The Girl’s team played Woodmont High today — where three of her former teammates play. Mauldin is the team to beat right now, and when the home team went up four points on us, the crowd was going wild.
Then our girls got their act together and won by four points.
There’s always a bit of an advantage, I think, being the underdog on the home court. You really have nothing to lose, and if you hype yourself up enough (and you actually have the skills), you can convince yourself you can win. And then when you are winning, when it looks like you might pull off an upset (at least one set), your confidence soars. Until you start making mistakes, the favorites start coming back, and you start doubting yourself.
So Mauldin came from behind to win the first set 25-21, and in the second set, they did what I believe they felt they’d do the first set: they won 25-15. The third set was 25-18 or something like that, but they came close to losing the first set due to underestimating the opposition.
“Plus,” the Girl explained, “everyone thinks we’re the team to beat, so they play their best against us.”
After a tough club season last year, it’s good to see the Girl winning again.