This is an entry in my volleyball coaching log.
Sometimes the hardest part of playing volleyball is staying focused against lesser opposition. That was certainly the case in our final two league matches last night. They were played against the same team because of some scheduling issues and after the first set it was pretty clear how things were going to turn out.
Our opposition on the night had a bit of a block and a couple of players who could hit a bit given the opportunity. They didn’t have much else. After a bit of a shaky period early on when there were some nerves, we settled down and effectively dismantled them. The second set of the first match ended 25-8 and things didn’t get a lot more competitive after that.
My main coaching focus after midway through the first set was keeping the focus and intensity up. Talking dropped off, especially in the second match. It cost us points in a couple of places, but not to the point of ever making things tight. In such a lopsided match those sorts of things aren’t punished, but obviously we can’t afford that in what’s to come. The team captain was saying as much after the match while talking with one of her teammates.
The two match wins sees us finish our BUCS league season 8-2 overall. That puts us atop the league table at present. Our two title rivals play each other on Saturday. One of them also plays the team we hosted last night. The likely scenario is that we end up in a 2-way tie for 1st (though there is a way for the other two to end up with 3 losses apiece). From there it comes down to the tiebreak as to who officially gets top spot.
I huddled the team together after we shook hands and told them how proud I was of them. I’ve been pushing them hard (and will continue to do so) and they’ve willingly accepted it. They ripped apart lesser competition this week, which is what top teams do. We need to get better in the blocking department and I want to see us hitting harder, but the foundation is there.
My biggest challenge over the next few weeks is nailing down our strongest line-up. We’ve got an OH who is pushing very hard to get into the starting 6 and some other considerations on positions and personnel that I’m going to have to evaluate. That’s why I get paid the big bucks, though, right? 🙂
We don’t have anything on the schedule now until February 23rd, which is our next regional league date. Then it will be our round of 16 play-off match the week following.
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