Over the Net (2 page)

Allie felt relieved, but she still felt nervous. “I love volleyball,” she said quietly.

“I know you do,” Coach Anderson said. She went on, “Like I was saying, I'd be happy to help you with hitting. But I think I know someone else who is much more qualified to give you the help you want.”

Coach Anderson looked at Nikki and raised her eyebrows. “How about it, Nikki?” the coach asked. “I've always been a setter. What Allie really needs is another hitter to help her. Do you want to be her coach?”

Nikki smiled at Allie. “I would love to!” she said brightly.

“Great!” said Coach. “Well, maybe we can get started this weekend. Can you both be here tomorrow morning at 10?”

“Yeah, I can,” Nikki said.

Allie nodded. “Me too,” she said.

Coach Anderson smiled. “Then it's settled,” she said. “I'll see you both here tomorrow morning at 10.”

Chapter 4

Allie usually slept in on Saturdays. This Saturday was different.

Allie woke up a lot earlier than she normally would have. She was nervous, but she was surprised to realize that she was really looking forward to practicing with Nikki.

Nikki and Coach were already in the gym when Allie's mom dropped her off.

“Good morning, Allie!” said Nikki when Allie walked in. “Are you ready to get to work?”

“Yeah,” said Allie. “Teach me everything you know.”

Nikki laughed. “Whoa,” she said. “Let's just start with spiking, okay?”

“Sounds great,” Allie said. She already felt more relaxed.

“Why don't we run a few laps to get warmed up?” Nikki suggested. “Then we'll start working on hitting.”

Coach Anderson smiled. “I think you're in good hands, Allie,” she said. “If you guys need me, I'll be in my office.”

“Okay!” Allie said. Coach Anderson walked across the gym to her office. Allie turned to Nikki.

“Let's get started,” Nikki said.

First, Allie and Nikki ran three laps around the gym. Then they stretched out their arms and shoulders.

“Okay,” Nikki said when they were warmed up. “Why don't you show me how you normally start out when you're hitting?”

“Why?” Allie asked. “I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it right.”

“Well, let's see,” Nikki said.

Allie showed Nikki how she did her approach when she was hitting. She started behind the ten-foot line, stepped forward with her left foot, took another step with her right foot, and jumped forward a little toward the net. Her right arm was bent at the elbow.

After Nikki watched Allie, she said, “Well, I can see a few places where you can improve your approach.”

“Like what?” Allie asked.

“Well, you're right-handed, right?” Nikki began.

Allie nodded. Nikki went on, “That means you should start with your right foot. First, take two really hard, fast steps. Your third step, with your right foot, should be in the air, kind of like a lay-up in basketball. Does that make sense?”

Allie followed Nikki's direction. It did make sense. In fact, Allie had never heard the approach explained that way before. She was learning already!

“You're a really good blocker, right?” Nikki asked.

Allie smiled. “Yeah,” she said. “I really like to block. It's fun.”

“Great!” exclaimed Nikki. “Hitting isn't that much different than blocking. To be a good hitter, you need to jump straight up in the air, just like blocking. The most important part is to keep your eyes on the ball the whole time.”

“I can do that,” said Allie.

By the time practice was over, Allie was tired and sweaty. Her head was swimming with everything Nikki had told her, but she really felt like she had gotten better.

“So, same time next week?” Nikki said, smiling.

“That would be great,” Allie said. “See you then!”

Chapter 5

On Monday, Allie was nervous for that night's volleyball match. But she was excited to try out the new techniques she'd learned. The school day went by quickly.

After school, she hung out with Kate until the other team's bus arrived. Then she headed into the locker room to get ready.

Allie was nervous. Still, she was trying to act normal.

After all, she loved playing volleyball. Games were usually really fun. As long as the hitting part went well, she'd be fine.

At first, everything was great. All of Allie's serves went over the net. In the second game of the match, she made two good blocks. But then the players rotated. That brought Allie to her turn at the net. It was her turn to spike.

“Allie!” Lizzie called. “Your ball.”

Allie looked up. The ball was speeding toward her.

Allie froze. Her mind went completely blank. She couldn't remember anything that Nikki had taught her at Saturday's practice. It seemed like time was standing still.

I can't do it
, she thought.

She looked up just in time to see the ball coming down toward her. It was too late.

She tried to jump straight up, like Nikki had said, but she took her eyes off the ball. When she hit it, she hit it straight into the net.

Her team had already used their three hits, so the other team got a point. All of Allie's confidence from the beginning of the game had disappeared, just like the things she'd learned from Nikki.

A minute later, Coach stood up, signaled to the referee for a substitution, and took Allie out of the game.

The team always rotated players. Allie knew it was just her turn to come out, but she couldn't help feeling like it was also because she had really messed up.

