The day goes on and the whole team meets at MCA for 12:00. Everyone is excited, yet sad because this game is the last game we will all play together. We gather in the Duplantis Gym and we do our hitting lines, which are never fun, and then we warm up our arms and pepper, which is a typical start to our practices. After we do play a little, we head into G-1 and watch a movie to push us and make us even more motivated. After the movie, we are all even more pumped than before and we are ready to win. We go through our name tag process and become acclimated with the opposing team’s players to try and understand how they play. Once we finish, we watch our inspirational videos, which is a ritual for our team. Once we are ready to go, we put our uniforms on and pile into the new, white MCA bus. This time is the first time anyone has every ridden in this new bus, which is special for us. We jam out on the bus to our favorite songs that we always listen 

to, which excites us even more to play this game. Once we arrive at the Pontchatrain Center, we climb out of the bus and run in because the weather is quite cold. Once we are in, we go in our corner and do our usual warm ups. This warm up is the best warm up any of us have ever had because we are just beaming with excitement about playing this game. We finish our warm ups and head on to the court. Upon entering the court, our opposing team, St. Joseph’s Academy, is already there doing their warm up rituals. I could cut the tension with a knife because every one of us in the Pontchatrain Center has the same goal, which is to win this game. We begin our pepper warm up and then we hear the whistle to summon the captains. The referee now calls us for our five minutes on the net. We do our hitting lines and we do them well. Next, we hear the whistle to bring us back to our benches. With every whistle, my stomach lurches because the beginning of the game just keeps inching closer and closer. We set up on the court and the down ref checks our lineup as he also does with the other team. It is time. The moment we have been waiting for is finally here and we are ready. We have been training all year for this game and we are ready to give all we have to win. The game starts with a serve and from that point on, we dominate. The first set is intense, and we come out on top with a score of 25-23. We are all pumped because we just won the first set and then we start the second set. We take the second set quite easily with a score of 25-17. Then the third set comes. This set is the most important set because we know that if we win this set, we are state champions and St. Joe knows that if they lose, they are done, so both teams are prepared for a fight. We know that this team will not go down easy, but they know that we want this win, and we want this win badly. The third set starts and we start out ahead 
and they can’t catch us. Then the end comes near and they start creeping up and the score keeps inching closer and closer. Finally, the score is 25-24 and if we score this next point, we are state champions. Kristen serves the ball and St. Joe pops it up and puts the ball back over the net with a nice swing. Kellie pops the ball up with an amazing dig and Jill sets Katie up and Katie returns with a nice kill. St. Joe pops the ball up and it goes straight to target, but then their setter makes an error that may cost them the game when she dumps the ball over and Kristen pops it up straight to target. Jill sets the ball to Katie and Katie slams the ball down and St. Joe shanks the ball. Ball game. It’s done, we have just won the state championship with a score of 26-24! We all jump off of the bench and running on the court to meet our team in the giant dog pile. We are all crying and sweating and everyone is ecstatic. The whole place is screaming and I could barely hear my own thoughts. All I know is that our team is victorious and we have earned it. We finally stand up and shake St. Joe’s hands. Katie is awarded the MVP award and then we do the MCA fight song with our fans, which I am sure was the most spirited anyone has ever been while doing the fight song. After we finish with the awards and we are given our  Louisiana shaped LHSAA gold state medals. I stare at this medal in amazement as it symbolizes all of the hard work and dedication that is put into this amazing team at every practice, and every game. This team is my family and I will never forget that.