This one was tough. (editorial content by Jeff)
Boys Indoor had a very strong season and established themselves as the best team in the league behind perennial powerhouses St. Augustine and La Jolla (even taking a five-set match from La Jolla at their place).
Unfortunately, our last regular season matches were against said powerhouses, and we got pounded.
When we found out our playoff draw, we felt pretty hopeful. Our first opponent AT HOME (!) - yay! what a treat - we had beaten earlier in the year to win the Sweetwater Tournament Silver Division Championship. We were feeling good about our chances.
Walking into our gym during warmups: damn, these guys seem to have all grown a foot since we played them a couple months ago. We finished THEM off with a 10-1 run?!
Dash was absent is warmups, due to an ankle issue. Don't know if that had any emotional impact om the team or our crowd. Their crowd was well-sized and loud with coordinated cheers.
Team sports. Pyschology is a thing. It's great when everyone is feeding off each other to raise their game (like our effort at La Jolla). Other times...
Coach called a timeout at 6-9. We earned our six points with good offense - kills and an ace. But we gave them their points with unforced errors including four service errors. That pretty much set the tone for the evening. When we weren't giving them points, they were taking them. They had two strong hitters at the net at every rotation and we're not a strong blocking team.
Not that we weren't trying. The team was certainly trying. They wanted it. But they were off and Mission Vista was dramatically better than when we played them earlier.
Whereas we ended last season two points down in Set 5 missing Phillip and Dash - a frustrating, but head-high close - this end just sucked.
Okay. Enough of the documenting of the in-the-moment agony. The palpable angst is memorialized. Done.
Now for the greater context.
This year's team was last year's team minus three 6'-3"+ upperclassmen. We did not have a winning record last year (15-21 (4-4 in league) in arguably a weaker league. Plus: our freshmen had a year of experience under their belt and they all seem to have grown eight inches. Plus: Shahab with another year of refining his power. Plus: Dash not taller, but hitting MUCH harder. Big plus: Lincoln Holzman, a 6'-5" freshman with skillz (particularly on defense).
My goal for the year: getting to playoffs AND having Dash be able to play in them - last year COVID had him isolated at home from his team.
So, for me, just having the whole team in a playoff match made the season worthwhile. The fact that we got to host a playoff match was an expected and welcome surprise.
It's sucks that we started poorly and never really recovered, that everyone was "off" for match, that we were swept, that previous two matches were rough. In this moment that still stings.
We weren't going to beat Eastlake. We hosted a playoff; we were all together. We had a great season with great thrills and great memories.
And we're only losing two players for next year. Next year looks good.
But we wanted this...
The match in a microcosm: