matching tracksuits

Despite battling illness and the MaxPreps top-ranked volleyball player in South Carolina, River Bluff pushed Mauldin to the limit in each of their 3 sets during Thursday’s Upper State Semifinal AAAAA State Playoff match. A mere 7 points separated the two teams in the 3 sets. Still, the Mavericks proved just a little too much for the Gators.

While all three sets saw numerous lead changes, River Bluff’s points seemed to come with more difficulty. When all was said and done, fans had been treated to a match between two of the best volleyball teams in the state. In fact, one could easily argue that the state’s top four AAAAA teams were competing in Thursday’s Upper State semifinals. While River Bluff’s season ended prematurely for Gator fans, the team can rest somewhat comfortably knowing they were a part of this elite group.

River Bluff Athletics

The Girl's team went into tonight as the underdogs. Facing River Bluff, the number 1 seed in the state, our girls were ranked fourth. Add to it the fact that River Bluff had already beaten us twice this year and it's easy to see why Mauldin was not the favorite.

On the River Bluff athletic's page, they posted a short story about it today:

River Bluff hopes to continue their playoff drive tonight as they travel to Mauldin for a matchup between two number 1 seeds. While the two programs are quite similar, River Bluff won both of the matches between the two programs earlier in the season in close 2-set sweeps.

River Bluff Athletics

They even included stats about the previous games, and even though the first chart of team-scoring averages seemed to favor Mauldin, they still had beaten us in both meetings, by the same scores, in fact.

My thought was that we had to win that first set. That seemed like a non-negotiable. Early on we were up by four or more, but then River Bluff came back. It went back and forth until Mauldin broke free and won 25-22.

"River Bluff will be out for blood now," I thought, and they were indeed. They led most of the second set, and when it was 18-22, I thought we might not be able to recover. But we did, taking the second set 27-25.

"The River Bluff girls are broken now," I told K. I didn't mean that they were going to fall apart but simply that while they could have brushed off a first-set loss, a second-set loss would sting all the more. I thought one thing would be running through the River Bluff girls' heads: had this been a best-of-three set game like in most tournaments, it would have been over.

The third set was close, but in the end, our girls swept them with a 25-23 win in the final set. The reaction was amazing, first from the girls, then from the students watching:

The River Bluff girls were heartbroken, with several of them just in tears. "I saw," L said, "it was kind of sad." That's just the nature of sports, though. Someone has to win; someone has to lose. And after our rough club season earlier this year, I am so glad to see our Girl winning like this.

A couple of L's friends from another high school -- the high school we'd beaten to be regional champions -- came to cheer Mauldin on. The three of them played club together this year, and they're happy for L as well.

"That's the number one team in the state!" I said to one of the girls. Her expression grew serious as she clarified, "Not anymore."

Indeed.

Next up -- Dorman. Last year, they beat Mauldin in the quarter-finals. Time for some revenge...

Tonight the Girl's high school volleyball team's quest for the state championship continued with a victory over Byrnes High School.

"It shouldn't be any problem," the Girl said offhandedly. "We've beaten them three times already this year."

When the first set began, though, the girls from Byrnes seemed intent on telling a different story. They went back and forth, staying within a point of each other until the girls from Byrnes eased ahead: 12-13. Then 13-14. And 15-16. And 16-17. They just maintained that one-point lead, which is nothing to worry about, but if a one-point lead extends to a two- or three-point lead as they near 20, it becomes more problematic. 18-19, and I began to wonder.

Finally, the girls leveled it out at 19-19, and L rotated into server. She sent one skimming over the top of the net and the Byrnes girls struggled to receive it, and they were forced to pass it over with a free-ball. Our girls made quick work of it: 20-19. L served again. The Byrnes girls set their outside hitter, but our right side and middle were there and stuff the ball back to make it 21-19. Then L hit an ace for 22-19. Byrnes at this point called time out, but our girls were on a roll. L served again, and we won the point. 23-19. The Girl sent a shot that skipped off the top of the net and dropped among the defenders for set point: 24-19. Finally, L served for set. The Byrnes girls received it, set their hitter, and our libero took it easily, passing it to the setter. We all knew who was getting the ball: she's a senior, the most powerful hitter, and team leader. The set went to Journee, sent a lightening ball into Byrnes' court. It had ricocheted off the floor and was well above the girls' heads before they knew what hit them.

This Thursday, they have their most important game of the season: they face River Bluff, who has beaten them twice this year. However, the Girl's team has beaten teams that beat River Bluff, so it's far from clear who will win.

We'll find out soon enough.

As of tonight, it's official: the Girl's varsity volleyball team are region champions. We didn't play a game to settle it: it was a matter of whether another team lost or not. Technically, it wasn't: our team was forced to forfeit against Woodmont because of having played too many games this season. (Apparently, that's a rule.) If Woodmont had won tonight, they would have had the same record as Mauldin but because of the forfeit score (three sets of 25-0), they would have won because total points come into play in the event of a tie.

We'd played Woodmont earlier this year, and as with every other regional game, our girls took the game in straight sets. We would have undoubtedly done it again last Thursday were the girls not forced to forfeit, and honestly, everyone in the region probably realizes this as well: our girls are that good.

And so we're into the playoffs, with the hope of winning the state championship in three weeks.

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.