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Show WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011 7 THE SIGNPOST Volleyball continued from page 6 we forget to calm down and play comfortably. We put too much pressure on ourselves." Saturday, the 'Cats played the EWU Eagles. They lost in four sets. WSU won the first set. The Wildcats had more successful attacks in the first set, having 10 to EWU's eight and less errors; WSU had five and EWU had 10. Both teams had three team blocks. EWU was more successful in digs (11-10) and in serving aces (2-1). "There were times we played well," Peterson said. "The first set we won, and we started blocking and getting excited. When we are on, we can play with people." The tables turned on the Wildcats in the second, third and fourth sets. WSU lost the next three sets. WSU ended the entire set with 29 kills, 31 errors, 27 assists, five serving aces, 39 digs and 20 team blocks. EWU had 45 kills, 23 errors, 39 assists, 10 serving aces, 58 digs and 24 team blocks. "When one bad thing happened, it led to another, and another, and another, and then we shut down and gave up," Langston said. The team still needs to come together in the game situations. The team dynamic is there in practice and not in the game, and that is frustrating for everyone, Langston said. "I don't want to say that we are scared, but we play inside ourselves in the game situations," she said. "We should live for the game situations. That is why we are here." WSU volleyball will play conference rival Idaho State University on Thursday night in the Swenson Gym. They will then hit the road to play Sacramento State University on Friday. PHOTO BY CRYSTAL CHARRIERE I THE SIGNPOST Comment on this story at wsusignpost. corn. Weber State University's Emily Jones prepares to spike the ball during a game against Sacramento State University. The Wildcats dropped two games over the weekend, losing to Portland State University and Eastern Washington University. P urplecontinued from page 6 the junction in front of the basket we were shooting at. Our point guard had the ball, and looked right at me standing all alone. The clock was ticking down quickly. She pitched me the ball; I caught it (which was a first - ask anyone on my team, I never could cleanly catch a ball) and turned toward the basket. I had a wide-open lane for a left-handed layup. Left-handed layups scared me a little bit at the time, so I just pulled up for a junction jump shot. That was my money shot. My entire team was sitting on the edge of their seats as the ball soared through the air. When the ball went in, hitting nothing but net, the entire gym erupted. We won the game by two points. I was floating. Before the game, our coach said that, in order to win a game, you have to be 90 percent more skilled and a harder worker than your opposing team. For the other 10 percent, you need luck. After the game, he pointed at me and said, "There was your luck." In my head I was thinking, "That was not luck; that was skill." That night, the local high school had a basketball game. My dad and I were the only ones home. My older brother had a baseball tournament in St. George that weekend, so my mom went down there with him. My dad was treating me like a goddess that night after my amazing performance at the game. He took me to McDonald's for dinner (apparently that is what I wanted, but I should have been smarter and picked somewhere ... good). That particular McDonald's on that particular night was having a drawing that you had to be present to win and over 18 to enter. My dad entered. There were four people in the restaurant; our chances were high. Sure enough, they pulled out my dad's name. We won a little 12-inch television (guess it was a good thing I chose McDonald's after all . . . free TV, who knew?). We put that televi- sion in my room and it is still in my room today. Let's do a quick recap of the day. The two major things were (1) I was currently the school hero for beating our rivals in the big game, and (2) we won a TV for my bedroom. Other good things of the day: The local high school won their game that night as well. It even brought me joy that my mother was out of town for the game (it seems she always misses the most historic moments in her children's athletic careers). I have had some pretty good days since then, but I will never forget how I felt on that day. I have never had a day that could top that day. So, for the last six years, that day has been the best day of my life. I don't know if anything will ever top that. I hope someday something will top that experience. It would suck if my life peaked at age 13. Comment on this column at FORMER HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER AND NFL ATHLETE SPEAKING ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES & THE ATHLETES IN 2011 CATIONS & WSU ATHLETICS wsusignpost.corn. |