5th/6th volleyball grade post mortem

Seems so long ago, and this post probably should've came a week or two earlier, but better late than never.

What went wrong for the 5th/6th grade?

For starters, a team that served so well in the regular season did not serve well in the playoff game.

I look back to one point in the first set when the girls were up 10-7 and Kaela was on serve. Right there, I thought was the chance the girls had to really pull away in the first set and take it.

Unfortunately Kaela faulted.

That's not to place the blame on Kaela alone, because every girl on the team I believe faulted at least once if not more.

In the younger grades, especially when you are playing in games that could make or break you, half or even more than half the battle is mental. The girls were clearly rattled.

Whoever won that first set, was likely going to win the match, so when the 5th/6th graders loss, it was a steep climb from there.

The second set was a disaster from the start and the girls dug too deep a hole.

Had they won the first set, I think they would've won the game. The other team needed the first set as bad as the St. Mary's girls.

When these two teams played in the regular season, a handful of girls on the other team were in tears after the game.

So if they had lost the first set, doubt would've began to creep in, and the night would've belonged to the 5th/6th graders.

Where this game was lost might've come even before the playoff game.

The last game of the regular season, the girls lost in one set, because the first set was forfeited. They could've, should've beaten that team. But they didn't.

Problem again...the serving.

There were also a few balls that hit  no man's land late in the set too, but since they lost that game, they were forced to play the No. 1 team as a No. 4 seed.

With that being said, Cornerstone, the only team that beat the girls in the regular season besides the last game of the year, won the championship.

So then again, who knows how that would've played out?

Naomi and Emily, both in the 5th grade were huge to this team. I will always remember Naomi diving to save that ball against Mission Dolores during the regular season. Her lefty serves show shades of Isabelle.

And Emily, very powerful, but she just needs to be more accurate. She is similar to a relief pitcher who throws gas but has no control.

And because the girls from DeMarillac say I don't mention them enough on the blog, I will here in closing.

Britney, Vivianna, Katrina and Shelvy were all really good players in their first year.

I've seen a lot of 6th graders start volleyball and even some 6th graders play volleyball who have been playing for a few years and I think as a whole, these four are the best bunch I've come across in the five year history of volleyball.

One thing they could definitely work on is their confidence.

Following the 7th/8th grade championship, which Katrina and Vivianna attended, I said to them, "That's going to be you someday."

They both shook their heads in fear.

I sincerely believed what I said, and now it's time for them to believe it too.