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| HHA Lady Hornets Volleyball Team with HHA Staff Memberson |
Reprinted with permission from the December 2013 Hampstead Hill Academy Newsletter
Winning is a unique feeling. It overwhelms you as a person and gives you feelings the body enjoys. You become happy. You feel unstoppable, capable and proud. Winning makes people feel joy, losing does the opposite.
This year, the Queen Bees or “Mighty Hornets” became more than just a team. They became a family. Throughout practice all of the team players got to know each other. We found our strengths, our weaknesses but most importantly developed a mutual love for volleyball. When the time came to put our skills to the test, we all wanted to make our school proud. We were ready, all of us. We were prepared for anything that could come at us, and we won our first game.
As a team, we became unstoppable and continued winning until we played Walter P. Carter Elementary/Middle School one afternoon. I don’t know what it was about that game that brought us down from the throne but those last minutes of the game, we all thought we might have a chance of winning, but our hopes tumbled down as we lost.
It was a moment none of us would ever forget. It would either break us, or make us stronger. Losing that game, made us want to win even more. It made us hungry for victory. Our coach made it clear we had to lose to win. This kept us humble.
We won our next game. The thrill was back. Days later however, we played City Springs Elementary/Middle School, our biggest rivals. We were defeated like never before. Shame filled our team when we lost the game best 2 out of 3 because we didn’t even score.
What was happening to the fierce hornets? Playoffs were the following Tuesday, and if we didn’t win, we wouldn’t make it to the finals. After practicing and getting our heads back in the game we actually won the playoffs!
City Springs vs. HHA was back. We weren’t giving up without a fight. The championship was a mix of silly mistakes, hope, teamwork and stress. We began losing the first two games. However, because it was the championships, the winners would be the best 3 out of 5. It wasn’t over. We couldn’t give up. Things were going well. We scored but they scored right back.
The third set was so close there was no way of telling who would really win. The team was not very optimistic, but we couldn’t let ourselves down. City Springs had 24 points and HHA had 16.
It WASN’T OVER. The pressure was too much. The last minutes of the third set were a bunch of screams and chanting, but it was our serve. I was up. I honestly didn’t think my serve would make much of a difference, but I wasn’t going to give up. I served like I always did… we scored! Again and again and again.
HHA was 2 points away! The closer we got to 25, the louder the screams became. We were tied 24-24. I smacked the ball and City Springs failed to serve it back. We had won!!! The game would continue and the hornets were again ready. All of us knew we had to be the best. We had to play to the best of our abilities.
As we won the fourth set and continued to the fifth, our goal began to get so close! I served the last ball of the whole game and the once strangers in a volleyball team realized how close we were when the last point was called. We were the champions! Holding the trophy felt amazing and to some of us it was unbelievable.
If I could give a bit of advice to anyone, I would tell them to never give up. Even in our toughest times, the Hornets stayed strong. A little bit of faith never hurts especially if the faith is in yourself. The bad times and the sad feelings we felt before don’t matter anymore because we are CHAMPIONS. We made it. Fingers crossed for a possible spring season and another unstoppable team.
