On our way in to Mexico we were struggling to perform on the court and decided to spend an extra night in LA during our stop over to just get away and mentally refresh. We went to Hermosa Beach which had hundreds of courts set up and even got to watch an NBA playoff game that night- LA Clipper vs Golden State Warriors game 7.
In Shanghai the week prior we had a few meetings with our coach and realised that we weren’t focusing on what’s best for the team to the best of our ability. World Tour is a very fierce place and it is very harsh, if you’re a qualifier team and you lose one game your knocked out. We weren’t performing well; the external factors all around us were pushing us around. We ended up identifying that the increased pressure of the environment was causing us to do what feels comfortable… which was to have casual training sessions with the teams we know, to socialise, to chill out instead of doing what’s important for the team which was to have conversations on how to improve, to train hard and train against different teams, to study and watch certain players and learn from them, basically just to go above and beyond in everything we do and maintain really high standards. So we were doing what we felt like instead of doing what’s going to help us best improve and perform.
After having this realisation, we were driving the standards so much more and sticking true to our team values and the areas that are important for us. We played the qualifier with an attitude to play “fearless” and go after every opportunity. We beat a Mexican Team earlier in the day and ended up playing a strong Chinese team who were very vocal for a Chinese team and had a new celebration where they would get in your face after they did something good and would yell out “yeah baby” (it was pretty funny but also intimidating to hear the stereotypically quiet nation get up and about). We outlasted them through just being tougher, we fought and fought, we were aggressive and taking the game on point after point and wore them down eventually. It was a long match and they played well but our strong consistent play forced errors from them in the back ends of sets as they felt like they had to try something to be in the game.
It was an overwhelming feeling after we qualified. We felt so relieved and happy to qualify and finally play well, yet mentally we were exhausted to push through the adversity of the day and physically buggered to play at maximal output. I was cramping straight after we qualified but I was determined to play at my best and recovered well with some rest and electrolytes.
This was the first time I had ever made main draw, I was ecstatic but we made sure we didn’t get carried away with our result or our emotions. It was a new feeling and we made the decision to stay focused on the next job, It wasn’t a time to celebrate all we did was qualify; the real show was just beginning.
After qualifying I woke up very flat both mentally and emotionally. We were on such a high and I think its just natural to crash afterwards (even though we did our best not to). We were playing Todd Rogers the 2008 Olympic gold medallist and nicknamed 'The Professor' for his high Volleyball IQ. We were still playing well but lacked that extra umph and lost 20-22 18-21. We took out from the game that we were good enough to compete at this level and knew we just had to BELIEVE and keep playing with that fearless, aggressive, take every opportunity on mentality. This worked well and we knocked off the German teams in our pools- Fuchs/Kaczmerek 2-0 21-17: 21-14 and then Dollinger/Wickler 21-19: 21-17. We again just played hard and fought to win. It was hot and the euros didn’t like it. We had that practice of competing in humid Thailand earlier on the tour and really wanted the win.
The other results went our way and we topped our pool. Which gave us a bye in to the next round of single elimination with all the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams in the respective pools having to play off to play to make in to the round of 16.
We drew a strong Austrian team who were very skilled and actually won the bronze medal at World U23 Championships I was at in 2013. The game was very up and down and back and forth. We made too many errors in the first and allowed them to feel comfortable and play well. We sorted our play out and fought back with our characteristic fighting spirit for this tournament. In the third set we were down 12-8 and decided to change things up. We swapped sides on the bad end and decided to split block. I had seen plenty of them in previous years and read well to make some digs. It was a risky move as 95% of the time I block and Sam is in the backcourt, but it paid off. I made a couple of digs and as a team we made some transition plays to come back and win the match after being down a couple of match points. We won 16-21 21-17 17-15 I was really happy as it was the biggest game of my career and I managed to majorly influence it and step up to win.
The quarterfinal was another step forward. We played the host nation Mexico in the evening and the grand stands were packed. Every time I went to serve the rowdy crowd would yell “ooooohhhhhhhhh punta” just as we would strike the ball (FYI punta is not a very flattering word in mexican). It again was tight fought match and we found ourselves down 14-10 in the third. One by one we clawed our way back to 14-14 just to fall short and lose the match 20-22 21-18 14-16. After the match we felt so alive, it was a crazy experience playing in front of such a big passionate crowd. As I was serving in the third set they I could feel the vibrations (or maybe I was just shaking from the nerves) but none the less it was a personal best and the best tournament the team has played with the team finally being able to string together some consistant play.
Things I learned from Mexico
1. Be aggressive in decisive moments. When its 18-18 or a very important time, take a risk and go for it because either two things can happen, you win or you lose and If I’m going to lose, I’m going to lose by going for it not by letting someone else win the game and take it from me because making a mistake ends in the same result as letting someone else win it and by being aggressive it gives me the best chance to win.
2. Be strong within yourself, resilient and always stick true to what’s important especially when you don’t feel like it. E.g. when it’s really hot, when you’re under pressure, when your tired and your limbs feel unbearably heavy. In other words don’t get pushed around by external factors and have a resilient undying fight inside you
When I look back to Mexico, I realise I was so close to making a World Tour semi-final and Im happy with a result but always wanting more. Which keeps me driving forward and training hard....
