Scrimmage

Last night's volleyball practice was a tough one. They started out with a serving drill early on. The coach was tough on this one. All 10 players needed to get a serve into the deep part of the court. If anyone missed, they ran back and forth across the court, stopping on a whistle for planks.

They did that for the better part of an hour. There were always two or three girls that couldn't do it. Kendall did well, but missed a few, as did everyone. They were beat by that time.

They started out doing hitting next, with Kendall getting some in the middle spot, and some outside. She looked pretty good, and had some nice hit.

Then it was scrimmage time. The 15 National team was practicing next to us, and the last 20 minutes was a game like scrimmage.

At first our girls really struggled. They were slow to react, tentative, and perhaps a bit intimidated. Just like the last tournament, they were passing poorly, and not getting the plays set. We had few good sets, and not many hits. Mostly just reacting.

The game went to 25, and they only scored around 14, but they were getting better as things progressed. Certainly it helped that they rotated and had some time to settle down from the start.

A little worrisome for the next tournament, but maybe they'll start to come together in the next week.

Kendall started out as middle, and played well. She was active, and managed to touch a few balls on blocks and push a few down. She got a couple hits, but really few good sets in her area. Most of that was because of poor passing to start with.

Our girls served well, and with the coach calling spots, they managed 4 aces on serves. That really helped them to a 10-7 lead when practice ended and the game was called.

Good to see them coming together more, but they have work to do. Next week is Colorado Crossroads, a huge tournament with hundreds of teams coming to town. They'll face some stiff competition, and it will be interesting to see how it goes when they get there.

A long session, and Kendall was exhausted, especially after agility training later. I expect that she'll be ready for the long weekend.