10:33 p.m.: 25-14 Hen Hud wins. The Sailors advance to the finals against Eden tomorrow at 2 p.m. as a chant of “We’re going to the ‘ship” breaks out amongst the Hen Hud crowd.

10:28 p.m.: The crowd has broken into a “Swertfager” chant. Now that’s appropriate. The coach is closing in on reaching her fourth straight state final.

10:26 p.m.: I just spent 10 minutes standing with a portion of the Hen Hud crowd. Quite a bunch.

The group never seems to stop cheering or singing, including doing a rendition of “I will follow you” from Sister Act. They certainly have been faithful following their team throughout the postseason.

Oh yeah, there is a game going on here. Hen Hud leads 17-7…

10:16 p.m.: The crowd started chanting “new computer, new computer” in honor of my IBM Thinkpad from circa 2001. No arguments here.

10:14 p.m.: Hen Hud wins game one 25-8. The Sailors are one game away from reaching the finals and playing Section 6’s Eden, which moved on earlier.

10:08 p.m.: 17-5 Hen Hud. Just some random thoughts on the Sailors’ crowd. Very, very impressive (And I’m not just writing that because they’ve chanted my name a few times today…).

It’s really great to see such school spirit once again. There are students with their faces, white sailor hats painted with players’ names, and even their chests painted to spell out Hen Hud. There are countless chants and songs that they have been doing. The K’s are hanging for every time Kami Nethersole, a.k.a. the K-Train racks up a kill. And yes, they are very, very loud.

I know this because a huge portion of this rowdy crowd has moved to stand right behind me. I keep hearing comments like you should write this down or did you get that. Honestly, there are too many rituals that this group of fans have come up with to mention though.

So win or lose, Hen Hud’s crowd is definitely victorious in my unofficial state volleyball fan contest.

10:06 p.m.: It’s been a long time, but Hen Hud is finally back in action. The Sailors are playing Section 2’s Ravena and have a 13-4 lead early on.

7:40 p.m.: What a dramatic turn of events from 20 minutes ago. Hen Hud just dominated a demoralized John Glenn team, 25-13 in the second game to win 2-0. The Sailors are now in the driver’s seat with a 2-2 record and having faced their two toughest opponents.

Up next (in who only knows how long), the Sailors will take on Section 2’s Ravena, who lost to Glenn 2-0 in the opening match of this wave of pool play.

I also want to point out two under-the-radar players who have performed well. Taylor Wickel and libero Kristina Pelaccio. Wickel had four kills and a block in this mini-match and Pelaccio had a rare but huge kill in the first game where she tipped the ball over the net that set up game point for the Sailors.

Okay, time to go scrounge for some food. I have a good amount of free time so I might take a little walk… if it’s not raining. Back with more updates later.

7:35 p.m.: Hen Hud has extended its lead to 18-11. Kami Nethersole has nine kills thus far in this mini-match (if that’s not a real term, I’m coining it).

7:30 p.m.: Right on cue, the Sailors have ripped off a 7-0 run to grab an 11-4 lead. Sareeta Nethersole has two kills and an ace thus far in this game.

7:25 p.m.: Hen Hud trails 7-5. The Sailors need to get back to playing that great defense they played down the stretch of game one.

7:20 p.m.: I hate to keep saying wow, but … wow. Hen Hud wins 29-27. The Sailors saved off five set points and now the pressure is on John Glenn. Neither team can afford a 2-0 loss to the hands of anyone other than Eden.

7:18 p.m.: Gut-wrenching is about the only way I can describe this one. Hen Hud leads 28-27 after saving five set points. We’ll see if they can pull this out.

7:10 p.m.: Hen Hud is rallying. Down 21-18, it’s now 21 all. Kami Nethersole just had an incredible block where she hung in the air and then swatted the ball down with her left hand.

7:02 p.m.: I don’t know if it’s a hangover from the Eden mini-match or not, but Hen Hud is struggling. The Sailors trail 14-9 and head coach Diane Swertfager just called timeout.

6:54 p.m.: We’re in the early stages of what will likely be an elimination match between Hen Hud and John Glenn.

6:35 p.m.: Eden wins 25-23. What an amazing two games. Hen Hud may be 0-2 but it proved it can hang with anyone. The Sailors need to regroup now. They have four more games left and they probably need to win all four to reach tomorrow’s final.

6:30 p.m.: We are tied at 23. Once again … wow.

6:25 p.m.: Eden has taken a 23-20 lead.

6:15 p.m.: Sorry for the delay in posting, but the play in this match has been absolutely spellbinding. Eden snuck out a 25-23 win in game one and the two teams are tied at 15 in game two.

Wow. What a match.

Hey everyone,

Just to give you an update, Hen Hud probably won’t play for another hour. Both AA and D went long in the first wave of pool play so we’re way behind schedule here.

The Sailors weren’t scheduled to play in the first time slot either, which is making for a longer wait.

When it does start, Hen Hud will be tested right away. The Sailors will play Section 6’s Eden and then Section 11’s John Glenn.

The teams all just came on the court for the opening ceremonies and let me just say that Eden has a player who might be the tallest girl I’ve ever seen on the high school level. Back with more later.