AGHHH. -pulls at face-

Well... our season's over.

Our first round, we killed all the schools except for La Quinta (damn Aztecs... those ASS-tecs...), to whom we lost 8-10. 8-10!!! And I lost a set, too D: If I had won my set, we would have been tied; maybe we would've won...

Anyway, we did pretty badly after that. No, we didn't lose to Los Amigos or Rancho or Santiago, but we were all pretty crappy... I got swept by Los and only won one set at Santiago when I know I can do so much better... but at least I got revenge at Rancho by beating Victoria-- the JV League Singles champion from last year.

After those two was Bolsa. You know, I really enjoy playing Bolsa... not just 'cause they suck (no offense to them) but because they're just so damn funny xDDD I mean, Nadine from Rancho is pretty darn hilarious, but somehow, Bolsa girls are just so.... LOL, you know? xD They're so funny, especially their #1, Nancy. xD She was just goin' insane... Haha.

Next was LQ. We were determined to beat them this time. For them, they risked losing their undefeated #1 title. For us, the #1 title was on the line. We were definitely #2; none of the other schools came close.

So.... we lost to La Quinta... again. This time, I won a set :D I was up 4-0, but I won 7-6 (7-0) >_> Should've been like, 6-0 (a bagel at LQ? What a prize...), but I guess it wasn't meant to be or somethin'. I got killed by Delicious (#1; A.K.A. Ngan) but got three games off of Fabianne, who I previously lost to 0-6! :D I was pretty happy about that.

That marked the end of League.

Yesterday was League Finals. All day I was anxious for it; waiting for it. I knew I was going to play the defending champion Jennifer Hua (A.K.A. my cousin in-law... in-law?) but I was still hoping to get past the first round.

I think, in those three sets, I really played my heart out.

My first set, I was working so hard to get that one set advantage. If I had an entire set over her, she'd be discouranged. I was up 4-0 (again...) and ended up winning the set 6-4. I was so excited to win that first set; it was simply amazing.

On the second set, I was pretty pumped. I was just like, "HECK YEAH. I'm going to win!"

I ended up losing the other two sets 2-6, 1-6. =_=;;

I'm just really happy that I could get a set off of Jennifer again. That feeling was pretty good. The match took about two and a half hours; maybe I was just worn out from that first set or something. But I'm proud of my efforts.

And now, I can look forward to trying to beat LQ next year.

AGHH. -strangles self-

"Well, today... was not a very okay day."

That's how I started my team talk today. Everyone else seemed to be having an "okay" day; they could hit "okay", and their scores were "okay". Except me.

Today, our score against Los Amigos (haha, the Friends sure are friendly :D) was 15-3.

And guess who the 3 was.

Yep; got that right. Me. I lost all my sets today, which I shouldn't have done. I could have done so much better; I could have won one or two; maybe three sets. But no. I couldn't pull myself together and win my sets.

Well, yeah; I lost my second set 'cause I ran into the pole (hey, it hurt) trying to get a ball. I ended up losing the point, so I got pretty frustrated with myself.

I lost my last, though I knew I should have been able to beat her. Our score should have been 16-2, but it was my fault. I couldn't pull through and keep my head together, even though I know that would be a crucial part of my game now that we're in the second half of League.

Ngan from LQ is a highly-ranked player. She won a tournament in Vietnam before coming back to California to play for LQ. When she introduced herself to me, she tried to Americanize her name or something and it ended up sounding like "ngon". Just to be fun, I teased her and said, "'Ngon' as in 'do an ngon'?" =_=;; I mentioned it during my team talk on Tuesday, and now Coach and the Varsity team calls her "Delicious" xDD;; I felt kind of bad, but... -shrugs- 'Can't fix it now.

Tuesday is Santiago. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my head together and beat Debbie, and Jennifer, again.

-sigh- Not a very good week...

So... yesterday was our big match against La Quinta, the only other undefeated school (well, duh; someone always loses). And we lost, 8-10.

I felt so horrible because I knew I could have won my first set (I was up 4-1 but ended up losing 4-6 and got killed 0-6 in the next two), and that would have put is at 9-all, and the match would have been determined by games. I ended up losing my focus, and that cost us the match. To anyone in tennis who reads this: I'm really sorry for letting you guys down. I am really, really sorry.

And today... well, today was just a bad day. I invited the guy I like to the match yesterday because it really was important to me... but he didn't come. He was busy; I understand that... but I wanted to know if he likes me.

I spent all night worrying about how to ask him and ended up getting only 6 hours of sleep (I need 7 to function properly). The only thing I said for sure was that I was going to ask him today, between 2nd and 3rd, and that I wasn't going to chicken out.

I opened the garage this morning and saw it raining. Not a good omen, I thought to myself, but I'm following through with this, no matter what.

