Love Lives and Lies

Spring Sophomore Year- 1

Chapter 25

With volleyball season being over, Clarissa, Lizzy, and I are getting a little stir crazy sitting around the dorm all the time. We hear from a mutual friend that the school was starting up a men's volleyball club team and figured we'd go check it out. The tryouts were supposed to be taking place in the fieldhouse around five at night.

"Do you think any of the guys will be hot?" Clarissa asks as we walk over to the athletic complex. She and Jeff had ended things over winter break and I guess she's ready to get back out there.

"They're tall and athletic, they will absolutely be hot," I throw in my two cents.

"Well you can look all you want, Ava, but you have yourself a man. Save them for everyone else," Lizzy cackles.

"Look who's talking," I jokingly shove Lizzy. She's still dating her boyfriend from back home.

We arrive at the fieldhouse around four forty five and see the guys all getting ready to warm up. We head over to the one who looks like he's in charge and introduce ourselves.

"Hey, what can I help you girls with?"

"We were actually hoping we could help you," Clarissa says. "We play for the girls' team here and were wondering if you guys could use a few managers. We could help coach you all a little and help out in practices."

The guy's eyes light up, "That would be awesome! We have a lot of raw talent here, but not a lot of background in volleyball knowledge. Would you be able to help out with the tryout today?"

"That's why we're here!" Lizzy chimes in while taking off her jacket.

"Great, I'll go tell the guys and then we can do some introductions."

We stand around getting ourselves ready when the head guy calls us over. The guys are all standing in a circle and we join in the empty spaces. There's probably about twenty guys here and most of them tower over me. I'm not used to being around so many people taller than me in one place. It's kind of nice.

"Hey guys, these are going to be our new managers. I figured I would have us introduce ourselves before we get started. I'm Frank, I'm a junior and a business major."

He looks to Clarissa next expectantly.

"I'm Clarissa, I'm a sophomore and a biochemistry major."

"I'm Lizzy, I'm a sophomore and a biology major.

"I'm Ava, I'm also a sophomore and an education major."

The guys go around in a circle introducing themselves as well. There's no way I'll remember all their names, but it was nice of Frank to do this for us.

We run the guys through a few simple drills so Frank can get a good idea of who would be a good fit for the team. Some guys are absolute standout volleyball players, but I can see what Frank said about raw talent. There's a guy here who is apparently a nationally ranked high jumper who wants to do something fun in the off season. He has an incredible vertical and if we could just get his timing down on his approach, he'd be an amazing addition to the team. A few other guys stand out as back row players or setters, and by the end, we think we have a good list together of who is going to make the team.

Frank calls out the names of the guys who make the final roster, and the rest of them leave the gym. We all huddle up again to have a post-tryout meeting. Frank introduces the practice schedule and a list of tournaments they'd be going to over the next couple months. He tells the guys to get the dates in their calendars and to let him know if they wouldn't be able to make anything. He goes over a few more important details before setting everyone loose to go home.