Powerhouse or Fading Glory?

First a recap of our three previous tournaments...
Spring '08: 2nd Place In our very first tournament, hosted at Messiah College, we lost in an intense championship game that came down to 5 on 5 before we lost our momentum, and the game...
Fall '08: 1st Place Hosted at Camp Hill UMC, our team was untouchable as we coasted through the tournament without a single loss to become the champions.
Spring '09: 3rd Place With a couple hiccups earlier in the day, we needed to beat the top seed in the final game of the regular tournament to make the 4 team playoffs...And we did with great ease! Sadly, our game used the full 15 minute limit, and on a day that had already been short on time, the decision was made to cut the playoff and go straight into the championship game. It was widely accepted that we would have won the title if playoffs had been held.

It's hard to describe just how intense these games can get. I am a very competitive person, so I even must curb my intensity! If you've not come with us before, I highly recommend supporting our team in the next tournament on Sunday February 14th at Messiah College. Otherwise, it's hard to really picture the heart-racing, gut-wrenching games, or the constant strategy and scouting sessions in between matches....

Game One: Loss
We faced a ton of disadvantages our first game: We were the only team to face this squad of 15, as they were divided more equally with the other half of their youth group for the rest of the tournament. We played them on the basement court, which lends itself to a smaller team because of the close quarters (And a smaller team gets a handicap)...And to top it all off, the refs accidentally (I hope) threw their team almost all of the dodgeballs to begin the game.

Disappointing? Yes, but it wasn't a real show of what our team could and would do...

Game Two: Win
We faced a struggling team which helped to rebuild our confidence. It was a quicker game played down in the basement, and got our momentum moving.

Game Three & Four: Wins
To be honest, I don't remember exactly how close games 2-4 really were, but I don't remember being very nervous about our chances to win them. We played two of the three in the basement, which wasn't to our liking, but we put together three straight wins and in the running for the playoffs...




Game Five: Loss
Looking at the teams board, there were 6 of us sitting at 3-1 or better entering that round of play. It was the time of the tournament when teams hoping to make the 4-Team playoffs had to put up or shut up. We were facing one of the other 3-1 teams in a must win situation. Dropping to 3-2 would seemingly put us out of reach. We played a large York UMC team (they brought 33 players) on the upper court. It was a very loud and intense match that after a few minutes, was down to 9 York players against 7 Grace players.

All of a sudden, the refs were blowing their whistles to call the game on account of the time. The ten minute game limit had been reached and the win was given to York because they had more players remaining. They absolutely erupted as our team was left completely shocked. We had been given no time check to know how close to the end we were...Our playoff hopes were done.

Or were they?
Turns out, the refs had made a huge mistake, caught in large part to one of our own cheerleaders, Angela, who was video taping the game. It had only lasted 6 1/2 minutes! We were jipped of 3 1/2 minutes. When I found that out, I spent the next ten minutes trying to plead our case, asking for a re-match. But it didn't look like time would allow it and although the director of the tournament (who had not been present at our game) felt it was unfair, he couldn't do anything about it...

Game Six: Win
So we entered our last game playing the only undefeated team in the tournament. We were sitting at 3-2, out of reach of the 5 teams ahead of us and sitting in the middle of the pack. Some rumor was being spread that there was still a slight chance that if we won and a couple other teams fell, we could still make a play-in game for the playoffs...but when I looked at the board, I was fairly certain our chances were up.

We were the final regular tournament game that played in the basement. In my opinion it was the most intense game we played in as two other teams smashed in alongside the already crammed sidelines to root for us. This team was very good but we came to play and we played hard.

My nomination for MVP of the day goes to Darren Smith, Elisa Ott, and Ian Martzall. They were our three remaining players in a grueling game that pitted them against the other team's final player: An adult volunteer who was one of their best. Our three would hang back and dodge his throws before making their own wave of attacks...It went back and forth for what seemed like forever...Darren was the favorite target and he had some amazing moves to avoid them...Until the final onslaught got him and it was down to Elisa and Ian.

Elisa was a monster with the ball in her hand and was throwing all she had to get this guy out. And she finally was successful with one that grazed his back as he was ducking out of the way! And it was not a moment to soon as one ref blew his whistle on Elisa for crossing over the midline. But it the damage was done as she had eliminated him BEFORE the foul...The room absolutely exploded with excitement from our team and fans watching.

Unfortunately as I watched the playoff board being put together, I knew we were sitting on the outside looking. 5 teams with a better record than us, and we had two other teams sitting at 4-2 with us. I had just told the team the news and was putting on my sweatshirt to get ready to watch the playoffs, when...

"TEAM 8 WILL PLAY TEAM 14 ON THE UPPER COURT"

What? That was us! The decision had been made that a 5 team round robin playoff was much harder to run than if there were 4 teams, so they decided that since we had defeated the number 1 seed in the last game of the tournament, we'd be in the play-in game. I also think it was to make up for our game being unfairly cut short...And guess who we woudl face again??

Play-In Game: Win
We got our re-match after all as the team we had lost to in game 5 due to an incorrect call by the refs, lined up against us. This time, most of the gym was packed out with other teams watching. Tempers were flaring on both sides of the line as everyone was giving it all they had. But there's a point in most games when the tide turns and it's pretty clear who is going to win...And when it really counted, Grace prevailed! After game 6, this was probably one of the more meaningful games as we got a chance to redeem ourselves and prove that we deserved to be in the playoffs.

Semi-Final Playoff: Win
Very quickly, our day changed from disappointment to an awesome comeback story as we entered into the playoffs with a head of steam. The team we faced had only lost once throughout the day...but that's because they hadn't faced us! With a huge crowd watching on, we took care of business once again in a great display of team work, tenacity and athleticism.

Championship Game: ? ? ?
We faced yet another handicapped team (we had 25, they had 19) which disadvantaged us some. We played hard but this team caught a lot of our throws early on, sending some of our better arms to the side. It wasn't our best game of the day and the game soon turned in favor of our opponent. They had a great strategy which we will steal for our next tournament in which they gathered all the balls and attacked at one time towards one side of our court. It was very effective and caught us off guard.

So...Powerhouse or Fading Glory?

It's fairly obvious to say that we enter each tournament as one of the favorites. Our team plays hard and works well together. Tempers and frustration certainly can build throughout, but we keep our cool and stay focused. In our 4 tournaments, we have played in three of the championship games, winning one of them...and the previous spring we were favored to win it all if not for a lack of time. So what do you think?!

We were all very tired after playing so many games in a row but we were very proud of our performance...And to wrap up our day, like all the other tournaments, we gathered together with all the other teams for a time of worship before heading home. It's always a great reminder that there is much more to life than dodgeball and there is a beautiful community that we are apart of through our bond in Christ.


Mark your calendars and get practicing...

Our next tournament is less than 4 months away!