Power League Qualifier-1/22/12

Second tournament of the season, thankful that it was in town. Morning started with pool play in a three team pool. We started the day as the 102 seed. We played the third seed team in our pool, which went very well. We were able to close out a close first set Then finished off the rest of the match easily with great play. After reffing the next match, we played the two seed from the pool. This team's level of play was about equal to the first team we played. We had control of the first set in the beginning, but let it get away from us. We looked a little lifeless and lethargic, so we didn't play our best and played at their level. With some conversation between the sets, we came back out and played at our ability and finished with better effort and a win in the last set.
The crossover match was against the 105 seed, hoping that the energy from the last set of pool would carry over. We played well but were unable to overcome a couple of setbacks and lost both sets 25-26 and 25-27. This put us against the 108 team in the final crossover match of the day. The play from the girls was very inspired. They played at a high level and took care of business in two sets. The girls are starting to expand their play and grow as teammates and players (exciting to see).
All of the players had some outstanding plays throughout the day. Brit, the team's setter, did a great job setting all day without taking a break. Emily had a sweet pancake in the last set of the day to keep a play alive and then finished off the match with two aces. The twins did a fantastic job of hitting and setting when needed to, they are maturing out there at a very quick pace. Natalie, after missing a week of practice, was able to come in and make it difficult on defenses by mixing up her shots, by hitting and tipping. The two top players for the tourney though would have to be Shalini and Maddie. Sha did a great job of coming off the bench and playing back row for us today. Her passing was on target all day and she took control when she was back there like I asked her to do. I have quite an advantage by being able to put her and Cory in the back row at the same time, nothing hits the floor and I get great passes every single time. Maddie showed us some great play at the net today. She has shown growth in her hitting by hitting to both corners of the court. Not only was she a force hitting but also blocking. She took advantage of every overpass and was aggressive with what she did with them. To top it off, she served very well also. Like I said earlier, all the girls had amazing periods sometime during the day, these two impressed me the most. Both took their level of play up a notch this weekend, look out because now I have higher expectations for you.
I am excited to see the progression of the team so far. When we tighten up a couple of areas in our game, we will be hard to beat. Great job today team, let's get ready for the next Power League. Thank you parents for your support.

MAC Tourney 1-7-2012

Well this was the first tourney for me in a few years, so I was anxious about going in. I was excited about getting back into the coaching groove, but unsure if the team's preparation was ready for play. Then I thought that there is only way one to find out and that is to play!!

The day started off well with all the players there on time and warming up when I walked in, almost thought it was someone else's team for a moment. In the morning matches, we played other teams that might have been more skilled than ours but we played them close, for the most part. Our struggles in the morning were our lack of energy and our indecisiveness. The players showed me that they were unwilling to take chances in making plays where they might make mistakes. We were reserved in our play which allowed many balls to go unplayed or delayed reactions to the ball. This style of play also showed that we needed more cohesiveness, more trust and communication. We talked about how to make adjustments after pool play and what should be done differently for bracket play.

The time between pool play and bracket was ridiculous, even with a pool having 5. The wait must have been refreshing for us because we came out playing with more effort and energy. The girls were making plays that I have been seeing in practice. They are showed excitement and encouragement when they were playing, which was a major part of the improvement of play. I was very impressed with the transformation that was made from the morning to the afternoon. When we finished the day, we talked about the things that went well and need to work on. All in all, I think it was a good first tourney with great things to come. This team is made up of talented players and they are willing to work hard to improved.

Two players that really stood out to me and Gabby were Britt and Cory. Britt set a 5-1 all day, and I know was tired by the end of the day. She worked hard, improved her communication with the team as the day went along and also improved her decision making on her sets as the day went along. Nice job, Britt. The other player that was impressive was Cory. She played our libero position most of the day and really stepped up her game in the afternoon. She was making her presence known on serve receive and defense. She made plays later in the day that she was holding back on in the morning. She took control of the back row and made it her own, which is exactly what I expect from my libero. Great job, Cory!!

Now on to two weeks more of practice and preparation for Power League. We will be ready! And the bonus, it is in town!