by Jake Maddox
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1
The Jump Serve
Chapter 2
Fear Factor
Chapter 3
Final Game
Chapter 4
Recovery
Chapter 5
New Teammates
Chapter 6
Not the Same
Chapter 7
The Problem Grows
Chapter 8
Laura’s Return
CHAPTER 1
The Jump Serve
Ella held the ball carefully in her hands. She knew the time was right.
Her team was leading 24–23. Ella knew that this serve could be the final point of the game.
The winning serve here would mean a trip to the championship for Ella’s volleyball team, the Rockets.
Ella got ready for the serve.
“Come on, El, let it rip!” cried Laura, Ella’s best friend.
Ella looked over at her. Laura, the team’s best setter, stood in the middle of the court, cheering her teammate on.
“If you’re not going to do it now, when are you?” Laura yelled.
Ella knew what Laura was talking about. A jump serve.
Ella had a powerful serve from a standing position. But she had also been practicing a jump serve.
Standing back from the end line, she would run up, flip the ball into the air, leap, and power the ball over the net like a bullet. When the serve was on target, it was difficult to stop. It could decide a game easily.
Very few girls her age could do a jump serve. The other team might not be ready to handle it. That would work in Ella’s team’s favor.
There was only one problem. Ella knew her serve wasn’t perfect yet.
If it didn’t work, they might not get the point. And then they wouldn’t win.
Laura still wanted her friend to try it. Laura yelled, “Come on, Ella!”
Ella took a deep breath. She tried to turn off the noise of the crowd and forget the stares on her. She just focused on the way the volleyball felt in her hands.
Finally, she was ready. She stepped back from the line.
Thud. Thud. She bounced the ball twice.
Then she held it out in front of her in her left hand. She stared it down.
Then she pulled it back in and bounced it twice more.
Thud. Thud.
Finally, Ella held it out in front of her again. She always started a serve that way. She thought it brought her luck.
She stepped forward and tossed the ball into the air. Then she leaped up and pounded the ball with the palm of her right hand.
The ball whizzed across the net. It barely cleared the tape. It was headed for the floor, and it was staying in bounds!
A player from the other team ran across the floor. She dove for the spot the ball was targeting, but she was too late.
It was a great try, but the ball fell off the ends of her fingers and rolled across the floor.
The Rockets had won!
Ella leaped into the air.
Laura and the rest of her teammates rushed to her. They jumped up and down, hugging and giving each other high fives.
“We’re going to the championship match!” Laura yelled.
Ella beamed with pride.
She had played very well, but she was especially proud that her new skill, the jump serve, had won the match.
As they walked off the court, the girls noticed that their rivals, the Lakers, had been watching from the stands.
The Rockets would play the Lakers in the championship match the next day.
Two players from the Lakers stepped forward. “Enjoy it while you can,” one of them said. “Tomorrow, we’re definitely going to beat you.”
CHAPTER 2
Fear Factor
Ella and Laura laughed off the threat. They both had played against the Lakers girls many times before, and it was always like that.
The Lakers were always trying to scare the other teams. If they weren’t whispering mean things about the players on the other team, they were loudly telling people that they were going to beat them.
Usually, they were right.
The Lakers were the best volleyball team in the area. They hardly ever lost. When they did, it was usually a shock.
The Lakers even traveled outside the area for tournaments. They played in regional and sometimes even national events.
The Rockets were a younger team. They hadn’t been playing together as long. They didn’t have the same winning record as the Lakers.
But the program was getting better every year. This year, the Rockets had started to beat some of the top teams.
The match against the Lakers would be the Rockets’ first tournament championship match so far that season. Ella and Laura were thrilled, but nervous.
The Rockets had played in several other tournaments. They had come close to going to the championship match a couple of times, but they had not made it.
Ella and Laura were excited that they were playing in the finals at a tournament. But they knew their chances weren’t great against the Lakers.
* * *
The next morning, the Rockets gathered on the court. They began their warm-up for the match.
The Rockets had warm-up routines that they did before each match, but they were nothing at all like the routines that the Lakers did before a match. The Lakers’ warm-up routines were famous through the entire league.
Watching the Lakers warm up before a match was like watching an army get ready for battle. The players yelled cheers and chanted the whole time.
The routine got the Lakers ready to play, and it made other teams nervous. The Rockets, watching, could tell that they were in for a difficult match.
When the match finally started, the Rockets were pretty shaky. The Lakers quickly won the first game of the match without any trouble.
The Rockets felt horrible afterward. During the break between games, the Rockets’ coach tried to settle the upset players down.
“Girls, you’re acting like someone just kicked your dog,” Coach Stiggle said.
She smiled at the players. “It’s not that serious. It’s just a game. Now go out there and have fun. Do the best you can.”
