The crowd is silent,
My heart starts beating faster and faster,
Palms sweating, and I nervously look over to my coach.

He gives me five,
Zone five.
I look up at the scoreboard,
It’s 26-26 with a cap at 27.
This point decides who goes on into the playoffs
And whose season will be coming to an end tonight.
The ref blows his whistle.
I bounce the ball four times, like always.
I bring the ball up, my arms extended away from me,
I take a deep breath, and then it’s
Left, right, left.
The ball sails over the net in what seems like slow motion,
The ball hits the girl in zone five hard,
Ricocheting off of her arms into the stands.

My team goes crazy
Everyone's screaming,
Everyone’s hugging.
We just won our first playoff game.

We are still in it.
We can still make it.
We are on the road to state.