Almost Volleyball Champions

Every spring our local school district holds a middle school volleyball tournament for all the middle schools in the county. Abigail was excited to hear about it because she's really missed playing volleyball this year and because she really wants to be like Emily and play volleyball in high school.  Tryouts for the team started up right after her play was over so we gave her the go ahead and she was excited to be included on the roster!  They practiced a couple of times a week for about a month leading up to the tournament and the last Saturday in May was the big day.  

We weren't sure what the tournament was going to be like; I guess I was envisioning a couple of matches and then we'd go home. Apparently events like this last all. day. long. We got there at 0900 and Abigail wasn't finished until after three in the afternoon. Every team had to play every other team at least twice and then a complicated points system determined which four teams would advance to the final round. Once I realized what the day was going to be like we left to run some errands before coming back for her first match and then left to clean the church and have lunch. Then we were back at the tournament for a little longer to watch her play some more. Abigail's team ended up in the finals and were the winning team of the losers bracket, so I guess that makes her team third place? 

We were happy to be there cheering for Abigail and the Margaret Brent Middle School team. Emily even made a poster, just like friends and family members would do for her games this past fall, so we could better show our support. One side for Abigail and one for the entire team - it was definitely the best looking poster there but since it was also the only poster there it wasn't much of a contest!

Abigail warming up with her team before her first game
The tournament was held at one of the high school gyms so there was plenty of room to have two games going at once
There's our Abigail - lucky #13 ready to play
Abigail's entire team
I'm grateful that our girls have inherited their dad's athletic abilities; that man is basically good at any sport he's tried (unlike their mom who is lucky if she doesn't trip walking across a room). It makes me happy that our girls like sports and have had so many opportunities to play them at their schools. I'm thankful to their  teachers who have taken the time to teach them and help them develop their talents. Way to go Abigail and MBMS!

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