Men's volleyball

Today, like all Sundays, I played volleyball. We had 6 guys show up (and 2 coaches). First we played 3 versus 3. We also rotated every time the ball got hit over the net. Doing this made every keep on their toes, and be able to play all the positions in a short amount of time. Also, since we had only 3 people per side, it was very hard to receive balls. After about a half hour of this, we got going on a real game.

We were playing on the other side of the curtain as some girls. They were in 8th grade, but had played for much longer than any of us. Also, they had a very strict coach. It was funny when we got a point, and they walked back to their positions with their heads hanging down. Their coach yelled at them, saying that they have to keep happy and energetic and awake. Meanwhile, the guys were joking around clicking our heels like the old men on movies did.

The girls were pretty good, but you could tell that they weren't worried about volleyball skill for a lot of the practice. This is because after every play, they would yell 1-2-3 and clap. Also, when they got an ace, they had a little cheer/chant that they did. It is obvious that the coaches had them do this to keep their spirits up, no matter how the game was going. I noticed that it is a lot like what the softball players in little league do.

Because the girls were doing this odd thing that we had never seen, we were all taken aback. After a few points, we started to do our own thing. When we got a point because of a spike, we would jump up and click our heels. When we got a point because of an error the other team made, we would do a fist pump. Finally, when we lost a point, we would hang our heads down dramatically (opposite of what the girls were supposed to be doing). Needless to say, we had a good time.

Another funny thing that we did was stall the game. Our coach's son, who plays with me, had the serve. His mom blew the whistle, and he started doing tricks with the volleyball (like spinning it around his body). She started counting down, because there is a time limit (though not strictly enforced). He stalled for as long as he could, until he had to serve. When he hit the ball, he hit with only his finger tips, which made him miss horribly. Nobody said much except me, who laughed, clapped, and gave him a high five.

We won our first game, to 25 by a wide margin. This gave the girls time to adjust to the sky-high net. The second game went down to the last points. They were ahead 14-13, and we were playing to 15. A few bad bumps quickly gave them a win.