The game started at si Aldo ang may hawak ng bola. Drinible niya ito hanggang side nila. He passed it to Keith. Si Keith naman ay pumipilit kumawala sa katapat niya.
Hindi siya nag matigas at agad na umikot para ipasa kay Ayer. Nasa loob si Ayer, he ran to the ring and jumped to shoot it.
“Woooohh!! Ayer.” Sigaw nila Blanca at ipinupokpok ang bote.
Ivo’s under the ring waiting for every rebound he can get. Sa tuwing may makukuha siya, agad niya itong pinapasa kay Aldo.
Aldo passes the ball to Earl. Earl is alone on the three point line. He immediately jumps and shoots the ball.
“Tres by Rossi!” Sigaw ng Commentator
Nag wala naman ng pagka todo todo ang mga audience. Earl looked at us at nag flying kiss while jogging on the side.
“Gaya gaya!” Sigaw sa kanya ni Rave and we continued to cheer for them.
The 2nd quarter ended and they’re all resting on the bench. I can see that Brice is talking to them, maybe they’re discussing the game.
Their game resumed and I could already feel that my throat was sore.
“Blanca, do you have an extra bottle? Ayaw ko na sumigaw ang sakit na ng lalamunan ko.” Tinanong ko siya habang gigil na hinahampas ang bote.
Lumingon siya sakin. “Wala na eh, wala kabang tubigan?”
Nag liwanag ang mukha ko nang maalala na binigyan nga pala ko ni Keith ng water bottle. Kinuha ko iyon sa bag at nakitang puno pa ito ng tubig.
Their opponent took a break kaya nasa bench na sila. I took this opportunity to call his name.
“Keith!” I shouted. Hindi na kasing lakas kanina dahil ang sakit na talaga ng lalamunan ko.
He looked at me so I raised the water ball. I opened my mouth at tinapat ang bottle. He nodded so I mouthed thank you.
I drank the water and asked for Blanca’s help para maubos. The game resumed and I felt excited because of the water bottle I’m holding.
Thanks to Keith and Ivo’s rebound, laging nasa team namin ang bola. Thanks to Aldo’s passing, hindi kaagad naagaw ang bola and lalo na sa points na pinapasok ni Earl at Ayer.
They all scored pero mas lamang ang dalawa. We clapped our hands at pinaghahampas ang bote.
They won the game. Natawa pa ako nang makitang ang higpit ng hawak ko sa bote.
“For emergency daw. Well, a sore throat is an emergency.” I whispered to myself and shrugged.
We have a volleyball game kalaban din ang Beta, if we win this game. Alpha na ang makakalaban namin.
“Go Aiby!”
“Go Blanca hampasin mo!”
I heard their cheers all the way from here. Partida malayo ang nakuha nilang pwesto dahil paalis na rin sila
“Asra!” I called her. She immediately rushed near the net and tossed the ball for Deborah.
Our opponent received it and spiked it to our side. They targeted our left side where Deborah landed.
“Ella!” We shouted her name dahil nakita namin siyang nag dive para mareceive ang bola.
Blanca kneeled and sent the ball higher. “Twilla!” Tawag ni Blanca.
Twilla jumped to spike the ball pero nasalo ito muli. Their receive is stable kaya nakatoss na naman ng maganda ang setter nila.
There’s a 3 spiker rushing in at binantayan nila ang dalawa. I moved to the side na pwedeng puntahan ng 3rd spiker.
And just as I expected. Siya ang pumalo kaya nareceive ko.
“What a save by Flammia!” Sigaw ng commentator.
Asra tosses it for Ely. Ely took 2 steps and jumped for the ball. I could see that she poured all the energy she had because of her swing.
Our opponent didn’t touch the ball.
“The winner is….. Echo!!” Sigaw ng commentator at onti lang nag cheer para samin.
Tumingin ako kung nasaan ang boys pero wala na sila. I was panting heavily while both my hands were on my knees.
The girls hugged me.
“Nice receive Aiby!” Bati sakin ni Asra.
Inakbayan ni Twill si Asra. “Nice toss, Asra.”
“Toss lang yon, si Ella nga nag dive eh.” Tumingin kaming lahat kay Ella na tahimik lang na nakatingin samin.
Ely cleared her throat. “Maliit na bagay.” She said using Ella’s tone of voice.
Nagtawanan naman kaming lahat at napailing na lang samin si Ella.
“Let’s go? Laban ng boys.” Singit samin ni Rave and we agreed to it.
Palapit pa lang kami sa tennis court and we could already here the screams at syempre ang mga bote nila Ayer.
After taking a turn, we saw Ivo and Ayer standing up na hinahampas ang bote. Yung iba naman ay nakaupo at pumapalpak lang.
They saw us. “Musta, panalo?” Tanong samin ni Ivo.
We nodded at tamad na lumapit sa kanila.
“Upo kayo.” Inalis ni Ayer ang mga bag nila sa bench para makaupo kami. We didn’t waste any second at umupo na kaming lahat.
Napatingin ako kay Graig at Claud na pawis na pawis ng nakababad sa araw. Our tennis court is outdoor.
Graig tosses the ball to the air at pinalo ito. Lumapit siya sa pumwesto sa likuran ni Claud. Their opponent sent back the ball pero binabalik ito ni Graig.
I saw their opponent slowly moving to the side at pinalo ang bola. Luckily, Claud is there. He intercepted it at binagsak sa kabilang side ang bola.
15 minutes have passed at nakapwesto na sila Twilla and Deborah sa side nila. Kalaban nila ang beta and if they win their next opponent is Alpha. We called for their names, cheered them and prayed for their victory.
I watched them play while they were fighting for every point. I saw how their reactions and reflexes became dull. The fatigue they have earlier is slowly eating them up.
It urges us to shout more and cheer more. They're already gasping for air. Deborah keeps moving around trying to intercept their opponents.
We won against Beta. Thankfully, God is also on our side today and I hope it will stay for the rest of the week.