State Wrap Up

I've had so many thoughts in my head since State that I had to put it on the blog.

Our experience was so thrilling and so heartbreaking at the same time. There's really a positive and a negative way to look at how the season ended.

On the positive side, the team made it to the championship match!! They have never made it that far before! Overall, they took 2nd in State. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

When I look back at the season, this team has so much to be proud of.

I think about how well they played each match during the regular season, how they won each match so effortlessly.

I think about how they were District Champions and how they swept their way into Regionals.

Then I think about Regionals and how they earned the right to host and how they beat every team again making them Regional Champions too.

Then I think about State, and how on Friday, they beat both teams in just 3 games. On Saturday, in the semi-finals, they played amazingly well, and won a game when they were down 21-12. Who does that? Who wins a game when they're down 21-12?

I think the highlight of the season for me was the semi-finals match. Again, it was incredible to watch!!

On the negative side, they didn't play their best game, even close to their best game in the championship match. I think they were a little star-struck, nervous, and jittery. They lost the championship match in 3 games. :(

It's so hard not to think about how the match could have played out if the team had played their very best. The team they lost to was good, they were very good, but so were we.

We were so close we could taste it.

I've never been depressed about sports or a game (or in this case, a match)... until now. I've never cheered so loud. I had never before lost an appetite from nervousness or been so nervous that I was shaking. I had never cried over a game or match before. I did all of these things this weekend. I was so emotionally invested in this team.

If you've ever been this close to a championship before, you know how it stings. How you keep playing the game (the match) over and over again in your head. You keep asking yourself how it ended the way it did.

I know Caleb loved this team and he will miss the Seniors dearly. I know how much time and emotion he has invested in this team, and that he is feeling everything I am, only 100 times more.

I also know that eventually, in time, the sting and the emotions will wear off and we will look back at this season as a great one!