Sweat dripping down my face
Dust covering the soles of my shoes
Making it hard to stay up while playing
The round, white volleyball spinning
Moving up and over the net
And then coming back with a certain grace

My labored breaths,
Sharp intakes, quick puffs of air out
Pain in my chest from not enough oxygen,
But taking in too much,
Cursing myself with hiccups
And more pangs of soreness from my torso

Limbs tightening
As my leg dip down
And spring my body up
Arms stretched towards the sky
And reaching out
Hoping to make contact

Soft cement ball slamming
Straight into my hands
That sent it spiraling down
Feet touch the hard floor
That bends beneath me
And let’s loose a groan
As the ball collides with it too

It felt like hours of playing
But it was just a minute
Only a minute long volley
My gasps for air are fast
As my air lacking body tries
To push out the excess air
And pull in the amazing air too

Hands fly up in the air
Silent roars out over the courts
Pure shock leaves us stunned
We won with a two point lead
We were 1st place gold
Now we qualified to enter
We were heading to the tournament
We were heading to States