"What", "if" and "but". Three little words that are able to inflict a lot of post match psychological damage. What if I had spiked to somewhere else? If the outside was blocked properly, then he wouldn't have scored that point. But we nearly had them.
It is easy to break down a losing performance into what could have been and what so very nearly was. The temptation is there to point fingers in any team sport, but the truth of it is that in team sports, we both win together, and lose together. No individual is ever responsible for the team's loss.
This blame culture that we have in society about picking out individuals who are culpable was very recently highlighted by one of the club's team captains when diagnosing a local league match loss, and his point about the loss being shared proves true. In a team game, everyone is responsible for every point, both scoring and conceding. If the setter fails to set properly, then the hitter doesn't have the optimum chance to take full advantage. If the middle misses the block, then the team might concede.
The reason I'm highlighting this is because Spikers lost 3-1 to Stockport VC at the weekend in a match where they might very well have been asking themselves these very questions. Stockport took the first set 25-20 whilst Spikers took the second set impressively with a 25-23 win. 25-21 was the scoreline in the third set as Stockport went two sets up. The fourth set was a tough battle but the home team took the match with a 29-27 result.
The final set was quite key here as, had it gone just slightly in the opposite favour, then I might be writing a report on a fantastic win, but naturally, the team will be asking these questions with those three little words at the forefront and I do say "naturally" because as human beings, we strive to be perfect in whatever we do, and volleyball is no different. Whilst losing is never anybody's cup of tea, the performance as a whole was fantastic and Aaron Granados especially made his mark by picking up his very first MVP. It just wasn't their day, but they need to hold their heads up high, forget about dissecting the "whats", "ifs" and "buts" and look ahead to the next fixture.
Next up is York VC and whilst the boys will be hoping for a change of fortunes in the result, their performance has never faltered and I have just three closing words for them. You did good!
It is easy to break down a losing performance into what could have been and what so very nearly was. The temptation is there to point fingers in any team sport, but the truth of it is that in team sports, we both win together, and lose together. No individual is ever responsible for the team's loss.
This blame culture that we have in society about picking out individuals who are culpable was very recently highlighted by one of the club's team captains when diagnosing a local league match loss, and his point about the loss being shared proves true. In a team game, everyone is responsible for every point, both scoring and conceding. If the setter fails to set properly, then the hitter doesn't have the optimum chance to take full advantage. If the middle misses the block, then the team might concede.
The reason I'm highlighting this is because Spikers lost 3-1 to Stockport VC at the weekend in a match where they might very well have been asking themselves these very questions. Stockport took the first set 25-20 whilst Spikers took the second set impressively with a 25-23 win. 25-21 was the scoreline in the third set as Stockport went two sets up. The fourth set was a tough battle but the home team took the match with a 29-27 result.
The final set was quite key here as, had it gone just slightly in the opposite favour, then I might be writing a report on a fantastic win, but naturally, the team will be asking these questions with those three little words at the forefront and I do say "naturally" because as human beings, we strive to be perfect in whatever we do, and volleyball is no different. Whilst losing is never anybody's cup of tea, the performance as a whole was fantastic and Aaron Granados especially made his mark by picking up his very first MVP. It just wasn't their day, but they need to hold their heads up high, forget about dissecting the "whats", "ifs" and "buts" and look ahead to the next fixture.
Next up is York VC and whilst the boys will be hoping for a change of fortunes in the result, their performance has never faltered and I have just three closing words for them. You did good!
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