Verse averse? No problem, back to workmanlike prose. Onward!

Expectations were once again sky-high for the team as it embarked on the fourth of five campaigns for glory. The schedule started on Saturday at 8:00 AM sharp as Core Values 14U Blue proved little more than chum in the water for the predatory Spikes, who kept the mismatched opponent in single digits most of the first set, ultimately prevailing 25-11. Alice, Maggie, and Azi in the backcourt shined with stellar serve receive and 24 combined digs, led by our intrepid libero Jada. The second set contained little more drama as Lexie reigned down aces and Havana smashed through killing finishes, powering us to a comfortable 25-15 victory.

With the first match in the books, the team turned its attention to Powerhouse 14. But the ominously named foe soon succumbed to the awesome roundhouse kick of Spikes, with Abby, Savanna, and Ashley joining Havana in the aerial onslaught and Misha and Jada piling on the service aces with Lexie. A quick match ended with a Roadhouse-style beat-down, 25-11, 25-20.

Lunch and then dessert in the form of High Desert 14 Regional. Ezra served up five aces as she continued her dominance from the service line. For the last two tournaments, Ezra only missed one serve out of 71 attempts while scoring 14 aces for an astonishing 99% serve percentage! The team as a whole sits at 90%, with 124 aces on 547 attempts. The hitters took over in the second set with Avery, Havana, and Ashley each scoring three kills. Another high-octane straight-setter, 25-14, 25-18.

After our blowout-filled Saturday performance, I spotted Coach Blase watching our Spikes 16 Black team similarly mauling the opposition, so I joined him. Having played at the highest levels and having coached NCAA and Olympic athletes, Blase is a font of knowledge. He has forgotten more about volleyball than I can ever hope to learn.

I told him about how our team performed, building large leads, but then letting up a bit and coasting into the finish. He turned to me and asked, “Do you know what the difference between a really good team and a great team is?” I shook my head, and he continued, “A really good team performs exactly like your team did today. But when a great team gets a 10-point lead, the players all look at each other and solemnly swear the other team won’t score another point.”

A gorgeous 75-degree Colorado spring day greeted us on Sunday morning for our 9:00 AM date with Loveland Volleyball Club 14-1. Seeded #1 coming into the tournament, the big club’s top 14’s team slipped up on their first match on Saturday, losing to CO Crossfire in three sets. This dropped them into the 6th seed to set up a bracket-busting matchup in the Championship Bracket quarter-finals with #3 Spikes 14-2.

The first set started out well enough, with our girls battling to a 10-9 lead. But LVBC tightened the screws to score 11 out of the next 12 points to build a commanding 20-11 lead through a disciplined attack and hot serving. We lost our first set of the tournament 15-25.

We went immediately to our strongest rotation in Set 2, something I normally reserve for tiebreakers. Havana pounded LVBC from the middle while Ashley piled on from the service line, building a 9-1 lead. But LVBC did not panic. And they refused to take a time out, lest they become the target of the dreaded “T-O, T-O” chant. And little by little, back they came, knotting it up at 15 all. The two evenly matched squads traded jabs until 24-24, when Spikes threw the final 1-2 haymaker with an Ezra setter kill and Misha ace to put LVBC on the mat 26-24.

The deciding set, same rotation, very different result. We couldn’t find the court, handing LVBC 10 points on attack errors. Down we went 4-15.

Down, but not out, as we had one more game on the slate against much-improved Believe 14, the only other team to go undefeated on Day 1. Spikes took to the court with a vengeance, finding their attack behind Nazirah’s setup with 19 kills and 12 aces to dismantle Believe 25-15, 25-16.

Thus ended a very good showing for Spikes 14-2, a team that has displayed steady improvement over the past five months. And as for the journey of 1,000 miles, much of which has been traversed, there remains one last obstacle. The crux, the chasm of crossing from the very good to the great. What elusive lessons are yet to be learned to unlock the path to transcendence? These young athletes have gained so much in skill and strength, can they make the final leap of faith? We soon will find out.

Coach Andy

April 15, 2024