ashleyrosey05
panel 2
It’s one moment I’ll remember for a lifetime. It’s the third and final set, the score is 16-15, we were up and needed just one point to close the game. Both teams were just released from the timeout and I separated myself from my team, jogging back to the end-line of the court. I turn, and the ref bounces the ball to me. Not only was I now holding a volleyball in my hands, but I was holding the fate of my volleyball career on my shoulders. A missed serve, and my career could end within 3 points, or an ace and we go on to break the streak of one of the longest rivalries in area history. Either way, the pressure was on. The music cut and there I stood, my eyes locked on the ball in my hands, the ref waiting for me to look up. I don’t think she thought I would ever be ready, and neither did I. You really can’t prepare yourself for a moment like this until you’re there, but it was now or never. As I looked up, the ref locked eyes with me and as her whistle blew, silence. Dead silence. The countdown started. Eight… seven… six… I look at my coach and she gives me the sign to serve: zone 5, deep right corner. As I look back down and begin to bounce the ball, all I can hear is my pounding heart. Three seconds left, and I stand up straight, ball in hand and take the step forward. Now it was literally out of my hands.
Through this visual narrative I’ve chosen to tell, I’m reliving a moment of my past that I won’t forget. Many athletes can relate to this situation, being in charge of the game winning or game losing point, and hearing the eruption as the silence breaks around them when it’s over. For those who don’t play sports, the purpose of this narrative is to depict to them what it’s like to have the pressure of your career, your team, fans, and yourself against you in potentially of the most important moments of your life. The moment is visualized through the perspective of myself broken down step by step, the way it seemed to move in slow motion when I experienced it in real life.
panel 2
It’s one moment I’ll remember for a lifetime. It’s the third and final set, the score is 16-15, we were up and needed just one point to close the game. Both teams were just released from the timeout and I separated myself from my team, jogging back to the end-line of the court. I turn, and the ref bounces the ball to me. Not only was I now holding a volleyball in my hands, but I was holding the fate of my volleyball career on my shoulders. A missed serve, and my career could end within 3 points, or an ace and we go on to break the streak of one of the longest rivalries in area history. Either way, the pressure was on. The music cut and there I stood, my eyes locked on the ball in my hands, the ref waiting for me to look up. I don’t think she thought I would ever be ready, and neither did I. You really can’t prepare yourself for a moment like this until you’re there, but it was now or never. As I looked up, the ref locked eyes with me and as her whistle blew, silence. Dead silence. The countdown started. Eight… seven… six… I look at my coach and she gives me the sign to serve: zone 5, deep right corner. As I look back down and begin to bounce the ball, all I can hear is my pounding heart. Three seconds left, and I stand up straight, ball in hand and take the step forward. Now it was literally out of my hands.
Through this visual narrative I’ve chosen to tell, I’m reliving a moment of my past that I won’t forget. Many athletes can relate to this situation, being in charge of the game winning or game losing point, and hearing the eruption as the silence breaks around them when it’s over. For those who don’t play sports, the purpose of this narrative is to depict to them what it’s like to have the pressure of your career, your team, fans, and yourself against you in potentially of the most important moments of your life. The moment is visualized through the perspective of myself broken down step by step, the way it seemed to move in slow motion when I experienced it in real life.