We Win, the Bundesliga Standings are Unimpressed.

Coming into this weekend, there were still a lot of different playoff scenarios. The three teams below us in the standings all had the possibility of finishing above us. We also had the ability to move up to fourth place and get home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs if Unterhaching lost to Eltmann.

Well, we did our share and won: 3-1 against SCC Berlin. Unfortunately Unterhaching won also.

So, now the situation is that we are most likely going to finish fifth. Our win over the weekend makes it impossible to finish any lower than fifth which is a good thing. But we'll need a lot of help if we are going to move up.

The match was really positive for the team and for me personally. We've been playing well in the last couple of weeks, beating Friedrichshafen, playing a solid match in Dueren and now beating SCC Berlin. That's 2-1 against the top three teams in the league...not bad.

We started well, playing consistent high level volleyball. They played good defense but couldn't really turn anything into points. They looked a little out of rhythm and didn't really challenge us in the first.

The second set saw the roles reversed as we started making mistakes, attacking and passing, and they worked themselves into the game. The outcome was never in doubt as they stretched a lead in the middle of the set to six or seven points. I got to come in late in the set but it didn't change much as they continued to side out.

I got the chance to start the third set and from the first point I could tell it was going to be a good day. I had good touch and the passing was really solid so I could do a lot of the things I wanted to do. We sided out at a high level and picked up enough points here and there to win the set.

The fourth set was pretty much the same. We got a lead early and did enough to protect it until the end. Tomas' kill down the line ended it 25-22 and 3-1 in our favor. Needless to say, I was very happy.

For me, this weekend was extremely important. Over the season I've had chances to come in and play quite a bit. I've come in and helped us to wins over Rottenburg, VCO Berlin, Koenigswusterhausen and a few others. But this weekend's match against SCC Berlin was particularly satisfying for a few different reasons.

First, Berlin is one of the best teams in the league. So, getting a chance to play against them and especially to have success is a really good feeling.

Second, in my own opinion, I've been playing really well in practice for about the last month. I feel like I'm constantly improving but haven't really had a chance to show it on the court during a real match. To get that opportunity and for it to work out the way it did was really important for me.

Third, it's just hard in general to be on the bench. Playing a significant role in our win, simply put, felt good. It gives confidence and it serves as a reminder of why this game is so much fun.

In the end, we got a big win that doesn't seem to help us that much in the standings. While we are assured of fifth place, it doesn't look likely that we'll pass Unterhaching for fourth place. The playoffs start in a couple weeks, things are starting to get exciting.

Dueren and Some Other Things

Last weekend was Dueren, another Champions League team, and after our defeat of Friedrichshafen, the number one team in the Bundesliga. To add to the level of difficulty we had to play in Dueren which is not an easy task. From what I've been told, beating Dueren at home is extremely tough. Apparently, last year's finals were decided by home court advantage. Dueren won all of their games at home and Friedrichshafen won all of their home games. Luckily for Friedrichshafen, they got to host the final game of the championship series. Maybe some unnecessary information, but I just wanted to set the stage for how important home court advantage can be sometimes.

Anyways, I take back my statement about Rottenburg being the best gym in the league, Dueren is definitely better. The crowd was louder, more intense and generally more full of energy. Of course, when your team wins all the time, it is easier for the fans to be excited and to create a really cool atmosphere.

The game was actually fairly positive for our team. We played well enough at times to take strings of points and were never completely blown out of the match until the last ten points of the last set. We had opportunities to win the first set and we won the third set in convincing style. In the end, their serving was better than ours, or at least it caused more problems than ours did, and they were able to score more transition points. Possibly because they had the option of setting to their opposite - Quero - who I decided during the match has a fifty-fifty chance of killing the ball no matter what situation he is in. What I mean is, if the set is low and tight and there is a well set up three man block in front of him, he has just as good a chance at killing that ball than if he is looking at a perfect set in a one on one situation. He's a great hitter who is like a box of chocolates. And we all know what that means.

