2021 FINAL TOURNAMENT - AVPNEXT CLEARWATER

Our final tournament, in a year that has felt like it has lasted 5, resulted in a 2nd place finish. The result really epitomizes the entire year. We had so many highs and lows of emotions. From winning the ATL AVP to losing our last AVPNext in which we were finally the #1 seed and too many emotions in between. All these waves of emotions can really take a toll on you without you realizing. So, when it came time to get up and go play in our 8th match of the weekend, my mind was telling me you can do it, but my body was telling me no (tweaked the famous lyrics a little – hope you read it as the song).

Let’s go back to the beginning of the trip. We started our traveling on Thursday since the lovely Trahans were going to RV us there like we did for the Atlanta AVP. (Mr. Buddy and Mrs. Jill, if you are reading this, we seriously cannot thank y’all enough for everything you have done. Y’all’s support means so so much to us.) We left that morning and headed to their condo in Orange Beach to break up the travel day. As we were sitting out on the balcony on a Thursday around 1:30pm, I looked at Taryn and said, “wow, what is our life? We are so lucky!”. Not many people can say that’s what they did on a weekday.

We woke up Friday morning and began our 7 hour and 30 min drive to Clearwater Beach, FL. Of course, we had to stop at Buc-cee’s. We got some breakfast and snacks for the trip. My food connoisseur self highly recommends the beast taco and the brisket taco and you can’t forget about the classic beaver tots. Wow, just writing about it is making me want it again. (we stopped at Buccee’s 3 times on the whole trip. Why not? It’s awesome – Buccee’s, want to sponsor us?!) The drive gave Taryn and I a lot of time to do some work. Work that includes planning our charity 4-man tournament that is taking place on December 5 (mark your calendars), answering emails, and finding a house in California. Mission accomplished, we officially booked a house in Hermosa Beach, California for a month so we will be out there training while it gets a little cold in the real LA. With all the work that we had it kind of made the drive go fast. Before we knew it, we pulled up the Sheraton Sand Key where we greeted but friends and family sitting in a circle having a couple drinks. Our families and friends sure know how to have a good time at our tournaments. Many laughs can probably be heard by everyone in the hotels. We were hungry so we walked over to one of favorite restaurants in Clearwater, Columbia. It is a fantastic Cuban restaurant. I got the chicken salteado and again I highly recommend it - delicious!

Gameday was upon us. We had not competed in a double’s tournament for quite some time. It had been so long that I had to ask Taryn what pajamas I wear before we play. Little superstition that I started a couple years ago… before every season I set pajamas that I wear for each day of the tournament. I know it’s weird, but I know people have weirder superstitions so idc  Like I said earlier, we were ranked #1 going into the tournament which meant the #32 & #33 teams had to play each other to see who would play us. We wanted to catch some of that so we got out to the courts around 8:15am. We saw a couple points and then started our warmup process for the 9am game. It was a little chilly but weather was better than I expected it to be. The sand on the other hand, not good. It had escaped my mind that coming to Clearwater meant that we would be playing shelly indoor volleyball. My body is hating me for it today. About 3 points into our first match my knee was already bleeding. It was after that where I had told Taryn I would not be diving much. No ball is worth that much. We were able to come out with a victory and move onto round 2.

Second match of the day went like the first and we were scheduled to play our college teammate Toni Rodriguez and familiar opponent from UCLA Savvy Simo. They are a very powerful team, so match that with concrete and they are a force to be reckoned with. And they indeed wrecked us. We needed that. We knew losing that match meant that we would probably see them again in the semis. We wanted that rematch and we were going to make that happen.

Losing that match made us play another game that evening against some familiar faces, the VanGunst twins. Feel like we have played them in just about every tournament that we have played in. We came out victorious and were onto Sunday. It was time to shower and eat. It was also the Saturday night before Halloween day so you know what that means with this group… a quiet evening. Just kidding, the message went out in the group text, “7:45 in the bar/restaurant with your costume.” The group decided to dress in their best 80s punk rock attire, and boy did some people perform. From what Taryn and I heard and also the pictures that we saw the next morning, it seemed like everyone had a fun night to say the least. Would never had guessed that.

Sunday morning we would face another familiar face, Kahlee York. Our training buddy and former LSU teammate. There was a play during that game in which after the conclusion Taryn says, “I feel like we are back at practice.” It definitely felt like that. Kahlee digging all my shots and then shooting jumbos over my head. Yep, felt like I was right back at practice. Kahlee and her partner Katie Horton had the lead the entire second set, but we were able to make a couple plays right at the end and finish the game in two. One more to get to the rematch.

We had about an hour break in between each game that day. A big difference between the AVP’s and AVPNext’s is the amount of games you play. In an AVP you maybe play 3 in a day. In a AVPNext playing 3 in a day is a win. We were playing a team with some heavy arms so I knew if we could get them out of that we could come out victorious. Taryn blocking balls like she always does helped do just that and we were able to move on. Rematch time!

We were excited for some redemption or at least to make it more of a game and that we did. It was a full on battle. Side out after side out. No one was going to give the game to the other team. They were going to have to earn it. You knew just earning one point would be the difference so every dig was so important to put the ball away and capitalize. We were able to do that one more time than they were and squeak out the win 21-19 & 29-27.

My body was not ready for the finals. I exerted all of my mental and physical engery to pull out the semifinal win. I think Taryn and I had both used up all of our mental and physical energy for the year and just did not have anything left for that final game. Yes, the other team of Corinne Quiggle and Sarah Schermhorn played well, but we did not help ourselves out… we ran out of gas. For me (Kristen) especially, my gas tank was completely empty. I just could not get myself going. Made uncharacteristic errors like hitting high lines out by feet not inches. You cannot make those mistakes especially in the finals and expect to win. That we did not and unfortunately, we have to end the season on a sour note. However, if you know Taryn and I it is possibly the best thing that could happen. Giving us more inspiration to strive and get better is probably not good for other teams. We are very driven and refuse to lose. Also, we learn so much more after losing. It brings about great conversations that we are able to have. Tip for all juniors out there… having open communication with your partner is very important. Talk to each other! Express your opinions and emotions. May not be good in the moment but will definitely be better in the long run!! I promise.

By: Kristen Nuss