The AVVC 15N Titans found their grooves this past weekend at the President’s day Capitol Hill Classic in DC. For what started as a painful tournament the Titans saved their best effort for the last day. We started the tournament on Saturday on a strong foot competing against a strong Club Integrity team.  The first game was tight game in which we ended up losing 23-25. We lost or footing in the second game and did not put up a big fight. We lost that game 12-25. We fared much better in our second match against our GEVA rival team Digs 15 Red. That match was a real battle where either team did not want to be on the losing end. Digs took the first game 18-25 and was poised to win the match. However the Titans had different plans. They buckled down, cut down on their errors, and won a decisive second game 25-23 against the Digs. We would ride this momentum to win the third game 15-12 and the match. That was the high point of the day and probably of our young season. Unfortunately this high was short live as we weren’t able to close the deal on that day against Norlanco 15’s Blue. It was a very competitive match but we could not put it all together to pull a victory. We ended up losing 26-28, 22-25.

The second day of the tournament is one to forget. The first match we were blown away by Clash 15N. We put a good fight against Lava 15 Gold but lost in three. We also compete against Carolina Storm 15 Black but did not play well enough to win a game.

The third day was a different story for the Titans. It was by all aspect a memorable day for our team. Our first match of the day was against BRYC 15 Smack. We won the first game comfortably 25-21. The second game team Smack was not about to let us cruise to the win. In fact they did better they battled back with all their might and took the second game away from us 21-25. At this point the momentum had switch their way and it was there for all to see. They started the third game with a big roar taking a convincing 8-2 lead at the game halfway switchover.  The Titans however would not be denied of that win. They dug really deep and found their courage and confidence back. Lead with a series of strong serve and a resiliency unseen thus far the Titans did what seems impossible to many. They turned the wave around and ended up winning the third game 17-15. That was a real thriller, one that really tests the heart, literally. Riding this new found energy and confidence we won our other match of the day against feisty PPVBC 15 (25-22, 25-23) to win our flight.

While the results overall (3-4) are not the best, team Titans left DC with their swagger on. We are hoping this is a turning point for our team who has struggled so far. The realization that we are capable of big wins when we minimize our errors and play smart volleyball is one that hopefully will carry us for the reminder of the season.

Go Titans!!!