Since the 23rd of August, a group of almost 15 students ranging from grades 9 to 12 has been participating in volleyball training to improve their skills and physical state to hopefully be chosen to be part of the SAISA team.  During the first week of training, we as a team worked on the basics and fundamentals of volleyball such as bumping, setting, communicating, and moving around the court. On the second of September, we had our first volleyball game, meaning it was our very first time playing as a team against opponents.

First set (Credit: School photographer)

At first, a lot of us were nervous, as we were not yet fully comfortable playing together as well as individually. Our opponents were a group of boys a bit older than us who were quite skilled. For the first 20 minutes, we were warming up as a team practicing spikes, serving, bumping, and setting.

For the first set, we were each given our position and game plan. Thankfully, we had a very good start to the set giving us a strong lead which really helped to boost our confidence. By quite a close call, we were able to win and secure the first set.

Second set (Credit: School photographer)

By the second set, the coaches changed the formation and team members in order to give everyone a chance to play and to try some new formations out. Since we were playing a formation that included two setters on the court, we were very confused about where to position ourselves, causing us to be very disorganized.  Because of this, we, unfortunately, lost the second set, making the winner of the next set the overall winner.

With a high drive and ambition, we as a team gave everything we had left in order to win the last set. The last set was very dramatic as both teams were going back and forth in terms of the score. But at the end of it, we were able to come out as the winners of the game.

This was a great opportunity for us to get closer as a team and for us to individually identify what we did good, and what we needed to improve. Even though we had a very competitive and exciting game, both teams were able to have fun and play some good volleyball.