Volleyball - much like many other things in our country - was delayed due to Covid. While the girls participated in Open Gyms and Weights throughout the summer, the decision was made by IHSA to delay volleyball until March (typical season is August - October). The waiting game had started. While we were very optimistic that things would be improved by March, we still found it hard to anticipate the season as the time grew closer. We kept waiting for IHSA to change their guidelines.
In the meantime, Iowa was open and they were playing ball - both high school and club. We tried out for Platform Elite and sadly, weren't selected for one of their top teams. There was a demand for more teams though since IL was shutdown and the director of Elite restructured the program, allowing 6-8 more teams into the fray. Maddie was chosen to play on one of those teams. We were thrilled! This would allow her to practice with Elite coaches, give her access to special lessons, play in the weekly league as well as a handful of tournaments and stay in shape while we waited for high school ball to open.
Her club team did fairly well - winning more than they lost. She was thrilled to be playing again.
Grammy & Grandad were able to be at most of the Club games - they really love watching their grandkids' activities.
As Club Season was winding down, IHSA announced that volleyball could start their "contact days" - a limited number of offseason practices to get the girls back on the court, in anticipation of tryouts and practices. With the contact days came weights - there were some days when Maddie would have Athletic gym (weights, cardio, running), team weights, high school practice and Elite practice. She was exhausted! All of this on top of her school work!
There was a large number of freshman girls who tried out for the volleyball team this year. In the end, the coaches decided to make 2 freshman teams. Maddie was asked to be the full time setter for the B Team, which involved playing 100% of the games. For the A Team, she was the back up setter and typically played 1 of the 2 games for each match. I am so proud of her work and dedication to this sport and her teammates. While she may not have the best skills, most talent, etc - she works very hard and tries to figure out what works best for each hitter (not all hitters are alike, they have different approaches and hitting techniques - which means that their "ideal set" may be different then the next hitter). Maddie tried her hardest to learn and adapt her sets to over 15 different hitters between the 3 different teams. It's not easy!
The next 8 pictures show her serving and getting an ace...
Forgive any commentary on these videos! I usually record while sitting next to my parents - between the three of us, we usually cheered or said something! One of her serves, I said "oh, that's out" but it dropped and stayed in. Maddie's serves have a habit of doing that!
Maddie has had her share of coaches, but her all time favorite is this lady! Morgan taught Maddie one of the most important skills in a sport - confidence! She taught Maddie how to set, but as she worked with her on setting, she saw that Maddie had great instincts and hustle and Morgan drilled those things in to Maddie and in the process, Maddie grew tremendously. Morgan is now the Varsity Coach at Alleman HS, so we sought her out the night that they played each other to grab a picture together. Much thanks to Morgan and her style of coaching!
The Freshman teams ended their season 19-2 (A Team) and 3-1 (B Team). They were fun to watch. As of right now, it looks like things are scheduled to run as normal this fall. We are crossing our fingers!
