Chapter Two

A New Level

The next day, Asiyah and her older brother, Rad, walked to the town rec center. That’s where the Lakeville Panthers travel team was having its tryout.

“Come on, Asiyah,” Rad said. “You don’t want to be late for tryouts.”

Asiyah sighed and walked faster. “I’m not totally sure the travel team is even right for me,” she told her brother.

“It could be really great,” Rad said. “You know how much I love my travel soccer team. It’s tough work, but it’s worth it.”

Soon they reached the rec center. Rad opened the door for his sister. They could hear the coach talking in the gym.

“Oh no, I am late!” Asiyah exclaimed.

Rad laughed. “Good luck, Asiyah!” he yelled as his sister rushed inside.

Asiyah scanned the gym and found Lucy sitting on the floor. Asiyah hurried over and plopped down next to her friend.

“I’m so glad you decided to come!” Lucy whispered.

Asiyah made a goofy face, and Lucy giggled quietly.

“You have to stop being so funny, or we’ll get kicked out of tryouts!” Lucy said.

Asiyah smiled. “Fine, I’ll stop. For now!” she whispered back.

They listened as Coach Elise talked. But soon Asiyah was looking around.

“Hey, Lucy! It’s Shivani, Rachel, and Jessica from our old team,” Asiyah whispered. She waved to her friends.

“We need to pay attention,” Lucy said.

“Oh, right. Sorry!” Asiyah replied. She turned back to the coach.

“Players on this team rely on each other,” Coach Elise said. “They push themselves because they want the team to succeed.”

Asiyah sat up straighter. She still wasn’t sure about travel volleyball, but the coach did make it sound exciting.

After Coach Elise finished her talk, she asked the girls to come to the net. “I’m going to hit a ball over,” she said. “Tip, bump, or spike it back.”

Asiyah was the first to go. As the ball came, she jumped high. She brought her hand down for the spike. But she hit the side of the ball. It dropped softly over the net.

“Try again,” Coach told her.

This time, Asiyah was able to hit the ball a little harder. But it still fell weakly toward the sidelines. I’ll have to do better than that! she thought.

Lucy was next. She was shorter than Asiyah. When she jumped, she didn’t go as high, but she smacked the ball deep into the court.

After each girl had a few turns, Coach Elise blew her whistle. “Next, let’s return some serves.”

The girls lined up behind Asiyah in the back of the court. The coach served the ball.

Whoosh! The ball zoomed over the net.

Asiyah lunged for it. She put her hands together and bumped the ball into the air— then she landed on the floor with a splat!

“Yikes! That’s the fastest ball I’ve ever seen,” Asiyah told Lucy as she got back in line. “That serve twisted me into a pretzel!”

Lucy smiled. “You handled it pretty well, though.”

Asiyah watched as her friends from the rec team stepped up. Shivani, Rachel, and Jessica easily returned Coach Elise’s serves. Soon Asiyah got used to the speed too. On her third turn, she bumped it back—without doing a face plant.

By the time the tryout was done, Asiyah was tired and sore. She and Lucy gathered their things and started walking home.

“Phew! That was a lot of volleyball!” Asiyah exclaimed.

“Yeah, those drills were tough,” Lucy said.

“I was kind of awkward at the beginning,” Asiyah added. “But it felt awesome once I got the hang of returning Coach’s serves.”

“I think you have a really good chance of making the team,” Lucy said.

“I know you will. You were great, like always!” Asiyah said.

“Well, we’ll find out tomorrow,” Lucy replied. “I can’t wait until Coach Elise posts the list!”

Do I want my name to be on the roster? Asiyah thought as they walked. It could be fun. But I might not be good enough. And it might be too much work!