In October, I traveled to Nepal as part of the boys SAISA volleyball team. The trip stretched between the 19th of October and the 22nd of October. 

On the first day of the tournament we had time to chill and relax at the hotel. This ‘cool down’ time was taken a bit further when the team and I went to the pool at the hotel to take a dip. Being outside the temperature was already below 20 celsius, this was then extended when we got into the pool and winds picked up. This turned into a fun challenge on who could last the longest with Andrian and I leaving on a tie. The rest of the day was for us to rest up for the first tournament day.

The first day of the tournament, had our team waking up the earliest as we were the first game of the day, right after the opening ceremony. The battle for breakfast was a wild one, with all of the teams coming together in a huge line. After breakfast we set off to Lincoln school. We were the first team there and started warming up on the outside court. This was particularly challenging as getting used to the altitude and temperature took some time because it was harder to breathe and hurt when making contact with the ball. By about 8:30M, other teams started to show up and we all made our way up to the gym. Each team had a grade that cheered for them and so we walked in with these kids.

The moment the ceremony finished we went to play our first game, against the host school, Lincoln. I was very nervous leading up to this match as we were the first game of the tournament and we were playing the ghost team, this meant the whole school was watching and all the other teams saw us play for the first time. In the game we had a few miscommunications and some sloppy mistakes however won both sets, with the scores; 25-19 and 25-15. This game was a great way for us to work off some jitters and nerves for the tournament but also a reflection for us as we know we could have played way better. Our next game was at the end of the day at 6:00pm, so we had the entire day to rest. During this time we went up to the canteen and devoured the food after a tiring first game. Then in our downtime we went outside to practice little things to work on, particularly me, Ben, Akhil and Jude, went and started a game with some other teams. This was really cool cause although we were opponents we all bonded and vibed together, playing some really fun volleyball. 

By the time our second game came, we were really tired, however we went into the game to end it fast. We were playing ACS and knew they had some good hitters but we were able to close them out with our blocks, with the ending score being; 25-12 and 25-13. We were exhausted after this game, and were ready to crash, so we got dinner and went straight back to the hotel to sleep.

 

The next day we had to win both our games to certify our place in the semi-finals. We were going up against a tough team, the AISD tigers. The start of the game stunned us, we were losing and struggling to come back in the first set. We felt like all our spikes and attacks were half-hearted and that they scored off our mistakes. The set ended 25-16 to the tigers. We needed to win this next set to try and win the game. We started this game off with immense energy and did not give them a second to breathe. The set ended 25-10 to us. This was a blowout but we weren’t done. The atmosphere of the game was also just insane, with all the stands being filled and loud cheers and drums being played. This final set was going to be insane. We started this set off a little slow but took the lead back. We then started piling our attacks on them, able to scrape out the win, 15-12. 

This was an insane game and definitely woke us up, after getting our first set loss but being able to come back and win. The interesting part of this game is that after the game, we went to have lunch and ended up combining tables with the team we just beat and really bonded with these guys. This was really cool considering we just played each other but was a unique  moment of bonding and friendship that carried forward throughout the tournament. Our next game was against ISOI, an

d winning this secured our spot in the semifinals. We won this game, 25-19 and 25-20, in which we knew we played a bit sloppy but was able to close out the win and get ready for the semifinals the next day.

The next day was constantly intense, we were lucky though to be one of the two teams who got to leave the hotel late, us and TAISM as we both got to the semi-finals. While we were getting breakfast, both us and the TAISM team got out our phones and were watching the game between the AISD tigers and Bombay eagles. The winner of the game would face TAISM for a post in the finals. This game was really intense and the Tigers ended up coming back and winning. Once we got to school we began warming up for our semi-final match against the Chennai Raptors. We were favorites going in but knew that they were a hardworking and scrappy team that we couldn’t underestimate them. The first set we came out strong, winning the set, 25-10. The next set we started off really rough, letting them go on a service streak, which the score was 8-1. We came back in the end, with an opportunity to win the game however missed our chance and lost the set 24-26. The final set decided our place in the finals, we needed to win this and were determined to do so. The final set ended with us winning 15-10, and we were one game away from being champions. This was also an emotional match, with both teams putting in their all. We came out of this game making really good friends with the Raptors, to which I ended up teaching them spiking technique for their consolation game. This was a great experience of opponents becoming friends. 

I decided to cover the final game on a different CAS post as it had many levels to, which I want to in-depth in. 

The main thing I noticed from this tournament until this point was how we kept growing as a team, specifically how I understood my capabilities. I also enjoyed the sportsmanship and friendship vibe of SAISA, where all the teams got along great and cheered each other on. This was really nice and something I really appreciate about SAISA.