April 24, 2005
by Lyndsay Shosho – Wow. Attempting to put into words how our team feels right now is like trying to catch a bird that is soaring in the sky. It is impossible. I will attempt to capture some of the emotion and energy that was poured onto the courts this weekend. Winning the ACC Championship today was incredible. It is an understatement to say that our team is flying high right now. I don’t think we could have asked for anything more this weekend nor have had any regrets.
We captured the title that nobody before us has captured in this program. That is something that will stick with us forever. We were on a mission this weekend and when you combine a group of eight girls together who are all willing to fight to the end, great things can happen. We definitely seized the moment this weekend. What made it even more memorable was the fact that we had the support of the Virginia guys (after our guys departed, of course), which is a big enough incentive to keep fighting.
We won the title this weekend because of a combined team effort, and a special congrats to Alison who earned ACC MVP. Man, we’re just so sweet.
Trailing 3-1 in the finals of the ACC championship isn’t a comfortable feeling, but nonetheless, we have trailed numerous times before. Already having experienced fighting back from behind, we all believed that winning was still possible.
When Dasha and Kelly leveled the match at 3-3, Alison was just entering her final set. I think all of us on the sideline had a pretty confident feeling that we were going to capture our first title today. Still, when Alison won the last point, we sprinted out onto the court only to send her into a state of shock. In the flash of a second, it was enough to send hundreds of people into sheer excitement and the other half into utter disappointment. We had captured the title and nobody can take that from us.
This has been a breakthrough year for us. It is not over yet and we have gained some confidence that will help propel us through the end of our season.
Thanks to all the fans who cheered us on this weekend. It felt like we were playing at home.
This weekend has been a great way to enter the NCAA tournament. Hopefully we will be able to host NCAAs in a couple of weeks so we can let some of our hometown crowd in on all of this excitement. Welcome to Atlanta where the players are ready to play. Hate it or love it, the underdog is on top.
