Semi Finals (Peru)
I haven’t played a game like that in a very long time.
Those five set epic battles when the winner comes out on top, only by those two little points. A game where anything could have happened. Where literally every point, every play, every action, has a huge effect on the outcome of the match.
That was our second semi final game.
My team, USMP played Jaamsa in this semi final match up, which happened to be a rematch of last year’s championship game. In my opinion they had the most talented team, not including ours. They have two American foreign players, an outside spiker and an opposite, as well as a handful of Peruvian National Team players. Just a very talented team overall. And knowing that, we went into the match up expecting exactly what we came for: a dog fight.
We fought back so hard for this win. Again, I haven’t been apart of such an epic battle for quite some time now. Jaamsa was playing awesome and were up 2-1 in sets and up about 15 - 10 in the fourth. We literally clawed our way back to win that fourth set. I blacked out and don’t really remember how. Then we were down 12-10 in the fifth set again.
A Canadian teammate tuned in at the end and commented on our fight, grit, and of course all the hugging and celebrations after each point (something I LOVE about my team this season!). Also the fact like it looked like we won Olympic gold.
But it kind of felt like that.
And I guess that’s kind of what you want it to feel like every single time you step out onto the court. That this is the most important thing right now and there’s nothing on earth you’d rather be doing. These “volleyball highs” are what keep me going year after year after year. These are the games I play for.
This is a game that I will remember for the rest of my career: how we were down, battling against the odds, the team that wasn’t necessary the one “on” that night, but we dug our teeth in so to speak, and grinded it out.
Even though I think we default to wanting life to be easy, that means we would then never have to persevere. We would never get the opportunity to learn so much about ourselves through those difficult times or what it takes to make it through to the other side. It’s the same as in sports; we want to win the games, of course, but blow-outs just aren’t very fulfilling. That’s not actually what we want. The games that are down to the wire are the ones that we remember. It’s these games that the fans remember. And I for one, will definitely remember all of the cheering, running, air-plane-ing, and celebrations that happened during and after we won that final point of the semis.
Have been waiting all season for the chance to play in the finals and it’s finally here this weekend! One more thing left to do before I can wrap up this season!
VAMOS SAN MARTIN!
Game one 3-1:
Game Two 3-2:
Grab some popcorn, it’s show time:
(featuring some pre-game edits, game footage by Rudy, and some tv coverage ft. the longest rallies ever.)
Make sure to subscribe to my email list for updates, wicked documents by yours truly, and a whole lot of truth and magic. I have a few giveaways to do next month (USMP game jersey, Mizuno kicks, Fre skin care…) so you don’t want to miss it.