Personal Narrative: Volleyball

I shattered my school’s hope of going to the state tournament for the first time in ten years. It was the Sectional Championship game for boys volleyball and my team was in the midst of a historic season. That year we ranked eighteenth in state and two of our star players were going on to play volleyball in college. A win would bring us one step closer to ending the dry spell in the boy’s volleyball program. We were down by one and I, as a substitute player, was on the endline with the deciding serve of the game. All I had to do was serve the ball in the court and give my team a chance to win. I served the ball and felt the air sucked out of the gym as it sailed out of bounds. I was embarrassed and devastated that I had let my team down. I played the perfect game up until that moment, but because I missed the serve, I performed poorly in everyone's eyes. I was only a sophomore, but the senior players’ opportunity to play in the state tournament was gone. Consequently, my team was …show more content…
Motivated by my shortcomings the prior season, I trained extra hard and even stay after practice until I made twenty five serves in a row. My relentless pursuit to become a better player eventually led to me becoming a starter as a junior. That season I led the team in passing and serving percentage. Eventually, my team made another playoff run. In the regional championship we were one point away from winning the game and I once again found myself on the line with the final serve of the match. At that moment I realized that my efforts paid off when I subconsciously served and aced the opponent to win the game. My team surrounded me with joy and this time the article read,“Big finish leads to beautiful outcome for Hersey.” The game after that led the way to state and the school’s eleven year dry spell was finally over. We placed eighth in state and experienced a memorable