Volleyball Note

I drop down into a ready stance. The server, their number 4, tosses the ball up in the air, letting it roll off his fingers to get more spin. I hear the high pitched thud as I see him make contact with the ball in the air. As a middle blocker, very rarely am I required to receive serves, but in this one particular rotation I have to cover the setter on the left side of the court so that they can take second touch.

The ball is coming towards me, a little to my right and a bit higher than would be comfortable. As I watch it to get a better read on the ball, I have a moment of hesitation. I can see the ball like it’s in slow motion. It has a topspin and is still moving more to the right. Is it dropping more? How close is the player behind me? Do I need to get it or is it covered?

I tense up. Time feels like it slows down as I watch the ball, but even though it’s moving slow my body feels even slower. I hear him say something behind me. What was it? Did he say “yours” ? Did he say “mine” ? All I heard was a blurb, and so I panicked. Swinging my arms to the side, I make a brief contact with the ball but it bounces off and flies into the wall. 

Turning around to look at my teammate behind me, I apologize and ask what it was he said. He confirmed that he said “mine” and not whatever I thought I heard from him. My captain tells me to shrug it off and get the next one. I know that I can't let it affect my headspace. Because the longer I think about the last serve, the sooner the next one is coming my way.