So Close...only 6 points from the C-1 State Championship...with the serve in our hands...one of our best servers up...my favorite rotation on the court...across from us was the 14 - time State Champions ... the team with the most victories in the last decade in the State in any class... the best of the best...and they were reeling from the onslaught of the Kearney Catholic comeback.
Just an hour before...almost everyone thought it was over...except a small school and it's volleyball team.
Kearney Catholic (KCHS)...my daughter, Jaime's, school, was deer in the headlights Blown out in the first set 13 - 25 ...gave away the second set 26-24...won the third set in a close one 25-23 and had just blown away the most consistent and winningest team in Nebraska Volleyball history in the 4th set by the largest margin Columbus Scotus had lost a set in years - 25-14!
And now the marathon match was midway through the 5th set...the first to 15 and win by 2 is State Champs.
Two hours into this battle...
here we were...the TV cameras panning the screaming crowds...over half way through the final set KCHS has the lead at 9-7...and all of the momentum going in to a timeout...
A long TV commercial during the timeout...too long...the bands play...the cheer leaders cheer...both crowds are in it...for thousands of people in person and at home..it is an eternity it seems...
Finally...Red goes the light on the main camera...the whistle blows and then...
The serve...an easy play coming back to us...to our best back row player...point 10 is waiting for us...the dig by Jaime...the pass...our best front row attacker hammers the ball...hard...right into the double block...but wait...wait... somehow Jaime digs it off the floor... an incredible dig again... right to our setter ....
NOOO... not the same set...not the same play...the blockers are still their.... Go to our middle...she's wide open...go ... go back over your head...
I scream as loud as I think I have ever screamed...
"GO TO THE MIDDLE!!!"...too late...hammered right into the double block again...and this time Jaime was still recovering from the incredible dig just seconds before ..... dive Jaime...DIVE!!!!!! Ahh no...
as the ball slowly falls to the ground inches out of Jaime's diving reach...the momentum swings and the best team in the state...the other team... regains their confidence...
So Close...and And Yet So Far...Momentum is an incredible force in sports and more so in Volleyball...and it it can swing on one play in this competitive sport...
a few short minutes later...sadly, the second best team in the state this year...comes up a measley 3 points short of their first C-1 State Volleyball Title in history...as the ball softly taps the floor close to the net...30 foot from where I had hoped it would go...30 foot from my favorite back row player...
A quick pep talk to the team on the court by Jaime ...and then she turns and wipes away a tear...and then another... they lineup to shake hands with the victors...
While those of us in our side of the crowd...between our own tears of sadness for the girls...cheer wildly for the team that many predicted would not make it through the semifinals...the team that wasn't supposed to be here on the court... in the same league as the perennial Champs...the team that had been predicted to lose in three sets...
The team that finished 2nd at State for the 2nd year in a row.
My daughters team...the Kearney Catholic Stars... a team of girls I wouldn't trade one player for all the Championship trophies in the world...Our Team!
Congratulations Jaime! Perhaps someday you will understand how so very proud of you we are. The dignity and poise you showed along with the talent you displayed made us the proudest parents in the world.
Perhaps someday...long after the tears have dried and your career is over... you will understand that being a Champion is so much more than a trophy or a gold medal...and that being a true Champion is a lifelong journey...not defined by just one moment in time...by one game on the court...but by how you carry yourself throughout your life...everyday of every year...
And I know you are and will continue to be a true Champion!
We Love You Jaime!! Go Stars!
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