Veni, Vidi, Vinci
The sun rose on a beautiful, early Saturday morning in Boston, Massachusetts.
It was the morning of the Boston Volleyball Association doubles grass tournament, and pknyc and the Deuce were entered to play.
We were entered in Men's BB level, the middle difficulty level; but due to last minute changes, all men's levels were combined, so we were lumped in together with the higher Men's level A teams.
All games were to 15 points, sideout scoring. Pool played started around 8 am, and we went 4-2. 4 wins by 8 or more points and 2 losses by 11 and 7 points. Those losses were pretty ugly to say the least.
We had an 8 point lead on a wily veteran team, these guys had to be over 50, but we quickly lost our concentration and our lead and lost that game 8-15.
The second loss came against a typical Laurel and Hardy team. One short, fat guy and a tall skinny guy. We tried serving the shorter guy, but his ball control and "hit-on-two" passes really got us into trouble and we lost 4-15.
I think our losses were from an extended sitting period, where we weren't scheduled to play for 4 games and we decided to go to Subway for a quick bite to eat. We just went into those 2 games cold.
By the end of pool play, I thought I was done. I hadn't played in a doubles grass tournament in more than 5 years and all my hours on the couch playing SOCOM II really didn't help things either. I felt that any minute, any jump or hit, would bring about a hamstring or quad cramp and signify our team's end of the day.
But the Deuce had other plans.
Spurred on by shear will-power, I entered the playoffs with renewed energy. We had planned on pacing ourselves in pool play, hitting roll shots and playing defense so we could bring the heat during the finals. I think it was good plan.
The quarter-finals brought on a younger Laurel and Hardy team, but the short guy was a better hitter and had better ball control than the tall guy, who was just there to spank the ball. Our game plan? Serve the tall guy. We had played them in a barn burner in pool play, but figured out a good strategy for the finals. It worked, the tall guy couldn't pass and shanked a good number of balls all over the place so his partner couldn't give him the set that he needed to put it down against us.
In the semi-finals, we saw the older Laurel and Hardy team who had spanked us in pool play. But for this second meeting we had an answer. To combat the "hit on two" and "over on one" attacks they were running against us in pool play, me and the Deuce set up our "I" formation during our serve. The server would cover the long balls and the "up" guy would cover all the rolls and dinks on two. It worked. We didn't really have a serving strategy, we just played loose and our defense gave us another victory. Onto the finals...
After our match, the other semi-final game was still going on. It was between a young Chinese team and the wily veterans. It ran long. The youngsters picked up their game, as did all the teams, and gave the vets a battle for a birth in the finals. When the dust settled, the Chinese team won 15-13, after a 5 point comeback by the youngsters.
Good for us, since we lost to the older guys 8-15 but beat young guys 15-9 in pool play.
The final started, I was dead tired, but the Deuce said, "Leave it on the grass." and "If we win this final, I'll massage your ass. "
We played the final loose. Great defense, transitions, and great calls on the offensive attacks gave us the tournament. We passed great and dug alot of their attacks. We saw the court well and hit the ball when they were on their heels.
My hat's off to the young MIT team of Yao and Eugene, who gave us a run, but in the end, their scrappy play and young legs gave in to our teamwork and ball control.
It was our ball control that gave us the tournament. We really didn't hit the ball too much. When they put up a block, we just rolled around it. When they didn't, we put it down.
Thanks to my partner, the Deuce, for housing and feeding me for the weekend, and being a great partner, making the calls and setting the ball nectar.
I'll put up some pics later today.
And I'm still waiting for that massage.
It was the morning of the Boston Volleyball Association doubles grass tournament, and pknyc and the Deuce were entered to play.
We were entered in Men's BB level, the middle difficulty level; but due to last minute changes, all men's levels were combined, so we were lumped in together with the higher Men's level A teams.
All games were to 15 points, sideout scoring. Pool played started around 8 am, and we went 4-2. 4 wins by 8 or more points and 2 losses by 11 and 7 points. Those losses were pretty ugly to say the least.
We had an 8 point lead on a wily veteran team, these guys had to be over 50, but we quickly lost our concentration and our lead and lost that game 8-15.
The second loss came against a typical Laurel and Hardy team. One short, fat guy and a tall skinny guy. We tried serving the shorter guy, but his ball control and "hit-on-two" passes really got us into trouble and we lost 4-15.
I think our losses were from an extended sitting period, where we weren't scheduled to play for 4 games and we decided to go to Subway for a quick bite to eat. We just went into those 2 games cold.
By the end of pool play, I thought I was done. I hadn't played in a doubles grass tournament in more than 5 years and all my hours on the couch playing SOCOM II really didn't help things either. I felt that any minute, any jump or hit, would bring about a hamstring or quad cramp and signify our team's end of the day.
But the Deuce had other plans.
Spurred on by shear will-power, I entered the playoffs with renewed energy. We had planned on pacing ourselves in pool play, hitting roll shots and playing defense so we could bring the heat during the finals. I think it was good plan.
The quarter-finals brought on a younger Laurel and Hardy team, but the short guy was a better hitter and had better ball control than the tall guy, who was just there to spank the ball. Our game plan? Serve the tall guy. We had played them in a barn burner in pool play, but figured out a good strategy for the finals. It worked, the tall guy couldn't pass and shanked a good number of balls all over the place so his partner couldn't give him the set that he needed to put it down against us.
In the semi-finals, we saw the older Laurel and Hardy team who had spanked us in pool play. But for this second meeting we had an answer. To combat the "hit on two" and "over on one" attacks they were running against us in pool play, me and the Deuce set up our "I" formation during our serve. The server would cover the long balls and the "up" guy would cover all the rolls and dinks on two. It worked. We didn't really have a serving strategy, we just played loose and our defense gave us another victory. Onto the finals...
After our match, the other semi-final game was still going on. It was between a young Chinese team and the wily veterans. It ran long. The youngsters picked up their game, as did all the teams, and gave the vets a battle for a birth in the finals. When the dust settled, the Chinese team won 15-13, after a 5 point comeback by the youngsters.
Good for us, since we lost to the older guys 8-15 but beat young guys 15-9 in pool play.
The final started, I was dead tired, but the Deuce said, "Leave it on the grass." and "If we win this final, I'll massage your ass. "
We played the final loose. Great defense, transitions, and great calls on the offensive attacks gave us the tournament. We passed great and dug alot of their attacks. We saw the court well and hit the ball when they were on their heels.
My hat's off to the young MIT team of Yao and Eugene, who gave us a run, but in the end, their scrappy play and young legs gave in to our teamwork and ball control.
It was our ball control that gave us the tournament. We really didn't hit the ball too much. When they put up a block, we just rolled around it. When they didn't, we put it down.
Thanks to my partner, the Deuce, for housing and feeding me for the weekend, and being a great partner, making the calls and setting the ball nectar.
I'll put up some pics later today.
And I'm still waiting for that massage.
posted by pknyc at 4:02 PM
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