One for the ages...

We lost last night...

McKay's high school volleyball team played in a second round CIF match...

Our opponent??? Loyola High School of LA, who has the distinct title of being the #1 high school volleyball team in the nation...the papers that morning predicted that Dana Hills High would lose the match to Loyola in 3 straight games...in other words, we were going to be a non issue for their quest as CIF champions. Well they did get one thing right...Loyola did win the match...but other than that...they discovered that they were going to have to play tough and maybe have a little luck to get that win.
As for us, the whole family (minus Greg who was in Texas for work:(), we decided that we wanted to be at the match...for us we knew regardless of the outcome, that it would either be McKay's final high school match or a stunning upset...we did not want to miss it...and we were soooo glad that we did not.

Final score: Loyola 3, Dana Hills 2, game scores went like this, 23-25 (us), 25-18 (them), 25-19(them), 29-31 (us), 23-21 (them)...as you can see the last two games in particular were soooo close and long...in the 5th game of a match, the winner is first to 15 but you need to win by 2...

Los Angeles skyline as we saw it last night

Some of the highlights that I will remember:

*Driving to Los Angeles with Kenya, Karch, Sandon, Kendall and Katie (McKay's girlfriend)
*Stopping for some Fat Burger in LA

*Our first look at Loyola's beautiful campus...the buildings were reminiscent of east coast schools...(Loyola is an all boys private hs)...we thought it was very cool, especially in the middle of LA

*Winning the first game and seeing the shock of the opposing team fans faces

*Watching Kendall cheer without any inhibitions whatsoever...this is a must see for all :).

*Watching McKay and team playing with heart and not giving up ever...

*Watching Kenya and Katie join Kendall in an awesome display of school spirit...

*Hearing the boys joining in with others in support for the team...

*After a win by Dana Hills seeing many cell phones from Dana fans up in the air taking photos of the scoreboard...wishing I had a photo of that!

*The celebration that took place by all of us after the extra long 4th game to send the match into a 5th deciding game.

*Standing the whole time for the final 12 points that were scored in the 5th game sometimes holding our breath and other times chanting 'go dolphins go'...

*Watching after the loss as the two teams shook hands, and when the opposing players came to McKay instead of a handshake there was a grip and a hug exchanged...

*Had a 'mommy' moment as I watched my son lose with grace and give respect back to Loyola.

*Driving home with all, including McKay and finding contentment from knowing we just experienced the best that comes from high school sports and we experienced it all together...

cute, crazy, cheering girls

game 5: sooo close!

proud of their brother, he had 23 kills

It is hard to put into words or give justice to the feelings that were in the gymnasium last night, but I will give it a try...attitude, loud cheers, rowdy cheers, good old fashion exchanges with the opposing team fans of 'take that', happiness, laughter, chants, high fives, disappointments, the best in school spirit...of course a win would have made the night the very best...but I am still so glad I was part of the fun and the memory that will be remembered for awhile.

***more photos and highlights of both Karch and McKay's high school season I will post after their banquet.