The entire day was a sleepy haze; I couldn't focus on anything (luckily, we didn't do anything today). But at the end of 2nd period, I was so jumpy I had trouble staying silent during our reading period-- and I couldn't even focus on my book. It one of was Anne McCaffrey's books, celebrated author and one of my idols, and I couldn't focus. I was so anxious and nervous, but I knew I needed the peace of mind.

And... well... I got flat-out rejected. =_=;; The good news is, I actually saw it coming. It didn't hurt all that much and it felt as if someone had lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders. Sure, it hurt, but I think it was worth it. I actually feel really at peace with myself right now. I can accept that he doesn't like me as truth, straight from his mouth, and I can deal with that. So there's not too much to be sad about.

I'm going to take this chance to forget him.

WE MURDEREEDDDDDD. :D

HELL YEAH. I was so pumped after our match against Bolsa today.

All throughout League, we've been hearing, "Bolsa sucks. You're gonna kill them." But today, we actually played them.

They weren't all that bad, actually. They were pretty good. Heck, their #1, Nancy, had a monster forehand. Their #1 doubles was also pretty good, too; also noteworthy.

But that didn't stop us from killing them 18-0!!!!!!

WHUT NAO. I SWEPT.

It's not the shoulda-coulda-woulda-but didn't thing at Santiago. I pulled through today and SWEPT, 6-1, 6-1, 7-5. I was so proud of myself. And I was proud of Christine and Aly, too! They were down 3-4, down a serve, and won 7-6 (7-3). They did so well.

Our doubles are still undefeated, as is Priscilla. Melissa has only lost one set, and I've only lost four. Eight wins, four losses. Hell, compared to Priscilla's 17-13 record last year, I'm doing pretty well. :D I'm feeling really great, as opposed to pre-season, when I was getting killed 6-0 every day.

Next is the biggest match of the first round: La Quinta. I'm so.... o_o;; Actually, I'm kind of passive. I heard they have a ranked freshman on their team, Fabian (I think). I think Priscilla can take her. I think our doubles can take theirs, too. I'm hoping to win more matches than I lose on Tuesday. Hopefully, I can sweep (HAHA at LQ? Good luck with that...). Hopefully, Doubles and Priscilla will remain undefeated after LQ.

I'm really hoping we'll be undefeated for Julie and Sharnen's senior year and win League. I want 2009 to be on the wall. I want Priscilla Tran, Melissa Le, or my name to be on the Singles Champion wall. I want Arlene Ho and Lindy Le, Julie Do and Sharnen Chorn, or Christine Nguyen and Alyssa Yoon to be on the Doubles Champion wall.

Hell. This year, we're going to make Harry do Gee.

RABID ASIAN LADIES!

'Kay. So seriously? Tet Trung Thu = most fun volunteering opportunities.

Who cares if we get run over by rabid Asian ladies trying to get free lanterns and go crazy from the annoying tune that the stupid light sticks play? It's freakin' AWESOME to volunteer at the Civic Center.

So I got to the Civic Center at 3, all excited 'cause hell-- this is my favorite place to go volunteer at. We did a bit of recon for an hour or so, to get comfortable with the hour, then spent the next three hours putting together the little Tet Trung Thu gift bags for the kids 12 and under. Each bag has a little lantern, a mooncake (with nuts D:<), and this freaky little light. It was like a little Christmas light, but when you turn it on, it plays this annoying tune that gets stuck in your head.

We had this gigantic box filled with those little lights. If you even jostled it, one would turn on and all the volunteers would groan. It was so annoying. xD But still, I think it was pretty fun.

Anywho, at 7:30, we finally handed out the gifts. It was amazing because we must have assembled at least three hundred bags... and even more so because it ALL disappeared by 8:10. xD It was scary.

I can't count the amount of times a Vietnamese lady came to me and said, "Oh, my daughter's in the car" or something like that. xD ANd once, a 6'1" guy with CAR KEYS around his neck came around, trying to get a bag for himself.

"... Dude, it's for people twelve and under," I pointed out.

"I'm twelve! I swear!" he cried.

I shooed him away. xD

But yeah. Rabid Asian ladies come around twice a year-- on Tet Trung Thu and Toys for Tots, which is coming up in December :D Can't wait!

"I'm sorry for hitting that nice shot that you couldn't return."

Haha. I know I already posted today, but heck. This is pretty fun.

So yesterday, I played sets with Mahina and Paula. I didn't get to finish either of them, but I was winning 4-0 for both :D

While I was rallying with Paula, she hit this topspin lob that hit the baseline and shot up higher... I couldn't return it. I heard Paula say, "Sorry!".

