Yesterday Was the Most Fun I’ve Ever Had at a High School Sporting Event

Yesterday, my cousin-in-law Trent played in his final home volleyball match of the season for the Cougars at Plainfield South. Mounds of shame on me for this being the first game I’ve seen, but I have to say, it was the single most fun high school sporting event I’ve ever been to!

The players were big, strong and skilled. I’ll tell you what…I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of some of those kills!

The vibe at volleyball matches, especially matches as closely contested as this one between South and Oswego, is electric. With every point that is scored, the players react with such raw emotion that spectators can’t help but mirror it. The fans were loud but polite, cheering for their team, not cheering against the other and keeping referee-directed comments to a minimum.

At one point deep into the third and decisive set, I was so into it that I was throwing my three-year-old son into the air whenever South would score a point. I even had people come up to me after the match telling me they were getting a bit nervous (don’t worry, I throw my kids in the air all the time…I got this!).

With my new found affinity for men’s volleyball, it reminds me that we have one of the best teams in the entire country in our backyard! The Lewis Flyers were in the NCAA D-I Final Four, beating USC before falling to top ranked Hawaii in the semis. If it this exciting at the high school level, I have to make it a point to get out to a Lewis match next season, fo sho!