Gold Team Wins Gold at SAIKAC MS Girls Volleyball Championships 2009!

We had the serve.  It was the final point.  The final set.  The final game.  Alice's hand swung back. Then forward and she took a step towards the end line.  Her hand connects with the ball.  It goes up, then over the net.  It's about to hit the court, but the other girls dive.  MISS!  We won!  We won!  We got the last point!  The 2009-2010 volleyball season was great.  Through tryouts and tournaments, we all had so much fun.  From the start, we were all happy to be playing the game we loved.  We were ecstatic when we found out that we were on the volleyball team, though we did not yet know if we were one blue or gold.  Most people found the first tryout to be the complete opposite of what is was during the ASA.  For some it was grueling, while others found it simple.  As the tryouts progressed, we learned more helpful skills and positions.  When Mr. Twait started teaching the gold team how to get the setters into position, we were all extremely confused.  Over time, we got the hang of positions and we practiced them like crazy!   All of the things that were taught to us by our coaches, Mr. Twait and Mrs. Van Cleef, were very useful during the games.

Even though Virtual School eliminated some practices from our schedules, we still learned what we needed to before teh ISSLR tournament rolled around.  There were only three teams playing, two of them bing AIS-R teams.  We played hard and kept up our good sportsmanship.  We had a large crowd of students attending the games and cheering all the teams on.  Ultimately, the AIS-R teams came out on top, getting 1st place (gold team) and 2nd place (blue team).  We had fun playing and kept learning new skills along the way. 

by the time the SAIKAC tournament came along, we were ready to give it our best shot.  There were five teams in total, including the two AIS-R teams.  Along with our teams were teams from AIS-J, DEMS, and BIS-J.  They all gave a great effort and never gave up hope of winning.  In the end, it was the AIS-R gold team against AIS-J's team.  The one thing I clearly remember from that game was when the Falcons had the serve and right as the girl was about to launch the ball over the net, the blue team screamed.  We were all surprised by this action, and we hoped that the referee would not call it an interference.  It took a long time for the referee to make the call, but he gave us the point.  We were all relieved.  We won the final set by two points and were so happy to get our second gold medal this year.  When the medals were handed out, AIS-R gold team got 1st place, AIS-J got 2nd place, DEMS got 3rd place, AIS-R blue team got 4th place, and BIS-J got 5th place.

When asked what her favorite part of the season was, Courtney Anderson said, "I liked serving." C.J. DeLarra said that her favourite part was playing.  According to Monica McCraw, the best part of the season was "getting to meet people from other schools and make new friends. "  Hanna Belcher's favorite parts were getting to play and being with her friends on the team.  Loulie Teimouri said she liked winning 1st place in both tournaments.  My favorite part was playing the front row and getting the satisfaction of hitting the ball down on the other side.  I also liked hosting, except when one of our girls got a fever.  This was a great season, and we all look forward to playing again next year.

Michelle McCraw
Grade8

Middle School Volleyball Blue Team

The Middle School Girls Blue Team was lucky enough this year that ISSLR and SAIKAC tournaments were held here at AIS-R so that we were able to participate in both.  After a fun and educational volleyball ASA, our small team of only 9 was ready to work hard!  The girls learned setting, bumping, and serving, and improved very quickly.  Due to the virtual school, it was just a few practices before our first tournament with ISSLR.  The Blue Team won at least one set out of each game in ISSLR, finishing with an impressive silver medal!  With only one practice in between, we wrapped ur season with the SAIKAC tournament.  It was clear on the first day of this tournament that the competition was a bit tougher; however, again we won at least one set out of each game we played.  The Blue Team even beat the one team that the gold medal team lost to in the two-day tournament!  All of the teams were well-matched and everyone played hard; however after a close third medal match, we finished fourth overall. 

Each player on Blue Team improved dramatically from the first day of volleyball ASA, and I can't express how proud I am of their efforts.  The enthusiasm of the girls on the Blue Team was infectious, and our ears are still ringing from the earth-shattering squeals from Aysha! 

Remember, girls, we're happy cookies in the land of lollipops!
Go Blue!

Coach Van Cleef