we are all volleyball players. We all know how to play this game and we simply did not do that. Menorca came out on fire in the first two games, completely shuting down our leading scorers. Blocking again was another problem and our passing was never there. To attack an opponent you need passing period! At one point in the match, our coach stopped talking to us. There is only so much he can do from the bench and the rest is up to us.

I am a believer in "you cant change the past, but you can produce the future." My last year at USC, Coach Somera really pressed the issue of the "next ball." For example, if you make a mistake on a play, you cannot get that play back, but all you can do is focus on the next ball. Our team has problems with getting over our little defeats. Menorca was beating us and our team just laid down and focused on all the things we weren't doing right and that is not the right idea to have in competition. I try my best to always focus on the next ball, I cant change the error I just made. I can only make it better the next time around. Michael Jordan used to say, "You can't get points today for yesterdays game." So whether is was something negative that happened or something positive, you have to move on to the next play.

I hope we can learn something from this match and move on to the next one. Focusing on how bad this loss was will not help us win the next one. We have to take the lesson and try and improve next match.

Our leading scorers this match: Lindsay Stalzer with 12 points + 4 and 8 kills and Me with 10 points + 2 and 8 kills.

"Talking about what you don't have will never get you what you want." -Adam Rodriguez

Tres Puntos! Yeah Buddy!

This past Saturday Team Finestrat defeated Traysesa Santa Cruz 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-14) at home. Even though Traysesa stands in the last position in the league, they came to play and we knew we could not blow them off. On top of that, they recently acquired a new player that had been practicing with us. The Cuban Magaly Carvajal had thought about joining our team, but opted for another option. She really strengthed their team, but in the end it was not enough to overcome our attack. Especially that of American Lindsay Stalzer who lead with 22 +17 and 17 kills. Traysesa was led by American and my friend Laurel Abrahamson with 14 +11 and 12 kills.

Ofcourse we started off like we always do. With no intensity. We dropped the first set due to poor attacking, many errors and no defense. Needless to say our coach was very mad and we knew we had to turn it around. The competition after this game was only going to get better. The next three games were pretty much the same. We came out with a little bit more "Umph." Defense was much better as we started blocking more balls and digging more balls. Well everyone except me, since I ended the match no blocks listed in the stats. That match was not my best game as I was only 10 +8. I made pretty simple mistakes and I know I can play better, block better. All that matters is that as a team we came together and put the match away. It might have not been pretty at times but a win is a win.

On another positive note we had three players leading the stats this week again. Katia Rodrigues was ranked #1 in reception (86% 14/16). She also earned a position on the Ideal Seven for this week. I led in service aces ( I know- an usual category for me to do well in, lol) with 3. Lindsay was mentioned in two categories: Atacantes, she was third with 17 kills and Atacantes Totales in which she was third with 22 puntos. Last week Dani Da Silva (reception) , Lindsay and myself (blocking-5) also made the top stats list. This marks the 7th week in a row in which a Finestrat player has lead in stats, was named MVP, or listed in the Ideal Seven. Vamos Finestrat. Lets keep up the good work.

"Its not what the situation is, its what you make of the situation." - Zig Ziglar

Next game is away versus Valeriano Alles Menorca.

Missed Opportunites

On Saturday we suffered our third loss of the season. We were defeated by tubillete.com Aireuropa Tenf. 2-3 (20-25, 28-26, 25-19, 18-25, 10-15). We pretty much should have beat this team 3-0 or 3-1, but we messed around and let them control the game. It was a game of miscommunication, many errors and missed opportunities.

We came out on fire in the first game, containing them while we made a run for 25. But in one instance we lost focus and committed errors that would eventually let them back into the game. Once they tied us and took the lead, we were never able to catch up. It took the wind out of us a little bit and we hung our heads as we crossed over to the other side. But that is no time to give up. We still had at least 3 more games to play.

The second game was pretty close the whole way through. Tension was in the air and everyone on both sides could feel it. For them this could have been the nail in the coffin and for us it would have been a huge blow to have to come back from 2 down. We hung in there and made it to game three with timely kills and crucial blocks. In game three we didnt even look like the same team. We jumped out to a pretty nice lead and never really looked back. You could rename this game the block party, becuase we literally set up a wall. Lindsay Stalzer, who finished the game with five blocks, and Maria Revilla came up big in the blocking area. At one point I didnt believe they could get anything past them.

Game four was completely opposite. They jumped out to a big start and we could never really catch up. Even though at one point we started to make a run, but it was not enough. Another big factor was their big middle Sherri Williams. Yes, another All American from Florida. She is a very good player and we could not defend her. Our only hope was to contain her and hope it would be enough. The final and decisive game 5 would start off much like the fourth. We got behind and really could not make a run. If you subtract our errors, it might have been closer with a different outcome. We definitely had our opportunites the whole match to put them away but did not take advantage. That was all she wrote.

Thats the thing about athletics. You have to be there in the moment. Right in that instance. Can't think about the previous error and you cant try and produce the future. You have to play right then and there. You have to convert right then and there. You have to score when the opportunity knocks and if you dont, there might not be another opportunity to do so. No do overs. This is something we will have to work on in the upcoming games. Mental toughness and awareness.

