Chapter 3
The next afternoon, practice was terrible again. Allie practiced hitting, but she couldn’t get anything over the net.
Just as she was starting to think she’d never be more embarrassed, she heard a familiar voice. “Come on, Allie! You can do it!” someone yelled.
Allie’s stomach dropped when she realized who was yelling. It was Nikki, Allie’s favorite varsity volleyball player.
Nikki was a junior in high school. She was the best hitter on the varsity team — maybe in the whole state.
Allie had been to all of the varsity team’s home matches. She’d watched Nikki hit the ball straight down to the floor over and over again. Nikki was amazing.
So when Allie was messing up every single hit of her own, Nikki was the last person Allie wanted to be watching. She felt her cheeks burning.
Luckily, just then, Coach Anderson finally blew her whistle. She called the team in for the end-of-practice huddle.
“Great work today, girls,” said Coach Anderson. “Have a good weekend. Remember, our match on Monday is at home. See you then!”
Everyone started to head to the locker room, but Allie hung back. Then she walked across the gym to Coach Anderson’s office. She knocked on the half-open door.
“Come in!” called Coach Anderson.
Allie pushed the door open. “Hey, Allie!” Coach Anderson said. “What’s up?”
Allie looked down at the floor. Standing in the doorway, she quietly said, “Coach, I was wondering if you could help me with my hitting. I really want to play on the freshman team next year, and I’m afraid I won’t make the team if I can’t learn to spike.”
She looked up, hoping to see Coach Anderson’s reaction. To her surprise, she saw Nikki sitting in a chair against the wall. Coach Anderson smiled at Allie.
“Oh!” exclaimed Allie. “I didn’t know you were busy. I’m really sorry!” She started to back out of the office. “I’ll just talk to you next week,” she added.
“Wait, Allie! I’m not busy,” exclaimed Coach. “Nikki’s just here visiting.”
“I had to bring some stuff down from the varsity coach,” explained Nikki. “You know, for summer league sign-ups and stuff.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Allie. She smiled and tried to stop feeling embarrassed.
“To answer your question, Allie, I would be more than happy to help you with your hitting,” said Coach Anderson. “I am very proud of you for asking for help. And I’m very happy that you want to keep playing next year.” She paused and looked at Allie.
Allie felt relieved, but she still felt nervous. “I love volleyball,” she said quietly.
“I know you do,” Coach Anderson said. She went on, “Like I was saying, I’d be happy to help you with hitting. But I think I know someone else who is much more qualified to give you the help you want.”
Coach Anderson looked at Nikki and raised her eyebrows. “How about it, Nikki?” the coach asked. “I’ve always been a setter. What Allie really needs is another hitter to help her. Do you want to be her coach?”
Nikki smiled at Allie. “I would love to!” she said brightly.
“Great!” said Coach. “Well, maybe we can get started this weekend. Can you both be here tomorrow morning at 10?”
“Yeah, I can,” Nikki said.
Allie nodded. “Me too,” she said.
Coach Anderson smiled. “Then it’s settled,” she said. “I’ll see you both here tomorrow morning at 10.”