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 @ homeIn 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 VoleibolThe 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!