That made the girls feel more relaxed. They headed back out to the court feeling braver and more confident.
The second game was better. Laura did a great job as the setter. She passed to Ella for kill after kill.
It was a hard game. Finally, in the end, the Rockets were able to pull out the victory.
Ella served for the winning point, but this time, she held off on the jump serve. She wanted to save that for the third game.
CHAPTER 3
Final Game
The Lakers started serving at the beginning of the third and final game of the championship match. They quickly scored five points in a row. That gave them the early lead.
The Rockets players tried to not get too disappointed. After all, the game wasn’t over yet. They finally took the serve back when Laura set the ball for Ella, who spiked it for a point.
That got the Rockets on the scoreboard. They finally felt like they really had a good chance to compete for the championship title at the tournament. There was no reason they couldn’t win the game if they played their hearts out.
Both Ella and Laura were at the top of their games. They were both playing incredibly well that day. And even more importantly, they were playing really well together.
As the setter, Laura’s job was to feed the ball to the team’s hitters. The hitters would leap and try to spike the ball for kills.
Being the setter was a great job for Laura. She wasn’t nearly as tall as the other girls, so she wouldn’t work well as a hitter.
Ella was tall, and she c
ould jump really high. She was perfect for her role as a hitter. Like Laura, she had practiced a lot to improve her skills.
Ella was quickly becoming one of the best hitters in the league. It felt great to have her hard work paying off.
Laura and Ella were best friends. They practiced a lot together, and that helped them on the court.
Laura knew exactly where Ella was going to be and exactly how to set the ball to her. Ella knew how to time her leaps to meet Laura’s sets in the right place. They made a great team.
During the third game of the match, Ella and Laura were pretty sure that the Lakers were a better team than they were.
The Rockets were having trouble taking the lead. Every time they tied the score, the Lakers would get the next point. The Lakers would get three or four points ahead.
Then the Rockets would work their way back into the match and tie the score.
It kept going like that for the whole game. Each team would get a few points, and then the other team would catch up.
Near the end of the third and final game, the Lakers led 24–22. It was their turn to serve.
Laura took her position near the net. She got ready for the serve.
Once the serve was on their side of the court, Laura would try to play it to Ella. Then Ella would spike it. That could keep the game alive.
Laura bounced a little on the balls of her feet. She waited for the serve. But before the serve came, Laura heard one of the Lakers players call out to her.
“I hope you guys had fun,” the girl said, “because it all ends here.” It was the same girl who had teased Laura and Ella the day before.
Laura kept quiet. It wasn’t worth arguing with the girl. She knew the girl was just trying to make her nervous.
Soon, the serve came. Carrie, another girl on the Rockets, kept the ball alive.
Then Laura moved into position. She set the ball toward the net, where Ella would get to it.
Ella ran over. She pounded the ball to the ground on the Lakers’ side of the court.
The score was 24–23. The Rockets had the serve.
It was Carrie’s turn to serve. She powered the ball over the net.
The Lakers returned it. Then Carrie sent the ball in Laura’s direction.
Laura knew that it was their chance. A good set and spike could tie the game. Then the Rockets would have a real chance to win.
But the ball was a little high for Laura, and off to one side. Still, she jumped up. She knew what she had to do. She needed to get the set up toward Ella.
Laura got her fingertips on the ball, but she wasn’t in the right place. She couldn’t control its path. She tried, but the ball didn’t move the way she wanted it to.
The ball moved toward the net. Ella ran to try to keep it in play.
Just as Ella reached the ball, she heard Laura cry out.
Ella tapped the ball and it landed out of bounds on the other side of the floor.
Laura crumpled to the ground in pain.
CHAPTER 4
Recovery
The game was over.
The Lakers had won.
The Lakers players jumped up and screamed and cheered. The Rockets girls all looked sad. They stood around the court trying not to show their disappointment.
Ella didn’t care that they’d lost. She just cared about Laura. She rushed to Laura’s side.
Laura clutched her knee. She wasn’t crying, but she looked like she might start any second.
Ella hugged her friend. “You’ll be okay, Laura,” she told her.
Ella and Coach Stiggle helped Laura get off the court. They sat her down on the bench. Coach Stiggle went to call Laura’s parents.
While the rest of the girls went to shake hands with the Lakers, Ella stayed with Laura on the team bench.
The Lakers players went through the line. Then two of them walked over to Ella and Laura.
“It’s too bad you girls are such bad losers,” one of the girls said. “You can’t even shake hands and congratulate us?”
“She’s hurt,” Ella said. “She can’t stand up.” She looked around for Coach Stiggle, but she was on the other side of the court talking on a cell phone.
“If you say so,” the other girl said. “It looks to me like she’s a bad loser, though,” she added. Her friend laughed. Then they turned and walked away.
