Finally

Just got back from my volleyball game this night. It was the final game and we were playing for first place so I decided to suck it up and play with my sore foot. It’s just bruised, so it’s only pain if I hurt it again (and perhaps some more time laid up before I can play sports again). But I couldn’t not play in the finals. I did some test runs in the days leading up to tonight’s game, practicing some footwork and jumping and it seemed like I could deal with the pain. The warm up before the game seemed to support my hopes, as I was scrambling around for the ball without too much trouble. But, on the first ball I played in the actual game – a simple bump on the serve – I lead with my heel and was treated to some nearly blinding pain. Suddenly I was terrified that I had let the team down, I wasn’t going to be able to play out the game and we didn’t have any subs. Fortunately, I hobbled around for a few minutes as the pain subsided and I started to be a bit more careful about how I stepped down on my foot and I was able to acquit myself fairly well for the remainder of the game.

And we managed to pull off the victory. For three years I’ve been putting in teams to this league, and for three years we have consistently finished second and third in the leagues. Often we were the better team, but we managed to make enough mistakes in the playoffs to lose the prize. We moved up to the advanced division from intermediate (there is a rec division below and a competitive division above) a couple seasons ago so we’ve been playing at a higher level, but we still manage to hover at the top of the league without claiming first place. This year we finally managed to shake off our demons and pulled out a squeaker of a win. The game was closer than it should have been. The teams were fairly even, but we clearly had the edge throughout. We just managed to drop an eight point advantage in the third game that nearly cost us the night. Usually I come out of the final night of the year depressed that we once again we blew our chance. It’s a nice change to come out on a high. The t-shirts, new volleyball and 50$ gift certificate don’t hurt either.

And as an added bonus, the Habs managed to knock off the Bruins tonight to advance to the next round of the playoffs. Nothing to complain about there.

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