Nationals Perspectives

Team Name: Black and Tan
Division: Men’s BB
Team Representative: Ed Tan

We had high expectations going into Salt Lake City after having finished a very positive GEVA club season, in which our team continually improved with each successive tournament. We were excited from the moment we arrived and it showed in our first pool-play match. We came out firing on all cylinders for the first one-and-a-half sets. Unfortunately, you have to win two sets to win a match and wound up dropping that first match in three sets. It was tough to bounce back from such a stinging defeat, but we fought hard in every single match.

After finishing a disappointing 1-4 in pool play, we had an opportunity to play for a place in the bronze medal bracket. We won our first challenge match, but lost our second in two tight sets. With that, we had to recalibrate our expectations once again and put everything we had into winning the copper bracket. Despite being tired, dealing with minor sprains, bruised egos, and a couple of player departures, we still played our hearts out to get to the finals of the copper bracket. However, we came up one match short of winning it and finished as runners-up.

Even though we did not win as many matches as hoped, we had a great time hanging out together and experiencing the city, taking in several of the local restaurants and drowning some of our sorrows in the ample variety of ales available in Salt Lake. We were able to bond together even more as a result of the trip. This team is already looking forward to the 2012-2013 GEVA season and Nationals in Louisville.

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