It was ten minutes until our final eighth grade volleyball game. We were still in the locker room dancing around, singing, and focusing. We were more nervous for this game than any other game we had ever played, and we couldn’t wait to play. We had all been playing junior high sports together since sixth grade and we had been in the championship game every year. We got second both years before that, and this year we realized it would be our last chance to win.
When I ran on to the court, I could feel every one's eyes watching us and disrespecting us. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, like a soldier locked in a fox hole. While warming up, we all had to focus on just loosening up and not looking at the menacing crowd. During warm-ups, we kept dropping balls. We hadn’t even been warming up for five minutes and we were all sweating like we had played a whole game. When the officials blew their whistle signaling us to line up and begin the game, we jogged onto the court like soldiers about to begin a war.
They won the coin toss, and chose to serve first. We scored on the first serve, which really gave a boost to our audacity. Throughout the whole first game, it was a tennis match between points. The whole game seemed to hinge on one point. I didn’t look at the score until it was 23-22. They were ahead by one and we knew we had to pull it together. We scored another point and the crowd was on their feet cheering. It was 23-23 and the last two points were up for grabs. They scored another point, and then another.
The game was over in an instant. The whole crowd was louder than ever. It made my team realize how close we were. We jogged over to our bench and sat down. Coach said we did great, that we just had to win the next game and we could have a chance. It smelled like sweat and the taste of peppermint gum and blue Powerade hung in my mouth. The last thing coach said to us before we went out on the floor was to believe in ourselves and play with intensity, which gave everyone back the adrenaline rush we had started with. We ran on to the court ready to take the game. This game went the same as the last, back and forth. But, in the end, we won 26-24.
It was even more intense than the last game, and we had the last glimmer of hope that we would win in our eyes. I remember coach saying “this last game only goes to fifteen, don’t forget. You have to start off strong because you won’t be able to recover if we fall behind.”
We all had one thing on our mind: The championship. Our bodies were about to fall apart from the first two games, but with the championship right in front of our noses, we summoned the strength to win this last game. We ran out on the court ready to name ourselves champions. We started off so strong this last game, we were unstoppable. We played more as a team than in any other game. We won the coin toss and served first, and also scored first. We kept serving and made few mistakes, which we were able to recover because of our will to win. When the final buzzer went off, we looked at the score and realized we had just won! It was the best feeling in the world. We were undefeated that whole season and we had just won the championship game. After we won, tears of joy fell from our eyes. Everything was in slow motion; our coach running out on the court, our team jumping up and down and hugging. We took pictures and for the next week, we still couldn’t fathom the fact that we had won. We had pushed through everything, and it really showed us that if we played together, we could do anything.