* * *
Later that day, things got even worse. Laura’s doctor shook his head when he saw her injury.
“I’m sorry, Laura,” he told her. “You’ve torn some ligaments in your leg. This is going to take a while to heal.”
“I’ll be able to play for the rest of the season, right?” Laura asked nervously. “I mean, this won’t keep me off the court?”
The doctor sighed. “You will play again,” he told her. “But you’ll have to have an operation first, and then go through physical therapy to make sure your knee heals properly.”
“So … when will I be able to play?” Laura asked. Tears were starting to fill her eyes. She had a bad feeling about this.
The doctor sighed again. He looked upset. “Well, Laura,” he began, “if you work hard, you will be able to play again by the middle of next year’s volleyball season.”
Laura burst into tears for the second time that day.
When she got home from the doctor’s office, she called Ella to tell her the bad news.
“I tore up my knee pretty bad,” Laura said. “The doctor said that I’m not going to be able to play for a while.”
A tear rolled down Laura’s cheek. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she said.
“Don’t worry, Laura,” Ella said. “You’ll be back on the court before you know it.”
* * *
The season soon came to an end.
Laura had an operation to repair her knee. Then she began physical therapy.
Three times a week, she went to a special clinic, where she learned exercises that would help her knee heal. She had to perform the exercises at home, too.
All winter long, she worked hard to get her knee back in shape to play.
Laura’s doctors told her she wouldn’t be able to play until the middle of the next season. The Rockets would have to start the season without her.
At first, that was okay with Laura, because she knew she would be back to play soon. She planned to go to practices and help out, but not play. That meant at least she’d be able to hang out with Ella.
But as the season drew nearer, Laura got sad. She wanted to be able to play, not just sit on the sidelines and help their coach.
One night just before the season started, Ella called Laura.
“I have a great idea,” Ella said. “Seriously, you’re going to love it.”
Laura laughed. “Of course you have a great idea,” she said.
Ella ignored her. “Since you’re going to come to practice, you could help me work on my spikes,” she said happily.
Laura was confused. What did Ella mean? “Ella, the doctors said I can’t play,” she reminded her friend. “How am I supposed to help you?”
Ella laughed. “You can just stand on the court and pass balls to me at first. But as your knee gets better, you can do more! What do you think? I can’t stand to think of a season where we don’t play together!”
Laura smiled. Finally, she was excited about the volleyball season again. “I think it’s a great idea,” Laura replied.
* * *
On the first night of practice, Laura’s mom dropped her and Ella off at the gym.
They strolled up to the doors and swung them open.
When they looked inside, they couldn’t believe their eyes. There, wearing Rockets warm-ups over their practice uniforms, were those two girls from the Lakers.
Ella and Laura didn’t know what to say. They looked at each other, shocked. Then they walked over to Coach Stiggle.
“Um, Coach?” Laura said. “What are those girls doing here?”
“Yeah,” Ella added, “and
why are they wearing our colors?”
“Simple,” Coach Stiggle said, putting down her clipboard. She smiled. “They’re Rockets now.”
CHAPTER 5
New Teammates
Ella’s athletic bag hit the floor.
Laura’s mouth dropped open wide.
“What?” they said together.
“Girls, we get new players on our teams every year,” Coach Stiggle said. She put her hands on her hips and frowned. “You’ve never reacted like this before,” she added.
“We’ve never had Lakers move to our school before,” Laura muttered.
Coach Stiggle shook her head. “Laura, they’re Rockets now. Gretchen and Beth have both moved into our district this school year. It’s not that big of a deal. And these girls are really good players. They can help us get to the next level.”
She looked at Ella and Laura and said, “I know you’ll both be welcoming. That’s what I expect from my team — especially from two of my best players.”
“Okay,” Ella said quietly.
Ella sat down and started to put her volleyball shoes on. Laura did the same. She had to be careful not to stretch her knee too far.
They talked very quietly. “Can you believe this?” Laura whispered. “How are we going to play with these girls?”
“I don’t know,” Ella said, “but it doesn’t look like we have much choice. I guess all we can really do is try to be good teammates.”
Before Laura could respond, the two new girls walked over to them. They had changed into their Rockets practice clothes. Ella thought it was strange to see their rivals wearing the same thing she and her teammates were.
“Is there a problem, girls?” one of them said.
Ella and Laura looked at each other. Then Ella stood up. She held out her hand. “Nope,” she said quickly. “No problem. We’re just surprised to see you here, that’s all.” Ella was trying her best to be friendly. It wasn’t easy.
“Well, we are here,” the taller girl said, flipping her hair back. “I’m Gretchen. This is Beth. I hope you’re ready to play this game the right way now. We’re here to help the Rockets win some championships.”