She walked to the bench and sat down. As she looked under the bench for her water bottle, she heard Coach Anderson call, “Allie!”

“Yeah?” Allie replied.

“Come talk to me for a minute,” said Coach Anderson. Allie bent to pick up her water bottle and walked back down the bench to sit next to Coach.

“What's up, Coach?” asked Allie. Her voice shook. She was afraid she was going to get into trouble for her mistake.

“I wanted to make sure you knew that I only took you out because it was your turn,” said Coach. “You looked upset.”

“Yeah,” replied Allie. She looked down at the floor. “I know. I'm just upset with myself. I thought I did so well at practice.”

“First of all, you did do well at practice with Nikki. And secondly, everyone makes mistakes, Allie,” Coach Anderson said. “One practice with Nikki isn't going to fix everything. Nikki's been playing for years. But keep up your hard work. It'll come.” Coach smiled. She gave Allie a pat on the back.

Allie nodded and took a drink from her water bottle. She wanted to believe that Coach Anderson was right. But she wasn't so sure.

Chapter 6

Allie didn't talk to Coach Anderson about her spiking for the rest of the week. She felt too embarrassed and disappointed in herself.

She just wanted to pretend that Monday's match hadn't happened. The less Allie had to think about it, the better she seemed to play. But whenever Allie remembered what had happened, she played really badly.

On Saturday morning, Allie met Nikki at school again.

“Let's run a few laps again, Allie,” said Nikki. “Then we'll get right to work.”

“Sounds good, Coach Nikki,” said Allie. “I'm ready to get started.”

After they ran laps and stretched, Nikki said, “So, Allie, Coach Anderson told me what happened at your match on Monday.”

Allie felt her face heat up. “She did?” Allie asked.

“Yeah. And I wanted to tell you, it's not a big deal,” said Nikki.

“Yes it is,” Allie said. “Why? I froze up and hit the ball right into the net. I let the other team score.”

Nikki smiled at Allie. “I know that feeling,” Nikki said. “Believe me, I know. But we only had one practice together. And it was only one point.”

“I guess,” Allie said. She started to feel a little bit better.

“Besides,” continued Nikki. “You won the match, right? Coach said you had some awesome blocks. She also said that you served really well.”

“She did? Cool,” Allie said. Then she frowned. “I just wish I hadn't made that mistake.”

“I make mistakes all the time,” Nikki said. “Everyone does. The key is not to let one mistake ruin the rest of your game. You just have to let it go and get your mind back on the next play.”

“Really?” Allie asked. “Even when it's a really bad mistake?”

“Yes,” Nikki said firmly. “Everyone has their ups and downs. It's part of playing the game. Now, let's run through your approach a few times, and then we'll start hitting.”

Allie was quiet as they started working on her approach. For the second Saturday in a row, what Nikki had said made sense. And for the second Saturday in a row, Allie felt more confident in herself.

* * *

The next match was on Tuesday afternoon. Just like she had at the match the week before, Allie started to feel nervous when she realized that it was her turn to spike.

The more she worried about letting down her teammates and disappointing her coach, the worse she felt. All of the confidence Allie had gotten during practice with Nikki was gone.

Lizzie called, “Allie!”

Allie looked up. The ball was headed toward her.

Just like Nikki had taught her, Allie took three steps, jumped, and swung. But at the very last second, she closed her eyes. The ball fell to the floor right next to her.

The girls from the other team cheered and laughed. “Someone's scared of the ball!” one of the girls said.

Allie's teammates patted her on the back. “Don't worry about it,” Lizzie said. “You'll get the next one.”

Allie felt like she was going to cry. She looked over at Coach Anderson, who was sitting on the bench.

Coach gave her a kind look, stood up, and motioned to the official for a substitution.

Chapter 7

That Saturday was Nikki and Allie's last practice together. Allie's team was playing their last match of the season on Tuesday.

The varsity team was getting ready for the state volleyball tournament. That meant Nikki would have to practice with her own team on Saturdays.

Nikki and Allie began practice. First, they stretched out their shoulders.

As they stretched, Nikki said, “I don't think my varsity Saturday practices are going to be as much fun as these.” She glanced at Allie and smiled.

Allie didn't smile back. “At least at those practices you'll actually be doing some good,” she said.

“What do you mean?” asked Nikki, frowning. “Aren't our practices helping you? You always do so great when we're here. I really think you've improved a lot!”

“I know,” said Allie. “This has helped me a lot. When it's just us, I do great. But then when it's time to hit in a real match, I don't know.” She paused and bit her lip. Then she said quietly, “When I'm playing for real, I just sort of freeze up, and I can't remember anything you've taught me.”