"La confianza de las jugadoras del Playa Finestrat pareció venirse abajo."

The past week marked the last week of the first half of our season. We played Jamper Aguere, the top team in the league right now, and we played Riobeo Xacbeo. Both matches ended in defeat. Not much morecan be said about it. No matter what happened, when the last ball hit the floor we were on the losing side of the coin. Again. This officially makes our losing game streak at 5 games.

Jamper Aguere sqaurd presented a balanced attack, desent ball control and a very good block. Both of their middles are very agile and move very well to close the block. Acually one of their Brazilian middles reminds me of myself. Very athlete. So it was a good match up between us. I thought. Once again we could not compete with their team. Not because of lack of talent, but lack of wholeness on our side. The one thing I noticed about Jamper is that they are a very solid team. Every person seems to do their job to the best of their ability and although they may not have one superstar they have many players that are good at what they do. Together its a conducive unit. Something we are lacking. We were able to take a game off of Jamper in the 2nd set, but in the end we could not overcome their attack and they defeated us 1-3(10-25, 25-15, 12-25, 13-25).

Our next match was just two days later and it took us up to the northern part of Spain. It was very cold there. I was reminded of Indiana fall weather. Yes, I should be used to cold weather due to the fact that I grew up in the midwest and I spent a hard winter in Finland. Yeap, doesnt mean I have to like it though. Upon arriving in the gym to practice, it was clear that these people do not believe in central heating. Cold weather is not good for your joints, and my knees did not appreciate it. With all excuses aside, you have to push all the outside issues out of your mind when game time comes, and clearly we did not.

For some reason in this game we could not get going. We started all three games behind and I do not believe we ever had the lead at any point. In the first set we made a run towards the end on a service run from our side. We tied the score up, but after a service error Riobeo put the game away. After that moment I tried hard to forget the rest of the match. In the second set, their libero's defense came alive and she dug everything. I mean I hit a ball literally in the middle of the court and she dug it. Some chick from their side dug a ball off her foot. Talk about luck, but you create your own luck right? The second game brought out a lot of frustration and loss of confidence. This is probably why we only scored 9 points in the third set. It was a mess. I haven't lost a game that bad since the SEC Tourny my junior year, when I was benched and we scored 6 points.

Tempers flared and a lot of things were said that I am sured were regretable. One thing is for sure, we need to take Christmas Break to reevaulate our committment to this sport that we all supposedly love. When we come back, it is possible to turn this thing around. We just have to go out their and do it. We are going to have to work harder, train longer and love the game more then the other teams. I am fully aware of what I need to do to help my team and I hope they know too. When we come back its pedal to the medal, but one game at a time. Thats all we can control.

Till then... Vamos Finestrat......

Bloqueadora Mejor de la semana

Officially a Losing Streak

In athletics, a run of three games won or lost is called a streak. After dropping our third straight match in a row, we are now on a losing streak. Two weeks ago Team Finestrat dropped a match 0-3(21-25, 26-28, 18-25) to Univerisdad de Burgos. This past weekend we lost our match 0-3 (21-25, 20-25, 13-25) vs C.V. Playa de las Canteras. A losing streak is hard because all things seem negative and its a funk you cant get rid of it. Except that you can. It is possible to turn things around. You just have to decide mentally in your head that it is possible. Any team can win or lose on any given night. I am a strong believer in that. Whether you are the best team in the league or the worst; all you have to do is go out and compete. Compete like its your last game ever. Unfortunately, Finestrat has not had that will power to go and compete and say, "look, this sucks right now, lets turn it around." And so we are continuing to lose. Would I like to be more prepared for the matches? Yes. Do I wish we would study teams like teams study us. Yes! Do I wish we practiced things and skills we would actually see in a game? Yes! But at the end of the day, if this is not provided for us, we have to pull motivation from somewhere else. And when we do finally win, we will be stronger for it.

I dont need to give you a play by play of the last two matches. It was the same thing, the same nonsense: No preparation and no execution. In the Burgos match neither middle could connect with the setters, which left our offense dependent upon the outsides going up against a double block. We also could not defend their middles. Another problem for us. At the end of the day it was another close match that we could have competed in but didnt.

Going into the Palmas match, I was confident that we could compete with this team and come out victorious. Only if we brought our game and played the way I know we can play. The match was pretty close the whole time in the first two games. We were even up five points in the second game before they went on a run to beat us and go up 2-0. We really had no offense this match at all. Lindsay Stalzer was the only one really scoring. She ended the day with 10 kills. This match the middles were more of a decoy so the outsides could be one-on-one. But we still could not execute and put balls down. The third match was just ridiculous. I was embarassed to be apart of it. We just folded. Our passing went out the window, our defense, which was not that great to begin with, was nonexistent. At one point a player on our side ducked out of the way of a ball. It was a mess. On a brighter note, my blocking was back on this week. I ended the match with 7 blocks, therefore making me the best blocker in the league this week. This marks the third time I have held that honor. Dani de Silva was also in the stats this week ranked #2 in reception.

Next game is at home this Wednesday vs Jamper Aguere in Benidorm.