Raise the bar

Coming back from Hong Kong we are now very clear on what we need to work on. The teams were easy, and from watching, we were obviously above their level but once on the court we were all different players, we started playing THEIR game, trailing behind, giving easy points, standing and watching the ball land in our faces. Coach was disappointed at our games even at the ones we won, we were not focusing and not going for every ball, during the finals it was all about the mental game. From the way we played, I could see that we gave up too easily, were always in a hurry to get the rally over, so we can put down the pressure on our shoulders, however that's not the way to enjoy volleyball, more so to win! Before we correct anything we need to change our attitude.
I can see that everyone was doing better in practice yesterday, when all the pressure has gone away, there were no more holding back, but just good old fun subic volleyball. However we need to bring this spirit into our games, no more throwing of tantrums(specifically myself), every fault is the teams fault. We need to function as a team.
Our game with major major, a very very experienced and strong team, today was awfully played, we lost all 5 sets, which in my opinion we could've won atleast 2 sets. A habit of our team is, once we start doing good, we lose focus, and get playful, and when we do bad, we become quiet and hold back a lot, therefore not being able to execute plays. We need to build this court confidence like what we have in practice, and we need to build consistency. It's time we raise the bar, and play to our potential. To achieve this we need to have the mindset to improve to excel.
One thing i realized is that my role ain't the same as last year's, and this is something i need to adjust to. As captain and main spiker, I need to do my job by being my consistent, become reliable and a team motivator. This weeks practice is crucial for us getting out of this slump we've fell into, we need to hurry up and clean up our act before ISAC comes.