We lost the match and now we move towards the end of the season. We're sitting solidly in fifth with a very small chance of finishing lower. There is still the opportunity to move up at least one place and finish fourth which would mean a great deal to us as we would have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. After this weekend everything should be a lot more defined.

On another note, we've pretty much run out of middle blockers. Dirk is done for the season with his judo inflicted shoulder injury. Artur is questionable for the time being with a quadricep problem - he has not practiced this week. And that leaves Andy as our last remainig true middle. Nate has done a little work out of the middle for us and we have a second team middle who helps us out at practice but neither is a great solution for our problems. A good story that I think sums up the whole situation comes from yesterday: Jens contacted a former Bayer middle blocker who played on the team a couple of years ago but hasn't touched a ball in about a year to see if he would help us out in training and in the game this weekend. He said he would and came to training yesterday with the plan of easing his way back into things. What happened after about forty five minutes of playing? Jammed his thumb blocking on an attack from Peter. The joint capsule is messed up and the doctor says that it is very unlikely that he can play this weekend. Apparently the gods are against us at the moment.

So, we'll give it a shot and see what happens. I guess the best we can hope for is that no one hurts themselves before we play on Saturday...

Champions League?

Ahhhhhhhh. On nights like these, as I sit in the fountain of Apollo, gently reclining, buoyed by the breasts of several young virgins, I lke to ponder the intricacies of living life, not as mere mortal, but as a god.

True, being a god among men can be difficult. (Ha, who am I kidding?) You get to wear sweat pants all day every day and no one can say anything to you. Of course my sweatpants are made of the hides of thousands of rare arctic snow foxes which are then sewn together by either Dolce or Gabanna. I prefer Dolce, but sometimes he is too busy even for me, so I have to use Gabanna :(

The oxygen that is pulled into my lungs emerges again, tinged with gold, carrying the smell of sweet wine and success to the rest of the world. People who stand next to me suddenly look taller and stronger (of course they actually look smaller and weaker because my personality and bone structure take over any room I am in) just because of my mere presence.

I have eaten the heavenly ambrosia of the gods and let me tell you: it is a disappointment. Now, I only eat meat that is taken from my own flank and roasted to perfection by my own team of master chefs. In this way, I save the world from an appetite which is boundless and get to eat of something that is worthy of my discerning pallete. My skin is made of rainbows and vitamin C tablets - Vitamin C tablets that are actually made of multi-vitamin tablets that offer the full daily allowance of every element from the periodic table (yes, including - ununquadium.) - it is very shiny. One time, I let this human take a bite of my skin, do you know what happened? Spontaneous combustion.

You guys heard of Sasquatch? I beat him in a two out of three arm wrestling match. Nice guy.

I think after I'm done here, I'll wrestle the legendary dragon-like beasts of far away worlds and after defeating them, create a new master race of god/dragon hybrids which will rule the universe for eternity. No big deal.


Ha! 3-1 to us.

I'm not going to spend too much time on the signifigance of a win like this. Of course it is a big win for us, for the standings and for our confidence, but I'm not going to say that this win means anything more than that. We caught them at the right time and we played our asses off. Our passing was incredible throughout the match, we got a few timely blocks and serves and then built enough of a lead in the fourth set so that we could hang on when they made a run of points. They also missed a few too many serves and didn't seem as sharp as they normally do, especially in passing. Their coach is Germany's national team coach and well respected by pretty much everyone, so maybe I'm not qualified to question him, but he seemed awfully stubborn, refusing to make any substitutions through the first few sets. Their outside hitters did not perform well, and with the quality they have on the bench, I'm surprised they didn't make a move earlier.

Anyways, it feels great to win a match like this. If not for a few questionable calls in the second set, it could have easily been a 3-0 win for us which is kind of staggering seen in the light of the beating that we took when we played them earlier in the year. It's the great thing about sports, you get to test yourself with every new game and measure your progress in very real terms.

We've got a lot more work to do. Hopefully we are headed in the right direction though. In the space of one month we've lost to one of the worst teams in the league and beaten a possible top four European team - I have no idea where we are going next...