Page 62 of Spin Serve

Aspen laughed a little and said, “Sleep well, Kendra.”

“Have a good day, Aspen.”

CHAPTER 21

Aspen hadn’t lied when she told people that her ankle was fine. It had been fine. But today, in one of the most important matches of her career, it was swollen and sore. While they couldn’t directly qualify for the Games with a win in this final, this tournament counted toward one of those seventeen spots, and if they came in second, they’d still look good. The only problem was that they needed to be the best US team of the tournament to all but guarantee one of those seventeen spots, and they had been placed on the opposite side of the bracket as one of the other US teams here. That team had made it through a tough international bracket and had managed, unexpectedly, to make it to the final, which meant that if Aspen and DJ lost against them, they’d end up with the most points toward qualification.

The team they were playing now was currently fourth in qualifying, with Aspen and DJ still sitting at number one and the number two and three teams out in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, so while a loss would mean this team would climb into the number two spot, they wouldn’t be able to climb all the way up and overtake Aspen and DJ. Losing wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but as she took the pass and tried to run up for the kill, she watched DJ hit it over in two and wondered if a loss was the safe bet for them.

Aspen wished she’d played indoor more than once in her life, and every time she thought about it, it was because she was injured. If she’d played indoor, a sub could come in off the bench to replace her, and she could get treatment and not risk the next match or tournament on a sore ankle. In beach, she had no backup, no sub, and they only had so many timeouts. Sure, they were allowed an injury timeout, which would give them a little more time to receive treatment, but there was nothing any trainer could do that would get her ankle back to being unswollen for the rest of the set.

“Damn it,” she muttered when they lost the point.

“Hey, we’re okay. Can you hang in there?” DJ asked.

“I’m trying, but it’s getting more swollen every play. I don’t know what’s going on. There’s nothing wrong with it. The doc cleared me. I iced it. I took the anti-inflammatories.”

“What do you want to do?” DJ asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Aspen, should we call it?”

“Forfeit?”

“Yes, should we forfeit so that we can get you taken care of and get home to have it looked at by your doctor?”

“I’ve never forfeited in my life, DJ.”

“I know. But we’re trying to make the Olympic team, Aspen. We can take the L today and still do that, but we can’t if you’re hurt and it gets worse out here.”

“We’ve got to play,” Aspen replied instead and nodded to the ref, who was glaring at them to get into position.

“Next point, I’m asking again,” DJ warned.

But Aspen was determined to at least get through the match. Even if they lost, she couldn’t forfeit. The other US team they were playing was good, but not better than them, so there was a slim chance that they could pull this off. Of course, the other team knew about Aspen’s injury, so they served and hit at her every time, trying to make her run all over the court in the same way Kendra had recommended they do against the Swedish team they’d beaten by using her strategy.

“Got it,” Aspen said and passed up to DJ, who hit it over on two again, and while the other team was ready, they still couldn’t get to where she’d placed the ball.

It was Aspen’s turn to serve, so she walked back to the line, and DJ turned to her.

“Stay up there,” Aspen ordered.

DJ shook her head but did as she was told. Aspen served the ball and moved into her position, taking her time because she could. When the other team went for their swing, DJ was there. She blocked it, but it tipped up and back. Aspen got to it and passed it over. DJ had to set her because of the weird angle, so Aspen hit a free ball over the net. That would save her a jump, and they could get ready to play defense again.

When the ball came back over, DJ pulled back instead of blocking it, moving into Aspen’s space a bit, and hit the pass with her two hands in front of her face, which was allowed. It looked funny, but Aspen knew her partner had done it to prevent Aspen from having to take the jump and swing. Aspen set her up and watched DJ kill the ball over the net and into the sand. They were down by two in the first set, but they could get those two back if they kept at this.

“I’m going to play back,” DJ told her. “Every play.”

“You can’t do that,” Aspen replied. “You’ve got to keep them guessing, at least. Stay up this play. I’ll get it.”

“Aspen–”

“I’ll get it, DJ.”

She didn’t. The ball hit the sand, and they were down by three. They lost the first set and managed to stay with them in the second set until the end when DJ’s block went out of bounds on set, match point, and they lost in two sets, which was something neither of them was accustomed to.

“Sit,” DJ said, pointing to the bench. “She needs the trainer,” she ordered to someone whom Aspen didn’t see, who must have been standing behind the bench.

---