Cambie League

As from September 27, 1998, the Co-Rec Cambie League has started again for another six months of great volleyball. The league follows a terrific format where the teams are placed into a level consisting of three other teams. All teams in the same level play each other for two sets. At the end of the day, the team with the most games won moves up to the next level while the last team moves to a lower level. Levels of play in Cambie League range from AAA to B.

For lack of a better name, our team is currently known as Raf's Team. =) Due to some amazing plays on this opening day, I felt it necessary to record our team highlights here. In addition to play action summaries, more features are to come like player profiles and team events.

Well, even with a few nice hits from Raf and Wes, and some nice blocks from Vince, we couldn't beat off the other teams this time and so we're falling one level. Hopefully Tony's team is still at that level so we can play them next week!

This was our first game without Hafsin. He's out for the month because of a brutal shoulder injury, but should be back hitting soon after physiotheraphy. So my friend Wesley Wong took his place and helped contribute to our wins. Honorable mentions go to the great setter-middle communication between Raf and Kellen so that Raf can really pound those five-threes! Keep up those thundering hits, Raf!

Hmmmm....I guess we really wanted to play our games at an earlier time, and since some of us think that it's not that fun when it's too challenging, we decided to move down. I'm not sure what happened but at least we were having a bit of fun at the end and didn't get shut out.

This level is probably where our skill level is at right now, and all teams are about even here. We had a great night and everyone had to work a bit harder than usual. Raf had many nice hits and the prettiest looking one was a perfectly positioned 53 set by Kellen. It must have been one of those hits that he timed exactly so that he could read the block and have time to adjust cause the poor blocker just didn't have a chance. No matter if he was blocking down the line or cross-court, it looked like Raf was going to hit where he wasn't. You could do no wrong with a set like that and so the ball was naturally pounded into the ground in an open spot. Haf played amazing against the Scott, the super tall guy on Cory's team, and read his hits like a children's book. It must have been embarassing for a 7-foot tall guy to have someone wall him so many times. I know that Haf can hit harder than anyone on the team but it seems like he prefers the fitness shots that guarantees a point, which is much smarter than just pounding the ball. One question: how do you guys get enough air so that you have time to survey the other side so you know where to hit it? Vince had a beautiful kill against Cory's team when I faked a 51, drawing Cory to me, and he converted a nice set from Raf into a swift kill over one attempted block. Another effective fake was when I went up for a 61, again drawing Cory to me, and Raf dropped a smartly placed ball into the open middle of their court. Now that was a smart play. Nicest set? That must have been when I dived for the serve receive, and while I was on the floor, Vince displayed his textbook set by squaring up to my direction. Luckily I got up in time to crush the ball. But we couldn't have won without the effective serving and hits from Kellen and Lyanne. The competition is fine here, but if you guys want to move it back to the 4:30 time, we have to move up to Level 1! (Moving down isn't really an option, but then we can win even more t-shirts!)

Here's a quick lowdown. Hafsin and Vince played really good. They were the main reason we won the three games. Raf played sucky but he almost packed a girl. That's no small feat for him. He's the main reason we lost the other three games. Just kidding!

Opponents : "The Team We Killed", "Mary's Team / Richmond Colts", & "The Guys Who Thought They Were Moving Up"

It was only our second day together but it was no surprise how quickly we played so well together. Like I said, a team of experienced players, and we all know our positions. This was evident against our first victims when nothing they tried to throw at us could hit the floor. Even with their best positioned dropers, Raf was there with a dive and a confident pancake save. Combined with some power hits, the result was that we finished the two sets leaving them back in the single digits. We had a few good rallies with the second team, but they weren't prepared nor in position for any "Smart Plays" (SPs). The SPs that need to be mentioned are Lyanne's accurate right corner baseline hits where it seems they left open for a ghost to play and Raf's sneaky (read cheap, but smart) second hit drop shot. We tied in number of games won with the last team but our victory over them in points will bring us up to the next level in two weeks. Have a Good Thanksgiving!

Opponents : "The Team That Bled All Over the Ball", "Big Caucasian Guy in Blue", & "The Guy Who Talks Too Much"

This opening day was much anticipated by many of us on the team. Almost not joining the league due to a lack in regulars (I really feel for those teams that have to find subs for EVERY game), our mid-week efforts and emails have been fruitful. Our debut together has already shown that this well-orchestrated team of experienced players will definitely do some damage to any enemy. Damage like the half-pack (on the shoulder) Raf gave to a member of the first team; damage like the down-the-line hit Vince crushed; damage like the how Haf can hit over the futile attempt of the 3-man block; damage like Kellen's sweet aces; damage like Lyanne's precise back corner hits; and all this only on the first team! With everyone contributing heavily into defeating the other teams, I didn't want to be left out in the cold. So in the second last set, a beautiful pass to Raf lead to a precisely perfect quick set from which I converted into a MAJOR pack. Their middle blocker didn't even have the chance to leave the ground which left all their players direly unprotected, resulting in the back middle getting closely acquainted to Mr. Spalding. I hope his glasses weren't too expensive! Keep up the good work!