SAISA volleyball was definitely one of the highlights of my year. Not only was it my first SAISA, but my first full competition/tournament with my team. It was completely out of my comfort zone because of this, but I found that I enjoyed it all the more because of how much it challenged me.

Day 1

On the first day, after the opening ceremony, we faced ACS. they seemed to be a relatively inexperienced team overall, with a very competent setter and one strong hitter. Energized by our excitement we quickly gained a large lead and won the first set by a large margin. Unfortunately, we became slightly overconfident in the second set and fell behind early. After a quick timeout and the realization that we had not won yet, we surged back and took the second set. I think that it was a large learning moment for many members of the team as it was the first match that we had become overconfident in, fallen behind, and still been able to win despite our early mistakes.

Second we played Islamabad, who were a relatively unaggressive squad, but still quite competent players. Beaten at the net by our tall players, many of them resorted to tipping the ball to the back row and we managed to remain calm and won both sets by comfortable margins.

Our third match was our first loss, to the champions Dhaka. They were a very experienced, tall and strong team, but what lost us the match was how intimidated we became. After warming up in the early points of the first set, we began to play but we could not, try as we did, block Dhaka’s middle. Frustrated with our shortcomings we lost the first set by about 8 points. We managed to challenge them for the second set, but riding on their earlier victory, we fell short.

Our final group stage match was definitely my favorite of the tournament, despite our loss. We played Bombay that evening and they were quite a peculiar team. All of their strength was in their two outsides and setter, who carried the team. The game opened and initially we could not block their outside as he could consistently avoid the block and beat our libero. That said, we kept up with them for the majority of the set, losing 21-25. The same continued in the second set, but what made that match my favorite was what occurred when we were down 18-16. After winning the point we were down 18-17 and it was my serve. After serving 3 of the best serves i have ever produced, I managed to score two aces and one point in which they could not return the ball on the third touch. Their coach called a timeout and the team rallied around the sudden lead (20-18). After this was over, I served one more ace and two points that were returned, but not aggressively enough and we won both. By this point the Bombay players adjusted their positioning to adapt for my serving and were able to attack, but it was too late (being 23-18) and despite my loss of serve, we won the set. The third set was the first we had encountered at SAISA and before it began, I underlined to the team the importance of reaching 8 points first as it was at this point that we would switch court sides and the psychological effects of leading during this period are very beneficial (playing to 15 points in total). This was achieved and we led 8-7 during the switch, but we lost the set 15-11, somewhat deservedly to Bombay.

Day 2

Day 2 began with a quick victory over Islamabad, quite an inexperienced team although they played quite cunningly. They didn’t block hits on the net and would instead use the blockers to receive spikes, making them a tricky team to spike on to win points. Our second game was probably our best in terms of mentality going into the game. We played Lincoln and everyone got excited before the game. Being as energetic as we were, we easily won the first set and although we were pushed back in the second, took the third and the match. Playing the hosts in front of home fans is always an intense atmosphere but we did our best against TAISM. Unfortunately, we lost both sets but the second was very close at 25-23.

Karachi was our last game of the day, and the decider as to whether we would make it into the semis. We all understood the importance of the game going into it and i think it was this that pushed us to persevering and winning it. Because all other games had finished, most of the players came to watch ours, leading to an intense atmosphere. It was this atmosphere that helped us win in front of a roaring crowd in the third set.

Day 3

We started day 3 with a brief win over Lahore, giving us a 6-3 record. Although we lacked motivation and played quite poorly, we managed to take the game. Our semi-final was against a very strong Dhaka team and we spent a lot of time discussing the game to come before it. We had an abnormally large amount of time before the semi, adding to the suspense of the game. We had learnt from our mistakes in our first game and were competitive throughout the match. We lost the first set by a small margin, won the second by the same margin and unfortunately lost by 3 points in the third set.

 

Overall, I was very proud of the team’s performance, particularly considering our development since the outset of the season. I feel that everyone gave their all and I was pleased at how committed the team were to the tournament. I also thoroughly enjoyed myself. Going through such an intense experience has left me with lasting friendships with everyone who i traveled with. I look forward to next year.