Well, well, well, what a journey it has been. Started as a swimmer and ended as a setter on the volleyball court. Thinking back to those days when I would be in the movement room, my little face looking out the window down at all those super cool big girls playing volleyball. I couldn’t have asked for a better last SAISA volleyball competition. A great team, great coaches, great friends and a great result. I am so proud of everything we have accomplished in this season.
It was a pretty rough start to the season, our gym floor was being replaced but we managed to make do with the basketball court (and auditorium when it rained) to start practising our basic skills. We went back into the gym, the floor still wasn’t finished but we persevered anyway and slid across the dusty floor. When the floor was finally finished it felt like we had lost a lifetime of training but we transitioned smoothly to the new environment. Every challenge we faced, we overcame. There were moments in the weeks leading up to SAISA when I was really worried about our team, asking myself if the lack of gym really did cost us more than I thought. But then the week before SAISA I was ill and I sat and watched the girls train, that moment filled me with confidence as I watched them play.
The day of, I woke up with a pit in my stomach, half from the excitement and half from the nerves. I was super excited to see what our team could accomplish and also to see all my friends. Once the buses started to arrive, the idea of my last SAISA volleyball started to sink in. I made a promise to myself to enjoy every moment as it came and to not think about it being my last. So I shook it off and greeted the teams and my friends. There was a light buzz in the chill room as everyone was preparing for the opening ceremony. Our team met with our little preschool mascots and waited for our turn to walk in. I had the privilege of being the captain of this team for the 3rd year in a row which was one of the best feelings as I got to lead a team I loved so much out into the gym. Once we stepped foot into the gym the noise of the crowd was deafening. Home court open ceremonies are really something else, you have your school behind you and the culture you have been surrounded by your whole life presented to the other schools. My co-captain Anais and I went up to light the ceremonial oil lamp and read the SAISA oath which was so surreal and such a special moment I got to share with Anais. Our team was in kit ready to start warming up as we were the opening game, we knew the school would be watching us so we prepared to put on a show. The match was against LAS (buffaloes) where we did in fact put on a show. We won 2-0, the first set being 25-12 and the second, 25-14. After a quick team debrief and congratulations we awaited our second game which was against AISC (Raptors). The game was right before lunch so we all grabbed some snacks, watched the boys play and stayed hydrated. When the time came for our second game we had to be psyched up, and we were, we won 2-0 again, the first set 25-13 and the second set 25-17. These were our only 2 games that day so we had lunch as a team and were able to relax the rest of the day. I spent a lot of time with my best friend Rhys from TAISM, we have known each other since we were 12 seeing as we both used to be track baddies. I got to watch one of her games and see her absolutely smash it. I also spent time with my friend Samia from AISD who I became friends with at my first SAISA volleyball. So it was really nice to get the chance to catch up and then also do some team bonding. After dinner, we had the traditional social event where we did some fun karaoke. Each team picked a song and performed for the rest of the teams. It started separately but towards the end, everyone was singing along to all the songs. It was such a wholesome event and a memory I will cherish.
Day 2 started off bright and early as we were the first game playing against Lincoln School (Snow Leopards). The Snow Leopards lost the finals the previous year so we knew they would be hungry for redemption … but so were we. It was a very tough game and we did not play our best volleyball. We ended up losing that game 2-0, the first set 25-12 and the second set the same result. We knew that if we wanted the second spot in our pool we couldn’t dwell on that game and we had to shift our focus to our must-win game against KAS. We had watched their team play before to prep ourselves for the game and so we went into it very confident. Our confidence showed as we won 2-0, winning by 25-17 in the first set and 25-14 in the second. Overall this turned out to be a very successful day and I had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends from other schools, Rhys, Samia and Zoe from Lincoln School. It was then time to head home and get some rest before the big final day.
I woke up the next morning with the realisation that it was my last day of SAISA volleyball ever and I did start to feel sad, but I remembered the promise I made to myself and shook it off. I turned my sadness into excitement for the day ahead of us. Our first game was against AISD (Tigers), the nerves were high because all of the games we would play that day were knock-out games. Meaning, we loose, were out of the contingency for 1st place. So we really had to focus, we knew we could win this game, we knew we could make it all the way to the finals. The first set was a close one but we managed to get a 25-22 win. In the second set, we got into our rhythm and were on fire, we ended up winning 25-11. I was super proud of our team and what we had accomplished so far, but what we faced next was our biggest challenge yet. The semmies. The decider. Will we be playing for 1st-2nd? or 3rd-4th? We wanted to be in the finals so badly we had to lock in. We had watched ASB (Eagels) play and they had been incredible throughout the tournament. Their setter had a lot of tips which won them the most points as well as a new outside hitter whose hits were actual madness. But fear not, we had a plan. We knew we had to stop them from hitting and cover those tips. We practiced for 30 minutes on the basketball court just working on positionings for each tip and hit that they could possibly do. This game was THE most stressed I have been in my life. I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. One deep breath and our pre-game routine and we were onto the court. In the first set, we fought hard but ended up being the team that made the most mistakes and we lost 22-25. We needed to win this next set so we could play a third. We HAD to focus and put all of our energy into each point. We got into playing our game during the second set. Every point we were hitting and working on covering the tips the setter was giving us AND we were being a big presence at the net which stopped them from hitting. We ended up winning the second set 25-18. We were onto the 3rd set, if we won, we were in the finals. But the last set was only to 15 points so we had no room for mistakes. As each point scraped by my heart rate quickened. I thought my heart was going to explode, I had to do some mental 5 finger-breathing. We were 1 point away and we had a lead. But we couldn’t seem to get the job done. There were rallies and we made mistakes. But no fear, we did end up reaching that last point and we won 15-13. This was one of the best moments of my life. The realisation that we were in the finals hit me almost instantly. I have never been more proud and shocked in my life. I ran over to Zoe, picked her up and swung her around. We had a short moment where we just looked at each other and took the moment in. The whole crowd erupted and came over to hug us. The team was crying tears of joy and I went and gave the biggest squish to Ms Kelly, my second mum, my primary PE teacher and my coach. What a special moment it was.
