Preseason.. Painful

I think this photo says it all.. yup... it's been a rough pre-season. I'm going back to something I mentioned last week: the Denver Broncos. When they had a terrible preseason, they had great regular seasons and my only hope is that holds true for our Marist girls as well.

Now, I really must say, there are reasons why the preseason has been such a struggle. For one, there are times that our own league can be.. well.. not as powerful as others in the volleyball arena. The best way to really challenge the team is to play at both tournaments and teams from other leagues... the good teams. And that is that we did for our 4 preseason games.. we brought in some of the top programs in the state and the team that, this year is out of our league due to state reshuffling, beat us out of last years league championship.

As reported last week, on my birthday, we lost to both LaSalle and North Bend. Then last Thursday, the team was off to the coast to battle Siuslaw, in the hopes of getting revenge from last year. Alas, that revenge didn't come this time and the girls were defeated. Then in one of the weirder scheduling moves, Tuesday's home game was... again... Siuslaw. And again, there were no paybacks from last year as the team went down fighting.

Now, keep in mind, the point of the preseason is really to test the team, to try different people in different positions, and to test different offenses and defenses to find the right one that sticks with the team and proves to be effective. And that is what we have done during these games... lots of tweaking. That's why I am happy to report that by the end of the second match against Siulsaw... the girls looked great! They fought from behind, they tied up the game, ultimately losing it 28-30. And in that comeback, it finally felt like things were starting to come together...

Now, playtime is over.. the regular season kicks in, and there is no more time for messing around. For the next 2 months, the team will be tested repeatedly. And now, as we always say...... GO SPARTANS!