Our Last Match

We played our last volleyball match of the spring volleyball season tonight. It didn’t go as planned. We lost in 2 games which put an end to our season. We were seeded 6th (out of 11 teams) going into the payoffs so we had to play the number 3 seed in the first round. We didn’t play badly, but we didn’t play as well as we could have. We lost the first game 29-27. We were up 27-26 and we couldn’t get one point to win. We lost the second game 25-22. We had a few miscues and everyone had some bad plays. I was not hitting well at all tonight and I’m not sure why. I hit two or three balls into the net, and several more straight into blocks. I was just off. Such is life I guess.

So volleyball is over for another season. I suppose I’ll live, but I’d rather have gone out with a win than a loss. The season started off really promising and we sort of tanked for the last half. I’m not sure what it was. Hopefully next season will be better. Now summer is fast approaching (though it certainly doesn’t feel like it with the weather we’ve been having) so hopefully I’ll get to play some beach volleyball. I think I’ll probably look into some sort of open gym somewhere too though, because I’ve really been enjoying being able to play. As for now I think I’ll go to bed and play in my dreams.

I Miss Volleyball

Through a weird turn of events (taxes -> bethel’s website -> search for volleyball -> NIVC (Northern Intercollegiate Volleyball Conference) popped into my head -> went back to the NIVC website -> found the old tournament brackets and results from when I was a player) I realized I really miss volleyball. I loved playing when I was in school. I love playing period and I just don’t play anymore. Sure I get to play with some friends once in awhile, but it’s not the same. I’m not nearly as good as I used to be. We used to practice 2 to 3 times a week at Bethel. You have to practice to be any good. I used to play USAV for a little while after school too, and now I don’t play anymore because I’m too busy (plus I wasn’t a huge fan of the league - I really missed playing with other Christians). Ah well, such is life I guess. You grow up, move on, do other things. But it’s still nice to reminisce about all the good times. Kind of makes you rethink your life a little bit.

Now I need to go find a midnight gym where people are playing volleyball.

I need to practice more

So I was able to play volleyball tonight. I subbed on my friend Godfrey’s team in his Church league. It was a lot of fun, but I realized a couple of things.

1. I will probably continue to be mediocre at volleyball unless I play more than once every 6 months.
2. I hate playing volleyball with glasses.

I think in the next 6 months I’m going to try and play some more. It’s just a matter of finding the time for it. I really would like to get better, but it just hasn’t been a priority as of late. If only the willow creek north shore league hadn’t closed up shop I might still be playing. Ah well.

Anyways, playing was a lot of fun, but I was pretty mediocre. We ended up wining 2 out of 3, and I had a couple of passes, but that was about it. My serving was horrible, unless you’re trying to make the ball go out of bounds by whizzing it past the right pole that holds the net up. :)

After volleyball lots of people from the league ended up hanging out at Applebee’s, so it was nice to reconnect with Godfrey a little bit, since I don’t hang out with him all that much (though I hung out with him twice this past week). He’s getting married and moving to California, so I won’t see him very much anymore.

And for those of you who care, I almost finished an entire bacon cheeseburger and fries (Almost). :)

Dull Ache Monday

Today has been quite the day. Work was pretty crazy, with all sorts of things breaking, the biggest of which was our mail server being inundated with spam connections. We really didn’t solve the problem, but at least it went away after awhile. This is the second time its happened in a week, so we’ve stepped up some of our plans and hopefully we’ll be able to stop some of these guys. Oh how I hate spammers.

I also went to the dentist and the eye doctor today. I went to the dentist for two reasons. Number 1 was to get fitted for a mouth guard that I can wear at night to prevent me from clenching my teeth, which should hopefully help the TMJ problems I’ve been having. My jaw will pop every now and then while I’m eating, or just randomly, and boy does it hurt. The other reason I went to the dentist was because I was having problems with one of my teeth and anything cold. I’ve had the problem every since they took my wisdom teeth out. It turns out I had two (yes two) cracked fillings which was causing my tooth to be sensitive. He fixed both fillings, but as you can imagine I wasn’t expecting to have any actual work done, and needless to say my teeth have ached since then. It’s good though, because hopefully in a few days I’ll be able to eat normally again, without having to worry about what side I chew on or how I swallow things.

My trip to the eye doctor was also eventful, as she looked at my eye and told me everything looked OK. She says it’s still weak, and thus suceptible to being injured again, but she didn’t see any damage from my relapse on Friday. She also gave me some eye drops to use during the day, as well as an ointment to use at night. She says it could take up to 6 months to fully heal to where I won’t have any problems anymore, and I’ll probably need to use the ointment for most of that. I’m fine with whatever as long as I don’t tear the tissue in my eye again. It’s not fun, don’t do it.

I’m also rather sore from Volleyball yesterday, so my whole body hurt today as well. I guess that’s what I get for going on hiatus for so long. I guess I’ll just have to play more often. :)

Oh Sweet Volleyball

I played volleyball earlier tonight for the first time in almost 6 months. It didn’t go nearly as badly as I thought it would. It would seem you have to go longer than 6 months in order to completely lose all your skills. I actually played fairly well after warming up and getting into it. When I started the evening I shanked 5 or 6 serves in a row (all to the left and not even close to over the net). I figured it was going to be a rough night after that kind of start, but as I got loose and back into it it all started coming back. My setting was even fairly OK. The placement of my sets was fairly eradic, but I was at least able to set. About a year ago, I couldn’t set at all, since I just didn’t do it very often. My timing was just off back then, but it would appear the hiatus was good in that respect too.

Anyways, I had a lot of fun. I went with my friends Becca, Simon, Jackie, and Nate; all guys and girls from my Sunday small group. It was great to play with them, and absolutely wonderful to be back playing volleyball. I kind of gave it up for awhile because of other priorities. I’m actually not playing on a USAV team this year because of other commitments. While that is sad, and I do miss volleyball, I know I’m supposed to be doing other things right now. Of course that doesn’t mean I won’t try to play occasionally (now that I know I miss it), or that I won’t play USAV next year. Of course, I’m sure I’ll be über swore tomorrow, but it was well worth it. :)