A very grandiose title I admit, so I'd better back it up with some substance. The good news is that I can, we played probably the 3 most fun games I've played in the league last night. We went up against my uncle, cousin, and brother in a match up of two of the best teams. Our team was in first place with only a single lost game in 3 weeks, and the other team was currently in third.
All three of the games were intense and closely fought games, and my uncle summarized it well afterwards by saying "We battled like crazy and seemed to be exhausted after playing for a long time when I looked up and the score was 2 - 2". It seemed that every volley, especially in the first two games was long... and not just get it over the net multiple times, but bump, set, spike, with a nice dig out on the other side and it would repeat back and forth. It wasn't a case of not getting a good attack, but more outstanding defensive plays to keep the points alive.
The first game was close as I mentioned, and we managed to win by a few points. It seemed to take me much of the game to get back in the groove after missing two weeks. I didn't make a lot of mistakes, just felt tentative and I couldn't make good plays. The second game I felt much better, and this game was very tight! I had rotated out and we lost a few points to go down 24 to 20 when we won the point to get the serve back and I came back in on the front line. We needed to get four straight points or we would lose and everyone on both sides was all pumped up. We got the first two behind solid serving by Greg, and you could feel the pressure ratchet up. At 24 to 23, my uncle went for the spike directly across from me. He didn't get a good hit on it and it dribbled on the net for a second before I got just enough of it to make sure it fell on his side. 24 to 24 now, the last point, the gym was really humming, this game had been a tremendous battle. Greg got the serve in and the other team made a poor pass to the front. The setter went far to my right to get the ball and Eric followed her over. She made a perfect set, right back to the spot where Eric would have been if he hadn't followed it across. I could see his eyes get real big when he realized he wouldn't get to it. It dropped and we took the second game. Trading "good games" on the way under the net, we really meant it this time!
The third game didn't quite measure up, I think they were a bit emotionally drained and we pulled away pretty easy, sweeping the evenings game 3-0. It was a great return for me personally, and as I mentioned, a lot of fun. I stayed for pickups as well and played okay. It's definitely different than playing as a team, as you don't have a good feeling for how the other players are going to move and what balls they can get to. Still a good workout though.
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