•kiannas pov
december 1, 2018
state championship game
"we got that beat that warrior beat it goes!" i yelled to the team.
and everyone including our fans did the beat which was stomp stomp clap clap stomp clap three times.
"warriors on three one two three!" i yelled.
"warriors." the team said.
we then lined up in our spots behind the serving line and waited for the whistle to blow for us to move into our spots.
the up ref blew the whistle and the team moved forward as i stayed back since i'm the first server. the nerves started kicking in. i looked at coach and the crowd and took a deep breath. the whistle blew for me to serve and i did my serve routine.
i served it out. letting the other team get the point and ball. i looked at coach and she signaled me to calm down. as i met up in the middle with my team. they told me to shake it off and then we got ready for the serve to come our way.
brittney got the serve and carsyn set it to mckenzie. it went over and their libero easily got it. we transitioned and got ready for the hit to come. i dug it up since it was deep. the crowd cheered carsyn got it as i got up and set it to braylynn. she hit it and got a kill.
the first set wasn't my set. it was such a bad set that i started getting super frustrated with myself. i don't know what was happening. we had a little bit of a longer break because of media and commercial since this was on tv.
i looked at daniel with a frustrated look and he came down the bleachers knowing that something was wrong.
"hey whatever's going on right now, shake it off. it's the state championship game and your last one. make it count. we're all here for you and we love you. i love you. now go out there and do what you love doing." he smiled and gave me a quick peck as the whistle blew.
"i love you." i said quickly as i made my way back onto the court.
the second set went way better and we won it. which meant that we were now 1-1. going into the third set i felt good. my nerves were gone and i was concentrated. we won which made it 2-1. the fourth set we fell apart a little and they won making us go into a fifth set.
my nerves started coming back. i look up at my family and they all give me the thumbs up. i took a deep breath as the fifth set started.
this set was intense we had long rallies and unbelievable points were made by both teams. this team wasn't going to give up but we weren't either.
as i landed after i hit my ankle gave out which was weird because i had braces on. so i fell. and i clutched it in pain.
"kianna are you okay?" carsyn rushed over.
"move it, move it, move it!" said gesturing to my ankle cuz it felt like it popped out of place.
she started moving it slowly and then coach and lilah came over to see what was wrong.
"it's popped i need you to pop it back into place." i said in pain. on the verge of tears.
"okay but we have to go back to the bench and someone will have to go in for you real quick." she said. i nodded and they helped me up. the audience started clapping which is what they do after someone gets hurt.
i hopped my way to the bench with coach and lilah helping me. my family and daniel were already there waiting for me.
"what happened anak (child)?" my dad asked as they sat me down.
"it popped out of place i just need to pop it back and i'll be fine." i said tears threatening to spill as lilah took off my shoe and brace.
"okay ready? one, two, three." lilah said as she popped it out of place.
instant relief filled my body even though it hurt a little.
"okay now get up and try walking." she said.
"kianna i don't think you should play." kalea said worried as i got up.
"no i'm playing i'm fine see." i said as i took a step and felt only a little pain.
"are you sure? we don't want you to injure yourself more." mom said.
"it's my last game of my senior year i have to play." i looked at all of them dead serious.
"okay just be careful" my mom said giving me a kiss. they went back up to the bleachers.
"you're doing great and if it hurts it's okay to sit out. i love you and get this banner." daniel said and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before running back up.
"okay walk a little bit more and then we'll get you back in." lilah said.
i nodded and walked a little more.
"kianna are you ready? we need you back out there." coach said as i was walking back and forth.
"yeah i'm ready." i said.
"alright go sub in." she said.
i got back into the game and i rolled my ankle around as i was waiting for mckenzie to serve. carsyn looked at me and i gave her a reassuring nod. she smiled and we got ready.
the score right now was 12-16 we were losing. this can't happen so we have to pull through. we eventually caught up which was good. the score now being 18-18. my serve.
i took a deep breathe and i looked at coach. she signaled me to do a short serve and i did as told. my serve was so low and short that it hit the top of the net and still made it over. i got 3 aces in a row before they looked like they adjusted.
so then i did a long serve and they shanked it sending over a free ball. we set up for an attack and braylynn hit it over getting a kill.
i served again this time they got a good pass and set up for the kill. i drove for the ball since it was deep and down the line. carsyn got it and set it to braylynn. she got the kill again.
we ended up winning because of brittney's shank which was super lucky of us. we all celebrated in the middle as coach and the team ran up to us.
we high fived the other team and said good game.
"now for your player of the game for the prolific academy sharks shelby hanson!" the announcer said. the audience clapped.
"and the player of the game for the pacific high warriors kianna dela cruz!" the announcer said.
i smiled walking out onto the court receiving the certificate. finally! this whole tournament so far i haven't got player of the game and it felt so good to get it. then they announced all tourney which all of the seniors on my team got. then they awarded us for winning.
after they awarded us people took pictures and then i got thrown into media...
