Last of NN's League Tournaments this Spring... but it also coincided with a bunch of the girls' Spring Breaks!! One was in Hawaii... one was in Paris... One had a Badminton Tournament for her school... and one was a last minute illness. Her team was now down to 7... without the starting middle and OH. To top it off... the 7th player's uniform was stuck in the washer that morning!!! And she was going to be late! We told her to grab any old shirt... and we'll use masking tape to tape a number on her. Heh...
It was a big mystery of who was gonna play where. But to our luck... the first two games were against very green teams. The girls had a chance to settle in.
By the third game... they met their match. Our team has never dropped a set all season, until this team stole one from us last tournament when NN was on her Service Trip. This team is good. They're a solid, complete team, with chemistry. And right off the bat... they stormed through and took the first set. Parents from other teams started coming up to me asking where the players were. More and more people started flocking over to our court. They wanted to be there to see David slay Goliath. Second set was much the same... lots of miscommunicates, mental errors, stupid mistakes. Within a blink of an eye... we were down 24-22. Game point. First loss of the season, pending. It was inevitable. There's no energy. There's 1 person on the bench - trying to cheer. NN - was frustrated and miserable. The coaches were flabbergasted. And all the parents were stunned.
Wait.... who's David and who's Goliath here? This is an underdog story, right??? David's the underdog... right??? So does that mean... a team that's down 4 players, 2 starters....is the underdog?? Damn straight we are!!!
24-22 quickly became 24-23. Then we tied it. After that... there was no looking back. 26-24 VICTORY!!! After winning the 2nd set... the 3rd set was a cinch.
We struggled a bit after that 3rd set marathon against a team we've consistently beaten. But once again, we never once doubted the resiliency and grit of this team. By the team we got to the championship bracket... the rest of the teams knew they've met their match. Once again... victory belongs to us.
But it wasn't without paying its price. NN got so frustrated in that 4th game and with the constant berating from the coach... she started to weep. Her whole team tried to console her. Parents on the sides saw it. The opponents' parents saw it. The coach saw it. It was painful to watch.
When the odds are stacked against you.... that's when you rise to the occasion to show them what you're made of. Proud of you NN.
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