By: Makenzie Dowdy, 4th Grade, Quill Reporter
In P.E. in the second quarter, we are playing volleyball. It is really fun, but pretty hard. Usually, we exercise before we start and sometimes after. Our normal stage exercises are knee taps, 3 dots, where you have to switch feet on every side, push ups, squats and more. For running we normally do sprinting, side shuffle, karaoke, the same thing as 3 dots but walking and sideways, etc.
Our teacher, Mrs. McGorman, is a really cool teacher and has fun games for us to play every day when we come. To get our hands in position and ready to start the game, Mrs. McGorman says, “Pancake, pancake, syrup, syrup,” and while we say it, we use our hands and stack them and fold our thumbs over. We always get to use this every time we play.
In volleyball you need at least 6 people on each team, but since we have only 13 people we normally have 6 people on 1 team and 7 on the other. We always rotate when it's our turn to serve again, and we all get to take a turn serving to make it fair.
We can serve underhand, which is where you hold the ball and hit it out of your hand, or overhand where you throw the ball up in the air and hit above your head. We can also jump up and smack the ball down. That is called spike and is done so when the ball goes over the net, it is hard for the other team to hit it back, and your team gets to serve again. If someone does hit it back and you or your teammate don't hit it over the net, then the other team gets a point and gets to serve.
Sometimes volleyball may seem frustrating and hard, but if you keep trying then you'll get better and better. I sometimes can't even get the ball over the net myself and get pretty mad because I feel frustrated. Honestly, I learn many lessons everyday. One of the most important ones is to never give up and keep trying. Remember, when you have a problem in any sport, don't get frustrated. Just ask for help, so then you will get better. Maybe when you get older, you will be a pro.
We had two tournaments, one with the lower school and one with the upper school. The lower house tournament was really fun to watch. Lewis won vs Chesterton, and the next day Tolkien won against Sproul. On Friday they played the finals, and LEWIS WON! It was such a good game! The next week, the older kids played their tournament, and it was awesome because they were going back and forth for so long. I thought in one of the rallies that the ball was going to fall, and no one would hit it. But someone made the best comeback and slid under the ball, and the ball bounced on him, allowing his teammate to hit it over the net! The first two days I didn't stay long, but the third and last game between Tolkien and Chesterton was exciting, so I stayed for that game. CHESTERTON won!! I was happy for Chesterton.
Before I sign off, did you know that volleyball was made in 1895 by William Morgan and was inspired by nuk’em?