"You need to stop thinking about whats gonna happen. You need to focus on what is right in front of you. HIT THE BALL." - Grey's Anatomy

Next game is at Home in Benidorm versus Traysessa Santa Cruz

Photo taken shortly before the match. Vamos Finestrat.

Too Little Too Late.

Have you ever had an out of body experience? You literally feel youself outside of your body, floating beside yourself staring at your body; like its unreal. That is kind of how the game on Saturday versus Cantur went. I felt like I wasnt even there in my body. It was that bad. And as I was having this out of body experience, my team must have had the same experience because I didnt recognize any of them eiether. We came out flat and with no energy, and we were defeated 1-3 (15-25, 17-25, 25-13, 29-31).

Again we fell into that "we have never played volleyball before" mode. Lucky for us we were able to snap out of it in the third game, therefore forcing a fourth game. All that effect was not enough at the end of the night as we lost the fourth game in a pressure packed event. We were one game too short to claim any points, and the only people we have to blame is ourselves. Missed opportunities, weak blocking and defense and many errors lead to easy points for our opponents.

Cantur featured a quadruple threat of North Americans. They were led by former Florida Gator All-American Benavia Jenkins, an offensive and defensive threat in the middle. Dani Da Silva led us once again with 22 points including four huge blocks. Followed by 12 points from myself. I wish I had blocked better, because that is my main job. I will just have to get better at it this upcoming week in the gym.

"When you learn what your weaknesses have to teach, they will become your strengths. " - Ralph Marston

Barn Burner in Haro Rioja

It was a barn burner last Saturday night in Haro. After being down 2 games, team Finestrat made an incredible comeback to win the match 3-2 (12-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-23, 15-10). It was one of the most exciting, fun, heart-pumping, incredible games I have ever played in. More inportantly we received 2 huge points to place us in the middle of the pack this week in the standings. Which I believe was far higher than anyone expected.

We started off playing horribly. I was so confused and almost angry. It felt like none of us as ever touched a volleyball. We were making stupid mistakes, not playing smart, and being very timid. I remember thinking, " this match is gonna be over soon, if this continues." What was strange about this game for me was that I was connecting with both setters. Amazing. So as long as they kept setting me, I knew I had to continue to put the ball down. Haro is a very good team, but they can be beaten and I always believed that. Just had to go out and play our game. They have two very athletic and quick middles who can also score. Their setter is smart and sets her hitters into very good situations. Their wing players are also very good and can score in almost every position on the court. Ball control is also descent. They showed how good they were when the score was 16-9. We lost 25-12 and our coached let us have it.

The second game was very close. We were playing a bit better, but we still were not stopping their hitters when we needed to. Towards the end we managed to get a lead and at one point had game point. Because I had a hot hand this match "Colo" decided to go to me in the middle. It was a good set, I was up quick, no block.... I hit it out of bounds just to the left. AAAGGGGHHH! I want that set back so bad, but there was nothing I could do about it. That tied the game back up and they went on to block their way to a victory of game 2.

A bit defeated, my team walked to the other side. Here we had game point and could not put the game away. Our coach let us have it again and then the team just had a total meltdown. People were starting to panic and yell at each other. There were tears. Im thinking this match is far from over, well at least it was for me. Like I said earlier I knew we could beat this team. So heading into the third game we somehow all mentally got extra focused. We came out on fire. Attackers were finding the court. Our blocking system began to work for our defense. Lindsay, the other American, was playing some crazy defense in right back. We came out with the lead and never let it go. My connection with the setters was still golden. Shocked. We won 25-22.

The fourth game would be crucial. Over here in Spain and probably other countries, wins are not weighed the same as normal. If you beat a team 3-0 or 3-1, you receive 3 points. If you beat them 3-2, you receive 2 points and the losing team receives 1 point. So sometimes all you need to do is take a team to 5 games and you can at least steal a point. So this game was important. With the way we started off the match, it would be great for us to even steal a point from Haro. This game was pretty even and went back and fourth. When a setter can connect with their middles, it really opens up the game for your other hitters, and thats exactly what happened. Our "Brasillenas" got some good looks and took advantage of them. We started blocking balls as well. Even with my so focused mind, I managed to goof in a crucial moment in the game. I got a service error because I did not hear the ref blow the whistle in the loud gym and forfeited a point. Want that one back too. After two very controversial plays we were able to take the lead and never looked back. 25-23.

At this point I think we were thankful that we would at least walk out this gym with 1 point. Game 5 was fire for us. We came out and grabbed a 5-0 lead quickly and that pretty much was the ball game. Crucial blocks also helped and before I knew it we were looking at game point. I couldnt believe it as I glanced at the scoreboard. When Katia's kill hit the floor we all celebrated by hoping in a circle in the middle of the court. Wow, what a win! It was so much fun to play in. This is the reason why I love playing sports; why I love being an athlete; why I love competing. Its moments like these when you realize that that superhard practice you had the week before actually paid off today, and everything comes full circle.

I want to be this focused for every match. It felt good to believe in myself and my team even when we didn't believe in ourselves. I want to keep that intensity for as long as I am an athlete because the results feel so good. "Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible." - Frank L Gaines

On another note- >>> Congratulations to Dani De Silva for being named MVP of the Week!