Senior Scribble: Go for Gold

Alicia Chin

 Every year, Dalat hosts its annual Spike and Strike tournament. ISKL, local school teams, and even clubs are invited to compete against each other. The varsity girls’ volleyball team came up with a few goals for their season; one of the goals was to win the Spike and Strike tournament.

The team’s first game was against ISKL. The weekend before, they beat ISKL in their home tournament, twice. Now, they had to defend their home ground. After shaking hands and saying their good lucks, the first tournament game for the girls’ began. The Dalat team started with serve-receive—they earned the point. Sara Septon (11) went up to serve next. With a light toss, the ball was suspended in the air and shot forward in the blink of an eye; it was an ace. The six starters crowded in a circle to celebrate with a cheer. The game continued.

Mikaela Steinkamp (12), the team’s captain, ran towards every ball received from the opponent to set it up for one of the hitters. Bump, set, spike. That was the continuous rhythm to the game from both sides. Unfortunately, after one of the bumps, it was a bump—*slip*. Mikaela and her butterfingers couldn’t compete against the shiny sweat-covered volleyball. The ball slipped down her outstretched fingers, fell in between her arms, and landed on her face. It only happened in a matter of seconds. Ruben Nyul (12), a good friend of Mikaela’s, could not contain his laughter. “It was so hard,” he said, “Mr. Steinkamp was sitting right next to me.”

She hid her embarrassment behind a grin as she wiped her hands with a small towel. Mikaela’s performance throughout the rest of the game did not disappoint, along with the other players. As Coach Munson says to the team, “We have different weapons, let’s use them.”

Sara has killer serves, Esther Kim (12) and Elizabeth Horton (11) have deadly hits, Carissa Hoffmeyer (12) and Hannah Lawrence (12) sacrifice their knees for digs in the back row. All of the players’ individual strengths, along with teamwork and chemistry and clear communication, brought them a victory in their first game.

Even having to arrive as early as 7:00am on campus on the second day, the girls pulled themselves together and played to the fullest of their abilities. After 2-0 victories against Heng Ee, Perai, and ISKL again in the final, they sealed the gold. They were all smiles as the girls held their medals up for the photo. They went for the gold, and they got the gold.