After the initial shock, I felt like I needed to process what happened. I went and gave the biggest hug to Rhys and she hyped me up for my performance. I was so stunned and overwhelmed with emotions. I needed to regroup and focus on the finals. It still felt surreal to say. Anais and I decided to reconnect with nature and sat on the grass for 1h just taking in the events and the realisation that we were in the finals of SAISA volleyball. I needed to lock in with my brown noise and just start to visualise what I wanted the finals to look like. But it was also my job as the captain to get the whole team together to do some bonding and have a serious conversation about the focus we needed to have for the finals. We all sat on the floor in a circle, had some Burger King chips and talked game plan. This was the moment we had been training for all season and for some of us, multiple seasons. I thought I was either going to wet myself or faint from nerves whilst waiting for the 3rd-4th playoffs to finish. I kept having to remind myself to breathe. As we stood there on the side of the court, each walking up to our names being called I felt really overwhelmed all of a sudden. I was nervous for the game, sad that it was my last volleyball game ever with my team and I was also a little bit disappointed with the turnout of support (don’t get me wrong the crowd was great and I was super grateful but I was expecting a lot more people to be there after seeing how much support the boys got in their final but were used to that by now). BUT I had to shake all of those feelings off and get fired up. We did our final pre-court ritual as a team and stepped onto the court. We fought hard in the first set, leading through most of the game. But we lost our rhythm and ended up losing 15-25. We had to play our game for the next set, stop them from hitting and keep spiking. We were leading the second set as well, I fought hard, putting my body on the line every point to get the set. In the end, it wasn’t enough, although closer, it wasn’t close enough, we lost 22-25. The next set was a must-win, the finals are out of 5 sets so if we won the next, we still had a chance to win. My body was exhausted but I continued to run around the court diving to save the ball and jumping to get the set. But in the end, what we had wasn’t enough, we lost the final set 15-25. It wasn’t that we played badly, we just didn’t play our best and the other team played amazingly so it was very unfortunate. Once that final point was played the last whistle blew. A surge of emotions rushed through me. I had to keep it together for the team and the final handshakes. The crowd made a tunnel with their arms and we ran through it whilst getting cheered on. But once I reached Rhys’s arms everything was let out. I was physically exhausted from 3 days of intense volleyball, emotionally exhausted from the ups and downs of the tournament, the realisation that my SAISA volleyball career was officially over and disappointed with the final result (I would like to say I was not disappointed with my own performance or the team’s performance I was just disappointed with the ending because I knew we could have won it). I stayed in Rhys’s arms for so long whilst she held me tightly and told me how well I played. I am so grateful she was there in that moment, she said all the right things and her presence was such a comfort.
After everything I was so grateful to have spent my last SAISA volleyball with the team I had. They were all incredible and we made such a tight connection and bond with each other and I will cherish all of our memories forever. I couldn’t have asked for better players, teammates and people to spend my last volleyball with. I am eternally grateful for Rhys, not having my mum there with me through the emotional rollercoaster was hard but Rhys was really my everything, my lifeline during that tournament (shout out to Rhys, love you). I am also grateful to my brother who inspires me so much, he was the one who got me into playing volleyball. Even whilst I was still doing swimming I would come to the gym and he would try and teach me different skills (I will tell you that I was not the setter I am today back then, actually horrid). But I hope I was at least a third of how good of a setter he was. I also really enjoyed our new coach this year, Coach Meyers so shout out to her for taking stats each game and always hyping me up. Finally, Ms Kelly, my second mum and such an inspiration. She has known me since the womb, coached me in track and field and finally helped me develop as a volleyball player and a leader. She has been so supportive, giving me an opportunity to play an outside hitter as well as a setter. Always asking and trusting my opinions and I owe so much to her. Thank you, Ms Kelly.
Things coming to an end are really hard, my only wish is that at least one younger girl was watching me play and thinking, ‘Wow those big girls are so cool, I want to play volleyball like them one day.’