Roller Coaster

Yep, that is how I can best describe our volleyball team this year. We go from a really high moment to a really low moment. We are so far 5-3. The sad part is that we really should be 7-1 (the other team would have taken a championship effort to beat). The two matches that we have lost have both had highs in the middle, preceded and followed by super low lows. In the first match we lost, we beat the other team 25-9 in the second game of the match. In rally scoring, keeping the opponent to less than 10 points requires that you keep the "side outs" to a minimum. Realistically if you can beat a team 25-9, you should never lose a match to that team. Granted, we missed 25 serves that match, so in that aspect we deserved to lose.

Last night we played a team that we had previously beaten earlier this season. We lost the first two games of the match. The third game they suddenly decided they were going to play and beat the team 25-13 only to come back and let the other team beat them in the fourth game.

Honestly, this is the most frustrating season I have ever coached. We started out so solidly in the pre-season tournament in Kissimmee where we won the championship. Then our first game was on August 25th. By the end of next Thursday, we will have played 13 out of 18 conference games for the entire season with only 3 practices. Then, from September 26-October 28, we will have the other five games and 13 more practices. Regardless of the fact that the girls need to execute better, playing that much of the season with only three practices makes it very hard for me as a coach to have the opportunity to fix the issues they are having. We are going to have to somehow find an adjustment for next year's schedule. To be fair to our athletic director, there are some things he cannot control (we can't have games on Friday's because of football - something I'm going to try to renegotiate to be able to have home volleyball games on Friday when football is away, we can't have games during the PBC mission's conference or the school Band Festival, we can't have games during the end of the football homecoming week, and there are two no school days in October due to teacher conference or something like that).

However, more than my frustration due to the schedule and lack of practice, I just am really struggling with finding the "magic button" to push with this team to make them do what they know they need to do. I've tried every method I've ever used successfully in the past, completely without success for this team. I've prayed for the girls as individuals and their relationships with each other. I've prayed for wisdom in my decisions and how to handle them. I've tried subbing, giving extra "bench time" to help focus. I've tried running them to death for their 25 missed serves in one match. I've tried changing the order of the lineup. I've tried switching entire offenses from using two setters to using one setter. I've tried using more encouragement based timeouts and coaching. I've tried using more disappointment/pull-it-together-now-or-else based timeouts and coaching.

Seriously I'm at the end of my rope. I've never so much felt like quitting anything in my entire life. I'm NOT going to, but I totally feel like it. So today, we try again. We face a team that is undefeated so far. I'm making another change to see if somehow that is the magic. Maybe I need to have a revival service with them and tell them that I want whoever has the sin in the camp to deal with it so we can start winning again. :)

Thanks for listening to me vent. If you think of it, please pray for me that I'll have wisdom and please pray that no matter whether we win or we lose (though I really would rather win) that our attitudes (both inward and outward) will bring honor and glory to God and will represent Providence well.