Volleyballin’

By Conor Ammett

‘Dab it out, dab it out.’ ‘And sweep, and sweep, and sweep.’ ‘Tunnel ball!’ These are the things I will remember about my year 10 interschool sport experience in term one this year. I’ll remember how our team bonded over losing the first match; I’ll remember the smiling face of a fellow teammate as she finally got the hang of serving over the net; I’ll remember posing for photos at the end of the day, when we felt victorious, free and as successful as Victoria Azarenka when she hits a dab.

On the 22nd of February, six year 10 girls escaped from school for the day to participate in interschool sport, which becomes optional in year 9 and 10. I had originally put my name down for softball, despite having no talent for the sport, and highly questionable hand-eye coordination. A week later, having checked back in at the sports notice board and seeing that there would be no softball team, I began pursuing volleyball. I had, and still have, absolutely no talent when it comes to volleyball either, but that would not stop me. I think that’s one of the glorious aspects of interschool sport – you can be terrible, or not have even played the game, but you can still sign up and have a fabulous time.

We had a really tough time getting six girls (the minimum amount of players for a team) to come along. On the day, we had a girl quickly cycle back to her house to get changed into her PE uniform; another teammate was at gymnastics in the morning and was planning to get to school by session two and; we were missing someone altogether (this girl claimed that she had no idea about the sport day). As Kelly Clarkson once sang, ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’ and we overcame these obstacles and finally hit the road.

We all knew each other before the day, but we had never played volleyball as a team before. If you have played the sport before, you’ll know that volleyball is all about communication and teamwork, as with many sports. You can be excellent at volleyball, but if you don’t know how the other players on your team work, and if you can’t cooperate, you won’t win any points. Every game we played was the best of three sets, and the first team to 15 points wins the set. Our first game was against Brunswick Secondary College, and we lost. It was a pretty uneventful game.

After we lost against Brunswick (and this is Brunswick we’re talking about, we should’ve been able to wreck them,) there was a certain determination that fuelled us, and fired us up to destroy the rest of our opponents. Our next matches were against Princes Hill and MGC’s B-team, and we won against both of them. We had confidence now, and we had watched MGC’s A-team, and we knew we could take them down. They weren’t that good.

It was a nail-biting game. Spectators were on the edge of their seats; players were on the balls of their feet; the umpires’ whistles were on the edges of their lips. We won the first set and they won the second. It was down to the last few points. In order to win, you must have a two-point lead on your opposition. The score was very close, and we could almost taste victory. A few badly handled serves and some unfortunate rallies later, we had lost. The stench of defeat was in the air, and disappointment stained everyone’s faces. We were devastated.

Our final game was against Fitzroy High, and we smashed. It was a spectacular end to a spectacular day. We had half an hour to eat; take some fabulous pictures of us dabbing, doing tunnel ball and generally having great banter; wonder around and; wait for Princes Hill to finish their last game, as we had organised a ride home with them (score)! My friend Tara and I had run into some people that I knew, and the obligatory small talk and hugs made us run late for the bus. All in all, the six of us had a blast and we’re all really excited to come back and do it next year!