Final Season

As a senior this year, I can’t believe this is gonna be my last volleyball season. Volleyball was THE event of the year I was waiting for, and one of the things I will miss the most.

Unfortunately we have been out of luck this year… The gym floor was renovated, which led us to training outside on a basketball court. For about 3 weeks, we trained outside undergoing the mischievous moods of the sky, gaving us some hard times. Being in Sri Lanka, we could have a dazzling sun blinding us, and in the next minute we were drenched in rain. Confronted by the capricious weather, we were able to get back on our feet and take advantage of the situation. When it was raining cats and dogs, we found refuge in the auditorium. Being in a closed space, we were a bit cramped but it enabled us to work on our ball control. And it paid off! We trained a lot on controlling the ball, orienting our body and arms to have a perfect set.

When the gym was finally brand new, a new floor, new lines, new curtains, more fans… Honestly, I couldn’t wait. Being able to play on a real court, with a real net and no longer having to worry about slipping or falling, no longer being blinded by the sun or taking unscheduled showers, was a real joy!

Back to heaven, I mean, back on a real court, we trained 5 times per week, similarly as last year: 2 training before school, 2 after school, and 1 during the weekend. For me, the highlight of this season was to learn the 5:1 (5 hitters and 1 setter) formation. The two previous years, we always played the 4:2 (4 hitters and 2 setters) formation, which is the basic volleyball position. This was a real change and most of all, really challenging. Indeed, a 5:1 formation means that the setter ALWAYS has to go to position 2 (setter position) no matter where he is on the court. This implies for all of us on the court to swith position and being careful to not being out of rotation. We worked for hours on this new formation, trying to figure out where we were supposed to be and what space we had to cover. One mistake, one person badly positioned, and that’s the end of it, I mean, an uncovered space and therefore an easy target for the opposing team. And honestly, we didn’t need that. In fact, the whole back court was covered by only 2 persons (instead of 3 in the 4:2 formation): one covering short and one covering deep. Thus, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the court.

When we played our first game, we played with the 5:1 formation, and I admit, we were sooo focused trying to figure out if we were in the right position that we “forgot” how to play volleyball. But with the next games we had (one per week), even if it was still a bit difficult, we were able to understand and to play with the 5:1 formation, a huge step forward for our team! These games were very useful to put our practice into action and we had the chance to play against different teams that all had different skills. Indeed, while some balls were directly coming to our side, there was one girl in one of the teams, she was able to hit the ball directly to the ground with an impressive power. Not only that, but she was also playing smart. Indeed, she had the perfect combination of power and game intelligence, she could see the holes in our defence and put the ball right in that empty space, or non-covered space of the court. And that was our weakness. Because in the 5:1 formation, our defence is based on the block. If the block doesn’t work, then we have to cover the whole field, whether at the front or at the back. In fact, blocking was our strength as we had many tall players this year.

After a few games, our 5:1 formation was up to scratch. We managed to acquire and possess this new game strategy!

Not a long time after, we had a small tournament at OSC with 4 teams: 3 Sri Lankan players teams, and ours. This tournament had the goal to prepare us for the big competition coming uo: SAISA! This tournament really allowed us to grow as a team and to meet different skill level’s teams, which tested our ability to adapt to the opposition’s game. Finally, we finished 2nd out of 4.

This tournament really allowed us to develop new skills and also to reflect on what we have to improve for SAISA. This was really useful because after the tournament, we worked a lot on cover. For example when we have 1 blocker or 2, we won’t be positioned at the same place to receive. Thanks to this tournament, we knew what we had to work on to get better and improve our skills. I am really proud of how much we have improved, individually and together as a team, and we’ll do our best in the upcoming SAISA tournament!