Session 011710

I'm lovin' indoor winter sessions! Finished 3-3 with a totally awkward 7 player rotation. Almost the same turnout as last Sunday minus Greg who went out to the Phoenix event. I also like these early morning starts. We've been starting at 9-10 and playing until noon or later.

Got some breakfast before getting to The Shop, helped set up then started warming up. Ronnie and I started with some drills focusing on passing with light contacts and maximum control. Then we did some weak outside kick drills before Tommy came over to rally with us. The A-court started a game with rally scoring to 21 points. I think that will be the format from now on and most of us are getting used to it (that is, we're not bitching about it as much). Ronnie and I eventually played Tommy to 11 points. We were easily beat 5-11. Ronnie needs a lot of work but I do not see him taking the initiative to solve much of that on his own. His serves are probably his most reliable skill at this point with everything else really lagging behind. I did notice the he was more comfortable taking swings when set 3-4 feet off the net.

In the first doubles game, I rotated to A-court and partnered with Cory facing off against Tommy/Ted. too many errors. I served out at least twice in the beginning then a third time at game point giving them the win at 18-21. One play that stuck out was a shot that Tommy hit from back court that froze both Cory and I. We both assumed the other was going to get it and the bag hit the ground uncontested. Lost a joust with Tommy as he dinked a shot right over my blocking foot. As I landed, I got a perfect view of the bag dropping not 1 foot away from me. I managed a few minor highlights by hitting a couple Kennys (from what I understand the motion of the kick is similar to a toe spike except the right foot is turned downward and the contact is made with the outside surface. Hitting with the left is a Gumby) chasing after some low sets. Those are fun. Tommy hit this incredible pulldown that just shocked us into stunned silence. The set came up near the post and I rushed forward in case of an overset but Tommy just came up and made contact with the bottom of his toes and the bag just dropped straight down. I was 3 feet away and I still had no chance of diggin' it. Great shot!

Back to B for some drills.

My next game on A-court was with Tommy vs Ted/Brian who had just beaten Cory/Scot(!). Tommy just came out blazing, getting us to 15-2 lead. We were working very strong together setting, spiking and digging everything. The other team did manage to fight and scratch to get within 2 points of us. Bryan got some payback from last weekend when he tattooed me in the right nipple with his nasty pulldowns (dats kinkee). Ted got a monster block on Tommy but net fouled to give us a point and swing the momentum back to our side. Finally, I managed to end the game with a shaky side axe. That was a good win for Tommy and I. It showed how well we could work as a team. I particularly appreciated the both of us staying focused and not falling completely apart (which has happened too many times in the past) as Ted/Bryan worked away at our lead. We finished relieved and confident at 21-18.

We continued to play well against Scot/Cory. They both may not have been in top form but we knew it would still take some work to get a win. I think we each served out only once during this game. The score was close throughout. Our defense was solid and kept them from scoring long runs on us. Hit one big side axe. In the end Scot had served out to give us the 21-15 win. All his frustration was vented as he let out this loud roar that just filled the shop.

Next, I teamed up with Ted to face Ronnie/Cory. We took the win 20-8 in an uneventful game.

In my final match, I teamed with Bryan against Ted/Tommy. My serve returns, sets and bumps were all over the place and just couldn't give Bryan much to work with. We were quickly beat 8-21. I lost another joust with Tommy, hope Cory's camera caught it all. I crossed over trying to pick off the set first but hit Tommy's foot instead. He still managed to kick the bag over the net for the kill. He was just on fire the whole day. At this point, he was 6-0 and wanted to call it quits for the day. They managed to get him in one more game and got beat by Scot/Cory.

My overall defense could have been better. While I did play well with Tommy, I missed or shanked quite a few shots with both legs throughout the rest of the day. Service returns weren't as terrible as the last few sessions. I did make contact with most serves but I did shank a few too many. I tried to challenge almost everything though with very few instances of shot gazing. I did a pretty good job or playing dinks and oversets but I honestly cant say that about defending the back court.

I was pretty aggressive offensively. I attacked most everything that was set to me (and a few I had to run down) with a high percentage landing in bounds. I think I made good decisions for setting and spiking and don't remember regretting any swings I took. The actual execution of sets were decent until the last game. Serves could have been better, I just hit too many out serves. That's just going to kill you in rally scoring. I'm definitely pleased with my offense this session.

After playing, Ronnie and I chilled at the Golden Nugget diner near my house. It's always nice to hang out after a session to eat and wind down. It was relatively warm enough to just walk home from there and enjoy a few minutes in the sun. Another enjoyable Sunday.