"Why are you saying sorry?! ARe you going to apologize every time you hit a nice shot?! 'Oh, sorry for hitting that nice shot that you couldn't return.' Yeah. That's nice." xD

Anyway, today's Tet Trung Thu :D The Autumn Moon Festival~! I think this is my favorite holiday of the year <3>

My favorite part of Tet Trung Thu is the volunteering I can do at the festival they have at the Westminster Civic Center. Last year, we (the Cadettes of troop 4194) assembled the gift bags and distributed them. There were cute little mooncake pigs <3>

Freakin' Margaret. xD

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to tonight. I hope they hand out the pretty paper lanterns this year, not the freaky fish-shaped ones like last year... -shudders- :D Tet Trung Thu <3

"WHAT THE CON HEO?!"

"That should not happen in the natural world." -Coach Lou

So, yes. We started League this week for tennis. And I'm #3 singles on Varsity, as a freshman :] Heck, it's not as impressive as Priscilla (#2 singles as a freshman, then #1 after Jennifer left and Arlene was injured) but it's still pretty darn awesome.

Monday was our second-to-last pre-season match against Western. I played as #1 singles, for Melissa and Priscilla played as #2 doubles. Mahina and Paula played as #2 and #3. I lost my first set to a girl who didn't seem to take tennis very seriously... all she did was slice the ball. I let it get to me, and I lost 1-6. Coach told me that it was mental weakness; the reason I lost to her.

I couldn't pull myself together against the #3, and lost 0-6. Again, it was because of mental weakness. THis time, Coach told me that it was because I couldn't let go. He told me to watch Paula. SHe had lost the first set, too, but was fighting to win her second set-- not like me, who practically gave it up. Somehow, watching and encouraging Paula made me feel a lot better (encouraging people does wonders for me o_O), and I beat the #2. I forgot the score, though.

And so, on our first League match against Los Amigos (THe Friends!), I played #3 again. I think I lost. I don't remember, haha. But I know I won one set, and that all doubles swept, Priscilla swept, and Melissa won two. THat means our team score was 15-3-- we got killed like that at Valencia. xD It felt really, really good. JV got a good score, too-- 13-5.

The day of our match on Thursday, I was literally quaking in my shoes. "HOMG. JENNIFER HUA. HOMG. DEBBIE." Jennifer Hua is my distant cousin (my uncle married her mom/dad's sister...? I forget) and was singles champion in our league last year. Debbie is my sister's childhood best friend. I used to go to her house every day during summer. She's really good, too; it's just that she's afraid of our #2 singles, Melissa Le, who somehow always smokes her... I totally think Debbie can beat Melissa.

I had to play Debbie first, even though she's #2 singles. Her coach didn't want her to play Melissa first, so she played as #3. I lost to her 3-6, but I actually didn't mind that much. SHe told me she was so proud of me. "You're on Varsity freshman year. And as a singles player, too! Your groundstrokes got a lot better since I last played with you." THat "last time" was during sumer, when I got 2-6 on her bad day. SHe also told me, "You're going to beat the #2. That's actually supposed to be my spot." In return, I told her that she could beat Melissa-- because I know she can-- and also to watch out for Priscilla.

I smoked the number two-- that is, I would have, if I hadn't been going insane all day xDD I kept forgetting to change hte scorecard (Coach had to point it out to me once) and I kept hitting funky, weird shots o_O;; But still, I was like, "Heck yeah."

I came over to Coach Lou and reported the score. "6-3. Okay. Just wondering, but why did you keep forgetting to change the scorecard?" he asked me.

"I'm going insane!" I crowed, throwing my arms around. I mentally slapped myself.

When Melissa finished her set with Jennifer, she came over and told me, "You can beat her. You can beat Jennifer Hua." And since I was going insane all day, I gave her a more insane-looking look than usual. (If that makes sense.)

But I really did beat her... o_o It seemed as if she was conflicted or something, or worried about something. It seemed like she didn't really want to play that day or something, 'cause I won 6-4.

During our team talk, Coach looked at us and said, "Today, we won 17-1."

Someone (I think Christine) asked, "Who was the one?"

"Sorry," I muttered.

He glanced at me, a small smirk on his face. "Next time we get 18-0, the Hos are paying for pizza." Then, on a more serious note, he talked about Jennifer and how she wasn't playing well. SHe got 6-0'ed by Priscilla and lost 2-6 against Melissain addition to 4-6 against me. Coach looked me in the eye and said, "That should not happen in the natural world. You should not be able to beat Jennifer Hua. But you did. Now, that says something about where she's at and how bad she's playingg, but it also says something about where you're at. Keep it up."

WHen I went up to talk about my matches, Coach comes up and says, "You know what this girl told me today? 'Coach, Ah'm goin' crazy!'!" He tried to imitate my arm-swapping thing.

The other girls laughed. I heard Arlene ask, "Why'd you tell him that, Sarah?!"

But yeah. I felt pretty good about those matches. :] We've gone up two out of ten steps, and I hope we can get to the very top this year!