Highland Park was ahead with a score of 24-22 in the third set. Their middle slammed the ball to the back corner, winning the game. Tears filled my eyes as the realization hit me; I will never play with the seniors again.
We came into the game with high hopes. We had worked so hard, practicing every weekday morning for two hours since August. At this game, we had to persevere through the soreness in our body and compete the best we could.
It was finally the big game we had been preparing for. I was excited for the game, and to play with my teammates, who had become some of my best friends. Although I was excited, I became nervous as the game approached. I played middle hitter all season, but now the coaches had me playing right side hitter. One of our players was hurt. I knew that for me to play my best, I needed to keep a positive mindset.
The game started, and I was a little intimidated from their hitting warm up. They were all were hitting the ten foot line, which is impressive. When I got on the court, my nerves disappeared, and I became focused on the game. As the game began, our backrow passers were digging the hits and the blockers and I were getting touches and blocks on the ball. We were a close matchup with them, so our rallies were long. The constant jumping up and down from blocking to hitting was tiring, but I pushed through and played as hard as I could.
As the second set approached, our energy was high on the bench, even though we had lost the first set. We believed we could win. As the game went on, Highland Park found our weakness and used it to their advantage. They were tipping short balls over the net. It caught us off guard at first, but we soon adapted. We continued to hit as hard as we could and run plays. My setter, Cleo, came up with a fun play to catch them off guard. Our middle would run a slide, which is a set where the middle runs behind the setter and hits a ball that is set towards the right side. Then I would run a two, a high ball in the middle of the court and our outside would run a five, a high set to the left side of the court. This play worked every time and got us points. Regardless, we lost the second set.
It got to be the third set, maybe be our final. The game was close the whole time, but this set was the closest out of all three. We kept getting stuck in a rotation. Highland Park would get three points, then we would get the ball back and get two points. This cycle continued. Highland Park was up 16-19 and I was feeling doubtful, but we got to 20 points while they were at 22. I came off the court, watching hopefully that we could take this set. I really wanted to win, even though the practices had become repetitive drills and constant early mornings with no break. At that moment, I wanted to win more than ever. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the seniors who made up more than half of our team. Highland Park got a point using the middle, making it 20-23. Then we got a point. 21-23. Then 21-24. Then 22-24. Throughout the game, the middle always made a point whenever she went up, so when I saw she was getting set, I knew it was over. Sadness rushed over me as the ball hit the ground. Highland Park had won.
I was devastated that we lost, but I was more devastated when the moment I had feared became reality. My best friends, who had taken me in freshman year, were leaving. The girls who brought smiles to my face at the early morning practices were graduating. The reality that I would never play with the seniors again brought tears to my eyes. When I was terrified to be on varsity, my freshman year, they were the girls that made me feel loved and welcome, and just like that, the day we talked about had come and ended.
