A varied redundancy

Every championship, no matter the similarity in outcome, has its own characteristics. Every championship, no matter the similarities in the path to get there, has its own unique joys. For some reason, though we have done this now five times in a row and beat the same team the last three, this one was very satisfying - and a lot of fun. Maybe it was because the girls bounced back after a really rough stretch in the second set. Maybe it was just the enjoyment of watching a tough-minded team come through yet again in the clutch. Perhaps it's appreciation of sustained excellence. Whatever it was, the reaction of the people involved, especially the parents, was as if this was the first one.

Well, maybe the second.

Let my try to give you some perspective: the first championship team had my daughter on the roster. You know, the married one with the college degree who is currently working for a large CPA firm and is in the process of purchasing a house. Faith Rohn was a sophomore. In high school. Coach Carr hadn't thought about retiring. Well, not seriously anyway.

Now for some statistics. In the last five tournaments, the Patriots are 42-0. In sets, their record is 84-4. This was the first year in the streak that CCS lost more than one set. Points? 1,945 to 1,048.  The Patriots have defeated twenty-seven different teams since they last lost. The team that they beat the most times? A tie between Indy Silver Lightning and Crossroads Crusaders, five times each. In addition to the three championship games, the Patriots defeated them in pool play in 2009 and 2010. They were 19-0 against teams from Indiana, 18-0 against teams from Illinois and 5-0 against teams from Michigan. Homeschool teams were victims 22 times and schools, 20. Overall the Patriots are on a 59-set winning streak. The last time they lost in pool play was in 2008 and it was the first pool play game of the tournament.

The tournament this year seemed to be more of a case of the haves and the have-nots. In my estimation there were three elite teams, four teams a notch below, and then mediocrity at best. I do my best in seeding, but with little information available about a lot of the teams and not knowing the level of competition, it can be a guessing game. Thankfully this year the three top teams were in different pools and the other four were spread around. In our pool, we had one of the second-tier teams: newcomer Christ the King, a homeschool team from Ann Arbor, MI. We cruised through the first six sets, giving up a total of 25 points. CTK was our fourth pool game. As the competition was several steps up from the earlier games, it took the girls a little while to get acclimated. They struggled with serve receive and defense in general as the Jaguars took an 8-7 lead. The Patriots righted themselves behind good hitting from Ally, Faith and Mandi, outscoring CTK 14-5 the rest of the way for a 21-13 win. Game two couldn't have been more different. Kills, aces and blocks proliferated as CCS took the game to the Jaguars, storming out to a 15-1 lead. A rare LGFS ensued, however, with the Patriots committing several error while the two big hitters from CTK regained their rhythm and put several kills down. However, at 19-10, two hits of theirs found the net and the Patriots were 8-0 in pool play. In the last pool play match of the night, the Patriots (of Calumet Christian) dominated the Patriots (of Rivertown Christian), 21-9, 21-8.

Late Saturday we found out who the bracket opener opponent would be: Indy Silver Lightning. Their young but very talented setter had gotten hurt in bracket play and the coach said that should would not be playing on Saturday. He was wrong. Their full squad would be facing us after they had defeated Heritage Hall in the first round (CCS had a bye.) Our difficulty in blocking and digging allowed the Silver Lightning to hang around, only trailing 16-13 after an ace. That was the last time it was close. Our hitting, blocking and serving picked up and the girls finished 9-1 to close out game one, 25-14. Game two followed the pattern against CTK, with the Patriots flying out to a 15-4 lead, Serve receive was again a struggle, but the game was never in doubt and the Patriots closed out the quarterfinal win, 25-17.

Fort Wayne Black, one of the three elite teams there would be our semifinal opponent, after they dispatched Heritage Christian in a very well played, exciting three-set match. Early on, our blocking was strong while Ally and Faith did some damage at the net, and the Patriots opened up an 18-10 lead. FW got their hitting going at this point and eventually pulled to within four at 22-18. Their own serving errors stopped their momentum, as the last one gave the set to CCS at 25-19. The Falcons really started pounding the ball and blocking much better in the second set. The game was even at 7 when we muffed a set and then they stuffed us twice. Shortly thereafter they ran off some kills and pulled ahead 16-10. Their serving woes kept us in the game as they kept killing their own momentum with serves into the net. CCS just couldn't get their game together. Coming out of a timeout, the team let a ball drop between them which put them down 20-13. Lauren and Faith each had a kill and a block down the stretch, but it wasn't enough as the Falcons finished with yet another kill and won game two 25-19. Game three started out with Ally crushing the ball and the Patriots moving out to a 5-1 lead. The Falcons never challenged and the game ended kill, Ally; kill, Faith; kill, Ally. 15-7 Patriots and on to the finals.

Surprise, surprise. Our old friends the Crossroads Crusaders. Big, powerful but a little uneven Crossroads Crusaders. The only non-public school team that we play regularly that gives a tough game. As mentioned in the Facebook post, they have one girl already committed to Nebraska and have won the national homeschool volleyball tournament two years running. Ally came out on fire. Two kills and two blocks in the first six points to give the Patriots the early 4-2 lead. They made some errors and we got kills from Mandi and Faith as the lead grew to 10-5. The big hits, as we knew they would, started coming from the powerful Crusaders and the pulled to with two at 11-9. The lead was three at 15-12 when Crossroads started teeing off again. Four kills by their #3 and another from the back row by #21 and Crossroads led 17-16. They led 21-18 when Ally teed off on a couple and a couple of theirs went into the net. The second one of those put CCS up 23-22 which Ally followed with a back row kill. Faith stepped up with a kill from the middle to finish off the comeback, 25-22. Game two went kind of the same way. Their two big hitters were crushing the ball, which Ally was matching nearly hit-for-hit. Lauren scored a kill which tied the game at 13, but that was the last time we would be ahead or tied in that set. After getting back to with one at 17-16 with back row kill by Ally, The Patriot wouldn't score again. Our blocking broke down as did our serve receive as the Crusaders ran off eight straight points to take the set, 25-16 and the momentum. Ally stepped though in game three. Her stuff blocks, kills and aces totaled six as CCS opened up a 10-3 lead and it looked like the Patriots would cruise in game three as they did in the semis. Uncharacteristic errors plus smart ball placement on kills and dinks by Crossroads enable them to score six straight to get to within one. A dink kill by Mandi slowed them down, but a hit past the back line followed by a kill by #3 tied it up. Faith scored on a kill, but their #21 responded with two kills take the lead. Ally scored from the back row to tie it again. A most inopportune serve into the net gave the Crusaders the lead again. Ally tied it up, but then a ball into the net gave Crossroads the game point. Ally found the floor with a kill to give CCS life, then did it again to give CCS the game point. Their #3 tied it up at 16 with a back row kill. With Ally in the back row and Faith on the bench, Lauren stepped up. Two straight middle hit kills, the second deflecting off a defender and then falling in a slow arc toward the Crusader bench with defenders vainly chasing. The ball hit the floor and the Patriots were champions once again.

And it never gets old.