Manzanillo is pretty far south in Mexico, so it was HOT. Apparently it was supposed to be 'rainy season'.... boy, I would have loved to see some rain. Not only was the temperature up there in the 30s, the humidity was a killer too.
Despite the heat, Manzanillo was beautiful. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort called Club Maeva. The athletes were given little private villas to stay in that had air conditioning.
Our first game was mid-day Thursday against Guatemala. We were excited to play because the sand was pretty shallow which meant Kacie and I could jump high and hit some hard balls. We started off really strong, earning a big lead with some tough serving and scoring big points. However, as the match continued and the day got hotter, we began to feel the heat. The game ended up going to 3 sets, but we pulled off a win. Afterwards I didn't feel very well- a sore throat and... chills? in this heat?? I tried sleeping it off, but when it was time to get up and attend the opening ceremonies, I was really feeling like crap. I went to find the on-site doctor and it turns out I had a fever and a throat infection. After cradling an ice-pack and taking some super strength Advil and antibiotics for my throat I was told to drink water and rest.
The next day I woke up feeling much better... not 100%, but well enough to play. We were scheduled to play one of the top teams in the tournament, Puerto Rico (at mid-day of course). To be honest, I don't really remember much of this game. When the whistle blew at the end of the first set, I thought the other team had called a time out... but it turns out we had won! I was so focused on playing that I didn't even notice the score. This game ended up going to 3 sets as well, but this time we lost in a tough fight. With that win, Puerto Rico made it to the semis and we had to play another game.
We only had about 1hour off before we had to play again! I couldn't believe how they'd organized the games. I barely had enough time to recover and cool down before heading out under the blazing sun again. This time we faced a Mexican team. For the third time in the tournament, we took the match to 3 sets. This team constantly put the ball over in two contacts which caught us off guard a bit. They ended up taking the third set in a heart-breaking 15-13 win. It was a very disappointing loss because this is team that Kacie and I could definitely beat, but under the circumstances we just couldn't pull it together.
Despite the loss, playing in this tournament was a really good learning experience and a lot of fun. I know now what I have to do in terms of energy management and dealing with heat. And as always, we had a blast hanging out with our friends who play on the tour. I'm already looking forward to playing in another NORCECA tournament next year!
No comments:
Post a Comment