After last year’s SAISA run, every single person on the team wanted to maintain our title. To solidify ourselves as the first team in OSC history to win twice in a row. All of the practice games, mornings and after school sessions we had all led up to this moment. Playing at a home ground where we were most comfortable, yet somehow all the pressure was on us. The tournament started

 

on Thursday, after the opening ceremony where Ethan and I recited the SAISA oath we started to get ready for our first game. We played Lincoln, ironically they were our first game last year when we played them on their home grounds. After the warmup, we all lined up on the backline and walked to the net to start the game, the roars of the crowd, the deafening noise ringing in my ears. Even though I knew we had what it takes to win I still couldn’t help feeling a little bit nervous. But those nerves soon disappeared. The first set was a bit rough for me, I had been sick the last 3 days before the tournament started. So the noise, lights were a bit overwhelming. My head felt light ( not in a good way) , my sweat was cold but I had no choice. I played through it until eventually my teammates carried me out of it. A moment I could never forget, our opening game, the start to our flawless run through the tournament.

 

The next 3 group games went by all too fast, these went on to friday. At this point we hadn’t dropped a set. We were completely unbeaten until our last game on Friday against ASB. We cleaned up the first set comfortably, but when the second set started we switched off and somehow were 12 :2  down after winning the first set. For some reason, none of us felt nervous. We didn’t feel like we were going to lose, even Mrs. Sue didn’t seem nervous. She just said , “ alright boys next point,” and that next point did come. The floodgates opened, my sets were traveling to all the right places, Ben and Ethan rose to the ball and hammered them down at every opportunity. ASB was being pretty cocky for a while, over the top celebrations and loud cheers. We knew we had to shut them up. It was our serve, the ball went over and they dealt wit

h it decently. Their outside shot went up for a cross shot, but Ben Jackson, or after this block “ the wall” absolutely shut him down. His glasses flew off his face, I almost felt bad but then I realized it was a tournament and there was zero need for that. We took the lead, and then in true OSC fashion bottled it until we were at tie game 24-24. It was Darius’s serve, him and I both had gone on massive service streaks and he was on his now. The overpassed, we set up a quick middle attack and piped it straight through the block courtesy of Ethan. 25 – 24, our serve again. They run an attack but not clean enough to cause problems, they receive me slightly out of system but I saw Ben shouting for the ball without even using words. I pushed the ball wide and of course he reached it, opting for a line shot this time he drew the blocker and put it away easily. 26 – 24, our game, still 0 sets lost. That was the only real scare we had until the final.

Our quarter final match against Lincoln ended as 2-0, the same with Chennai who were our Semi Final opponents last year as well. After our semi final game, we had about 6 hours between then and the final. Those 6 hours didn’t feel long at all. Before I knew it the court was being moved to be central in the gym, as opposed to having 2 courts on either side. The bleachers surrounded the central court, the lights illuminated the central stage. Dhaka and ACS wrapped up their 3rd 4th place game, and it was an out time. Our opponents , fittingly, were TAISM. Our school rivals since I can’t remember when, were playing us on our home grounds. There was no way we could lose, no chance any of us would let that happen. The whistle blew, the first set started. To be honest, this first set was not our brightest moment. Sloppy mistakes, misjudged calls and alack of attacking made us feel less confident than we should have. We went back and forth, exchanging blocks until we got to 24-23 in our favor. All we needed was one point, it was their serve. We were in a weird rotation, then not in his preferred position. Throughout the tournament we had been developing an attack that involved a cross. Ethan runs behind the middle blocker in this rotation to hit between the outside and middle lines, whilst the middle blocker draws the opponents. What better time to do it but now, we had done it before but it was a bit risky. The serve came over, Darius dealt with it comfortably, I ran to the net, Adam began his run up and drew their blocker, Ethan hiding behind his feint. I saw his movement, knowing he was going for it I sent it between the middle and outside lines just like we practiced. Almost like a gift, there was no blocker, just Ethan rising to the ball I had set. I saw their middle scramble but it was too late, the ball hit the ground with no contact. Our point, our set.

Now the second set is something I don’t really want to talk about. All you have to know is, we fumbled and we lost, not by a lot but we lost. Disappointing, especially considering we hadn’t dropped a single set that whole tournament. But we moved on, mentality at this point would be what determined who won and lost. The third set, on the other hand, went completely our way. We started strong, and finished strong. One of the outside hitters pulled a muscle halfway through which was very unfortunate, but at that point our momentum was too strong for anything to stop us. One moment when I knew we would take that set, was when we broke through their 6ft 5 middle blocker. Their serve, I was back row and Ethan was middle, I signaled for a quick. I ran to the net, the ball met my jump and Ethan jumped before I had set. I looked over at the blocker who was only moving now, knowing he wouldn’t make it. All I did was push the ball slightly into Ethan’s hand, the blocker did get up but the ball went straight through him and down. Our point, the minute we broke through that block was the moment we knew we would win. The 4th set was a blur, I don’t even remember most of it except the last few points. We finally reached our groove, our momentum steadied. I don’t want to sound cocky, but at this point we knew we had won. We got to the set point before they had crossed 15 points. Darius’s serve, much like our ASB game. For some reason I still don’t understand, he decided to fully commit a jump serve on match point. Something he never does, but always does in training as a joke cause he always misses. By some miracle the ball went over, so well it messed up their reception and forced them out of system. They only had one option, we closed it down, their hitter panicked and tried to aim high, but hammered it out. There was a pause, a breath of relief, we had done it? 

 

The whistle blew and all my thoughts came true, the screams from the crowd, being met with 9 extremely sweaty hugs and cries of joy. I almost couldn’t believe it, but at the same time I could, I definitely could. I don’t like saying it, but I knew we would win. The teams we played, the colleges we got thrashed by, were all learning experiences. The crowd was another huge factor, they kept us going when we were down in points but never lost faith in us. Even if we may have made them nervous at times, in the end we couldn’t have done it without them. We also couldn’t have done it without our amazing coaches. Coach Janaka, the first person who taught me the basics of the setter position, I owe both tournament wins to him. That moment was truly electrifying. All the exhaustion left my body, Jude my best friend who had left last year, sprinted from the crowd and we celebrated together. It’s a moment I won’t and can’t forget. I can’t wait for next year’s tournament, and yes I know we will be 3 time champions. Even though we’re losing one of our biggest assets Ethan, who I have developed a strong connection with through volleyball to the point where verbal communication on court isn’t necessary, we just know. Also Antoine is one of our most well- rounded players, Yoosuf our libero and Vinuda one of our outsiders. I know our new players will step up to the mark, and we still have Ben, Darius, Liam, Adam, Senaka and myself so I don’t have a doubt that we can make it happen.