“HIT LIKE A GIANT” was all I heard coming from the sidelines right before I got the winning point. 7 feet 4 inches. That's how high I had jumped to get the ball over the net to land in a 900 square foot area. An adrenaline rush ran through my entire body when I saw the ball being set to me. Nothing else in the world mattered but this hit. Something triggered my brain to make me believe I could do it. In this moment, I remembered what my coach, Jeff, had been telling me all season, “You can always do more than you think you can.” That was all I needed to remember right before hitting that ball.

   My volleyball career started when I was beginning 6th grade. I was so young and so new to the game. I remember the first time I held a volleyball. I tried to hit the ball and it ended up landing a few feet away from me. It wasn't even close to going over the net. I couldn't serve over hand to get it over the net until 8th grade, which was around the time when my uncle committed suicide. I channeled all my hurt and anger into volleyball. Volleyball became my emotional outlet. Anytime I had a problem I turned to volleyball to work through it. Volleyball was the therapy I needed to get through the death of my uncle John.

   After a tough loss last week, we had to come back to Carrillo’s gym and to try and redeem ourselves. We walked into the gym confident and determined to battle with a team who had been undefeated for 13 years. I did my little pregame ritual; fixed my headband, wiped my shoes, and asked my uncle to be with me through this match. Warming up is one of my favorite parts about playing in a volleyball game. It’s the time where I can intimidate the opponent. I love when I look over and see the girls on the other team looking at me and my teammates strategizing about how they're going to stop us. I hit every ball as hard as I can to show Carrillo that we are here to play.

   Volleyball is one of the best team sports there is. There are six players in a 900 square foot area, which means that every player on the court needs to have a voice or complete chaos will happen. When I was younger I was extremely quiet and never liked to talk. My coaches always told me that I needed to be louder. One day at open gym, I saw a man sitting on the bleachers watching us practice. He was wearing a worn out fire department t-shirt, the same one my uncle John would wear every time we’d go to the Country Club. For a small moment, I thought it was him. He didn't talk to us or say anything to anybody, he was just sitting there. I thought he was somebody's dad. Little did I know, this was the man who was going to help me become the best volleyball player I could be. Throughout the summer he came to more open gyms. Word was getting out that he was the old Carrillo coach. After the first day of tryouts, the previous head coach announced that the man sitting through all the open gyms was named Jeff. He was taking over the Head Coach position for the our team this year.

   The whistle blew to announce that the game was starting. Our setter, Megan, was the first person to serve the ball to start the game. We took a lead in the first set, 6-0. Although, knowing Carrillo, they weren't just going to roll over and let us take the first set. Carrillo caught up and ended up winning the first set. Jeff, pulled us together and said, “If you guys want to win this game you have to play with more heart than them. You have to be an all around better team, physically and mentally.” This game against Carrillo meant everything to Jeff. Because Jeff was the old Carrillo coach, he wanted to win this game more than anything. Our team wanted to win this game for him. The next whistle blew and the second set started. From just the first few points, everybody in the gym could tell we were going to win this set. All of our hitters were going up with huge swings. Kill after kill, we were dominating this set. The crowd and our student section started getting actively involved in this match. We won 25-17. My team had momentum going into the next set. Every hit I went up for, I hit with a purpose. I wanted to kill the ball and get a point for my team. I was so determined to win the third set. Carrillo played hard and made it a tough game. However, we won the third set and we were sitting comfortable going into the fourth set.

   During my high school career, I have been a great volleyball player. I was pulled up to varsity as a sophomore and was a starter on the Newman varsity team as a junior. As a junior, I was in contact with schools for recruitment to colleges. From the time I was in 8th grade till my senior year, I played volleyball year round and never had more than a 3 week break between seasons. It wasn't until this year that I realized my full potential. Jeff me so incredibly hard to make me see the kind of player I could be. Jeff reminds me of my uncle in that way. My uncle never let me slack off, nor allowed me to be any less of a person than I was supposed to be. Jeff taught me more in one season than I learned my entire volleyball career. Anyone on the team can tell you, he was harder on me than anyone else. I truly believe it was because he saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself.

   At 5’10, I've always been the tallest girl in the class. Being so tall is the biggest insecurity I have. I’m always being looked at and asked how tall I am. I’ve always wished I could be a couple inches shorter. Jeff told me to use my height to my advantage and not be insecure about it. He always told me to treat my height as a gift. Everyday in practice he'd yell at me to “HIT LIKE A GIANT.” This meant to use my height to really get on top of the ball and to hit like a giant would. These four words improved my game tremendously. Those four words helped me win the game against Carrillo.

   The fourth set started and my team was sitting comfortable, which is never a good sign. We thought we had this game in the bag. It wasn’t until we were down by seven that we decided to play. We started shanking balls and missing our hits and my team started to get too overwhelmed. Jeff was getting really mad at us. Our team can always tell when he gets mad. The veins on his neck and forehead stick out and his face get more red than our jerseys. He reminded me of how my uncle looked that one time I ran away from his house because he wouldn’t let me watch another episode of SpongeBob Squarepants. Jeff wasn’t mad that we were losing this set, he was mad that we were not playing with our hearts or playing to our full potential. We lost the fourth set, but we weren't going to give up on the last and final set.

   This was the tie breaker set. Whoever wins this set, wins the game and wins the NBL title. When the fifth game started, there was so much adrenaline rushing through me that it was so hard to stop my body from shaking. Every point was a battle. The game went back and forth, Carrillo would be up and then we would get ahead. The crowd was so involved that every point was a win in itself. The game got so intense that Jeff’s wife left the gym to go sit in her car because she couldn’t bear to watch her husband so stressed out. Finally, it came down to 13-13. We needed two more points to win the game. The ball was set to Sally Chestnut. Sally is Carrillo’s best hitter and has been our biggest competition all night. The ball was set out and my teammate Ingrid blocked her ball. Now, the game is 13-14, we just needed one more point. The ball was hit over to our side of the net and Megan set me the ball. I got really nervous and anxious. All of these different emotions ran through my head and in a split second I lost all confidence in myself. It took hearing a familiar voice screaming “HIT LIKE A GIANT” from the sidelines to regain my focus and my confidence. It sounded like my uncle John’s voice but when I looked over I saw Jeff cheering me on. It took 7 years of training and hard work to get to this moment. When I hit the ball, I went up with perfect form and determination to kill this ball, it sounded like a gunshot. I knew I had just won the game. My feet landed on the ground and the whistle blew to end the game. My team and I hit the ground with pure excitement and joy. My teammates dog piled on each other crying and smiling because we were so proud of each other and our accomplishments. The crowd ran down the bleachers and joined in the celebration of our victory. In that moment I could feel my uncle present, like he was there the whole time, cheering me on.

   I wouldn't be the person I am today without the game of volleyball. I wouldn’t be the player I was without my teammates I’ve been playing with since I was 12 years old, just learning the game. Volleyball has taught me how to trust people, to be encouraging, to be a supporter, and to always achieve more than I think I can. I am now closing this chapter in my life and about to start a whole new journey.