Return from State '09

Whew!  We are finally home from the state volleyball tournament in Kennewick.  Nothing like driving home over Snoqualmie pass...at night....IN NOVEMBER!!    Slow and steady wins the race. 

So, the tourney in Kennewick is always a bit crazy, exciting, etc... but this year I had two teams (in two classifications) which meant not just two days, but three and made everything that much more crazy!  I would have posted more while I was gone, but the crazy schedule didn't allow me time to figure out why the heck my phone was not working properly for blogging. 

So, in the 4A bracket I had one team in the hunt for a state title.  AR is a somewhat inexperienced team with only one player that had state experience (possibly the best player the school has ever had!) but that didn't stop them.  They won two matches on day one (one of which was a marathon, heavy weight fight) and one that was a pretty easy match. 

Day two was semi-final/final day and it started off a little rocky.  AR lost to a team they had previously played (and lost to) twice.  The game was not the best played game but give credit to the other team...they came to play!    Then the consolation game (for 3rd place) was awesome!  They played much better, had more fun and entertained even me.  :-)


Day two for me was also day one for my second team, AMHS.  (see why that was crazy??)   AM came into the tournament looking for some hardware!    Their first game turned out to be against the eventual state champion....which as you know...means they lost.  That team is a very good team and unfortunately they had to be the first game out of the gate! 

Day two for AM started off much better!  Playing with emotion and intensity (which was a little lacking from day one) they won the first game then played game two against a team from their own league....a team they had beaten already.  But, that team came to play and won ending the hopes of a state trophy for the first time in school history. 

So, here are a few photos from the weekend.  I took over 1500 images and have not had time to edit them yet.  I am also working on something for each coach and don't want to spoil the surprise just yet so these images will have to do.

So, now that I have been gone for a better part of a week, I am way behind on my work....not to mention that I have over 1000 images to go through.

And, season two has now begun for sports photos which means there is no time to relax!

I can't complain!  It is better to be too busy, then not busy enough!!