In Shanghai the week prior we had a few meetings with our coach and realised that we weren’t focusing on what’s best for the team to the best of our ability. World Tour is a very fierce place and it is very harsh, if you’re a qualifier team and you lose one game your knocked out. We weren’t performing well; the external factors all around us were pushing us around. We ended up identifying that the increased pressure of the environment was causing us to do what feels comfortable… which was to have casual training sessions with the teams we know, to socialise, to chill out instead of doing what’s important for the team which was to have conversations on how to improve, to train hard and train against different teams, to study and watch certain players and learn from them, basically just to go above and beyond in everything we do and maintain really high standards. So we were doing what we felt like instead of doing what’s going to help us best improve and perform.
After having this realisation, we were driving the standards so much more and sticking true to our team values and the areas that are important for us. We played the qualifier with an attitude to play “fearless” and go after every opportunity. We beat a Mexican Team earlier in the day and ended up playing a strong Chinese team who were very vocal for a Chinese team and had a new celebration where they would get in your face after they did something good and would yell out “yeah baby” (it was pretty funny but also intimidating to hear the stereotypically quiet nation get up and about). We outlasted them through just being tougher, we fought and fought, we were aggressive and taking the game on point after point and wore them down eventually. It was a long match and they played well but our strong consistent play forced errors from them in the back ends of sets as they felt like they had to try something to be in the game.
It was an overwhelming feeling after we qualified. We felt so relieved and happy to qualify and finally play well, yet mentally we were exhausted to push through the adversity of the day and physically buggered to play at maximal output. I was cramping straight after we qualified but I was determined to play at my best and recovered well with some rest and electrolytes.
This was the first time I had ever made main draw, I was ecstatic but we made sure we didn’t get carried away with our result or our emotions. It was a new feeling and we made the decision to stay focused on the next job, It wasn’t a time to celebrate all we did was qualify; the real show was just beginning.
After qualifying I woke up very flat both mentally and emotionally. We were on such a high and I think its just natural to crash afterwards (even though we did our best not to). We were playing Todd Rogers the 2008 Olympic gold medallist and nicknamed 'The Professor' for his high Volleyball IQ. We were still playing well but lacked that extra umph and lost 20-22 18-21. We took out from the game that we were good enough to compete at this level and knew we just had to BELIEVE and keep playing with that fearless, aggressive, take every opportunity on mentality. This worked well and we knocked off the German teams in our pools- Fuchs/Kaczmerek 2-0 21-17: 21-14 and then Dollinger/Wickler 21-19: 21-17. We again just played hard and fought to win. It was hot and the euros didn’t like it. We had that practice of competing in humid Thailand earlier on the tour and really wanted the win.
The other results went our way and we topped our pool. Which gave us a bye in to the next round of single elimination with all the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams in the respective pools having to play off to play to make in to the round of 16.
We drew a strong Austrian team who were very skilled and actually won the bronze medal at World U23 Championships I was at in 2013. The game was very up and down and back and forth. We made too many errors in the first and allowed them to feel comfortable and play well. We sorted our play out and fought back with our characteristic fighting spirit for this tournament. In the third set we were down 12-8 and decided to change things up. We swapped sides on the bad end and decided to split block. I had seen plenty of them in previous years and read well to make some digs. It was a risky move as 95% of the time I block and Sam is in the backcourt, but it paid off. I made a couple of digs and as a team we made some transition plays to come back and win the match after being down a couple of match points. We won 16-21 21-17 17-15 I was really happy as it was the biggest game of my career and I managed to majorly influence it and step up to win.
The quarterfinal was another step forward. We played the host nation Mexico in the evening and the grand stands were packed. Every time I went to serve the rowdy crowd would yell “ooooohhhhhhhhh punta” just as we would strike the ball (FYI punta is not a very flattering word in mexican). It again was tight fought match and we found ourselves down 14-10 in the third. One by one we clawed our way back to 14-14 just to fall short and lose the match 20-22 21-18 14-16. After the match we felt so alive, it was a crazy experience playing in front of such a big passionate crowd. As I was serving in the third set they I could feel the vibrations (or maybe I was just shaking from the nerves) but none the less it was a personal best and the best tournament the team has played with the team finally being able to string together some consistant play.
Things I learned from Mexico
1. Be aggressive in decisive moments. When its 18-18 or a very important time, take a risk and go for it because either two things can happen, you win or you lose and If I’m going to lose, I’m going to lose by going for it not by letting someone else win the game and take it from me because making a mistake ends in the same result as letting someone else win it and by being aggressive it gives me the best chance to win.
2. Be strong within yourself, resilient and always stick true to what’s important especially when you don’t feel like it. E.g. when it’s really hot, when you’re under pressure, when your tired and your limbs feel unbearably heavy. In other words don’t get pushed around by external factors and have a resilient undying fight inside you
When I look back to Mexico, I realise I was so close to making a World Tour semi-final and Im happy with a result but always wanting more. Which keeps me driving forward and training hard....