The SJA Jeju Middle School Girls Volleyball team traveled to Busan this past weekend to participate in the Korean International Schools Activity Conference (KISAC) tournament. Our players had been training hard since December and were excited to put their skills to the test. Only one player from among our fifteen participants had any volleyball experience before joining the team this year, so there were some jitters as well. Our two team goals for the tournament were to have fun and improve our skills with every game. 

SJA1 came into the Saturday playoff bracket as the number three seed. We had given all the teams we faced on Friday good matches and were ready to play them again. After defeating SJA2 in an intra-school match, SJA1 faced KIS3 in the semi-finals. In a very exciting match, SJA1 took two of three nail-biting sets from the KIS3 squad. In the championship game, SJA1 faced a tough KIS2 team, but at this point, our girls were on fire. Cheering each other on after every point, aggressively attacking the ball, shouting out reminders about defensive positions, and diving after balls inches off the floor, these girls had figured out how to play as a squad. KIS2 played well, but we took them in two straight sets, never relinquishing control of the match. 

Irene Yang was our captain and big hitter. She led our team in kills, intimidating the other teams with her ability to swing from anywhere on the court. Ann Moon was our veteran setter. Her consistency both on defense and in serving was crucial to our success. So Young Choi and Gemma Rossi both demonstrated tenacity and tactics with their solid net play. Olivia Kim and Olivia Lee provided a passing and impressive range on defense. Olivia Lee's five-point service streak in our championship game was clutch. Olivia Kim was always shouting both words of encouragement and reminders about positioning and posture on the court. Rachel Yang often played the libero (defensive specialist) position, running on and off to sub for players in the back row. She quickly picked up the rhythm to jump up from the bench, run onto the court and get into her "campfire" defensive platform. Rin Lee was all over the floor, diving for balls many assumed were already down and somehow keeping the play alive. 

Division champs in our first KISAC experience! Congratulations, girls!