Temecula Viper Volleyball Club

BE PRESENT:
'IN LIFE, THERE ARE NO ORDINARY MOMENTS.

MOST OF US NEVER REALLY RECOGNIZE THE MOST SIGNIFIGANT MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES WHEN THEY'RE HAPPENING' "

kathleen mager

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My girls had some big, tough, realistic goals of winning this tournament......... when we did not, we had to take in all that this tournament was and weigh the strengths and the lessons learned against the outcome. I have come to the conclusion that this week in Reno will be cherished as some of the significant moments in our lives!!
Going in to this tournament ranked 5th is a great place, as we have 4 places to move up, but it also comes with pressure and we were ready for it.
DAY ONE: Winning all of our matches today and working out some kinks, it was nice to get through it and see some extraordinary play.
DAY 2; First game is a Bye. Coming all the way to Reno and find ourselves playing TVC-SAB in the 2nd round, tough to be in this position, of course we want to win, but also want to see our friends and co- Viper girls do well. The first game we won 25-15, but they came back and played so strong against us, we did win but barely; 25-22. The next round of bracket play put us against a tall, strong Virginia team, well we just put on a blocking show. We completely shut their hitters down and we destroyed them 25-7, though they fought back the 2nd game we stayed tough and had them 25-16. Putting us in the top 16 and still holding our 5th seed.
DAY 3 is Championship Bracket; 1st match against South Bay #12, though we struggled we played with confidence and pulled off both games 25-23. This win puts us in top 12 guaranteed. Next match against an all too familiar Rancho Valley 14-1 team. Their coach Mark and I have seen each other all year and we have both had wins and losses against each other. They took a tough 1st game 23-25, but my team new what they had to do and with a game plan we absolutely controlled the 2nd game easily winning 25-11. The tie breaker was to be ours and we put ourselves in the top 6 with a 15-10 victory. Next match would be a big one--win guaranteed FINAL 2, lose you have another chance through the losers bracket. Again, another So Cal team-Club Jamba-Jodi. We have won and lost against them this year. The first game was so amazing, my team was unstoppable, everything we worked for was there, it was quite a sight--we won significantly; 25-18. Knowing our opponents though, we could not let up for a second, but we did let up and our starting OH was playing with an injured shoulder and Jamba turned it up...we dropped the 2nd game 16-25. We had our work cut out for us, but we struggled and could not get back in. Looking around the court, we had so many spectators, it was like a Finals in itself, many Viper teams their as well as SCVA teams gathered to watch. It would cut deep as we knew the importance of that match.
Someone, however has to come up from that Loser bracket to play in the Finals and we had to get over our loss and be that team. Next up was Portland, winning this would be our last chance to make it to the Finals. It was, however, not meant to be. We know in hind sight that we have beaten teams like Portland all year and this should not have been any different, but in a 3 game battle we would lose 13-15 in the end. We did have injured girls, but everyone playing, played with everything they had and Portland gave everything they had. I truly believe that this loss will have meaning for some of these girls in their future championships, for without a loss this big, one may never know the depths it takes to win the Big Victory's!! Still darn heartbreaking for now. 
LAST DAY  playing to hold that 5th seed against the #6-Sports Shack 14-1. With 2 players injured on the sidelines, my team mustered up much heart and played amazing to win in 2, 25-21 and 25-16. 5th place was ours.

I know as the team sat there watching the Finals; Jamba vs. SVVC, we knew we could have been there. However at some point we must remember the accomplishment here as well. It is a tough route to the Finals and to not drop games that could have gone either way should not be forgotten. We won some close ones and to maintain our seed is impressive still--5th place in a National Tournament fills me with pride.

My pride as a coach comes from this;

MacKenzie #17, Amanda #11, Kianna #21, Morgan #4, Brittani #9, Courtney #13, Allison #3, Rebecca #8, Lindsey #5 and Aleka #7
 

My team--I could not have asked for a better 8 months of coaching this group of players. The growth in their skills and their character to me is more important than any tournament. I can only hope that I am in a position to coach any of these girls again. And so I end with a Thank-you to all the parents, families and my team. I have felt like these girls came to me ready to be challenged and believed in, so for what you have brought to me I end this with, of course, a quote;

'Life is not a path of coincidence, happenstance, and luck, but rather an unexplainable, meticulously charted course for one to touch the lives of others and make a difference in the world'.........barbara dillinham
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the first time TVC had a 'Club' end of the year Banquet. It was held at Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula. So many great things about the night including the successes about this year and the excitement for next year, but I think the best part was the Senior Recognition. Ed was right on when he talked about the "character" of these girls and their achievements outside of volleyball. It was wonderful to see all the girls and their families together and I think every year it will get better and better.

After the Club ceremony our team broke off in a corner of the vast property. I was able to talk about every one of these beautiful girls and how they have grown this year. It was emotional in good ways and also in a sad way as I have to say goodbye to my players. I love Banquets because it completes the journey with words and thoughts and everyone involved gets a feel of the player and coach experience.

The gifts were wonderful and the scrap book they made for me will be treasured forever. The good news as we left was that we still had The Festival in Reno and our season was not yet finished.