Pass, Set, Kill - Volleyball Nationals 2015

Hallie has been super blessed to be on several incredible volleyball teams in her short career.

This year she played with Oklahoma Peak Performance (OP2) 16-1's team, AKA Peak Smack.
They are feared and revered in the Oklahoma volleyball world.  With good reason, as 6 of the 10 (wait, 11, more on this later) stand over 6 foot tall.

Yeah.  Hal is the shrimp.

Ok, maybe not the shrimp, but she fits right in like she's a small girl.  :)  It's terrific.

This past week, we attended the AAU National Championships in Orlando, FL.  It has been an intense, crazy week.  I fear going back and living a normal existence will be quit boring-ish.  We lived in a constant adrenaline rush (not so much the first day), for 3 solid days. 

For this old broad.....wow.   Thankfully, my dear old friend, Melba Pulliam drove down from Georgia and hung out with me and Hallie and kept me calm and collected.....

She had NO idea how much her blood pressure was going to spike the 4 days I had her with us......I think she liked it, though.

Hallie and I counted and they played 34 sets of volleyball.  In 4 days.  That's a bangload of volleyball.  That's a bangload of elevated blood pressure.

They played 13 teams during those 34 sets.  It was exhilarating, exhausting and heart stopping.  I know we went in with high hopes for this tournament, but as days passed and we just kept winning... it looked like it could become a reality.

The one thing we absolutely have in spades, other than height, is heart.  And friendship.  There is no sniping on this team, no griping about other players....all of these girls truly adore each other.  It's beautiful to see.  They are all Volleyball driven, christian, SMART girls.  And their parentals ain't bad, either.

The girls only dropped one game the whole week (in 3, of course) but because they had such a huge lead in points, they always came out on top.  When we found ourselves going to the semi-finals at the very cool ESPN center on Friday, they were over the moon.  Their mantra was "One game at a time, one point at a time." and it worked for them big time.

Plus, their coach is awesome and had them playing hacky sac on the sidelines to keep them out of their heads.

Then it was time for quarterfinals.  And we beat them.  And the other's team parentals were floored, because they hadn't lost a set all weekend.   Until us.

Then it was time for semifinals.  Another team that hadn't lost a game all week....until us.  Yep, won that one too.  Hallie won $10 from one of the dads for smashing a ball in a girl's face.  That's how we roll.

Then it was time for finals.  Live streamed on ESPN, bright lights, announcers, big screens, jittery nerves.....National Championship.

Whoa.

We lost the first set 25-20, won the second set 25-23, and the that THIRD SET.......

THE CALL..... that SET THE MAMA BEARS OFF.......

Usually we can yell and act ridiculous and it's NOT ON TV.  But it was one lousy call.

And in those clutch games, one point can change the momentum, and it did....and we lost 15-13 in the third.  So disappointing.

But HOW PROUD we were of our girls.  So was Minnie. 

Medal Ceremony.  Purdy Neat.

If you want to watch the game on ESPN, here is the link
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player/_/id/2601197/size/condensed/

It's really cool at the beginning, they talk about Hallie and then by the time she starts playing, they call her the wrong name over and over, and talk about the other teams when she makes her best plays.  All very upsetting to her sister watching in California...who text me  "These stupid announcers like the other team better".   But hey....we were on ESPN.  And an OPEN club team barely beat us.....that says A LO T.  Proud.  And West Point offered her a scholarship.   Not a bad week to be Hallie.

2nd place out of 102 teams, and that ain't too shabby.

It is not the size of a person, but the size of their heart that matters.  And in the case of volleyball, the size kind of matters, but the size of their hearts, in those big ole bodies??    Hearts of winners.


The end of a fantastic 16 year club season.

P.S.

You know I always have a "Laura"ism for every single event of my life.  So I'm sharing.
When it rains in Florida, it doesn't just rain, it falls from the sky like a cow peeing on a flat rock.  Straight down, no mercy, soaks everything in its path.  We were in the middle of one of these rains, and are running to our car (after a long day of volleyball) in the semi-darkness.  I forgot in my rain washed state, that Melba's Tahoe has a 40 foot trailer hitch hanging off the back bumper.  (OK, I'm exaggerating for effect here).  (It's only 20 feet) .  Anyhoo...... I managed to catch my knee on the bumper, full tilt 40 mph, and threw myself in the wet grass, pretty much screaming..."I've broke my knee......I've broke my knee."   Of course, Hallie and Melba are NO help, as they are laying on the ground, rolling, laughing at me.....and they manage to pick my old butt up off the soaked ground, put me in the Tahoe, and laugh at me all the way back to the hotel.  Amazingly enough, my broken knee, after a good night sleep, and an 800 mg ibuprofen, was just fine the next day, and to my disappointment, nary a scratch nor bruise.  Like it didn't even happen.   Neat.