Coach Copley exhales.
"Now… Last week we held Tryouts for new teammates and scouting, and out of the 112 that participated, only 2 were selected this year." Everyone looks up as the doors of the gym open. "Let's welcome to the team…" two figures step forward. "Emelio Alvaro" Emelio steps forward, grinning with short, curly, orange hair and brown eyes. Smirking at his short 5 foot 4 height.
"Sup" Coach Copley continues.
"And the other new member, Jaden Ramirez"
Kurai's eyes widened for a moment. Jaden stepped forward with a calm grin. His dark skin matches his long, wavy black hair. His black eyes look forward as he towers over Emelio at 6 foot 6.
Coach Copley smiles.
"Emelio Alvaro is a fresh High school graduate and played for LakeWood Technical High School's boys volleyball program, sporting Jersey number 1 in his senior year as team captain, and he was a middle on the team" Emelio nods like a golden retriever. "On the other hand, Jaden was prominent in his High School years as a canon of a reliable spiker who could emergency set if needed, and can even block if needed… before he went silent during college and found his way to our tryouts, overpowering everyone else who faced him" Jaden and Emelio rush towards Kurai. Kurai smirking and high fiving Jaden and Emelio.
"About time you two made it here" Emelio smiles brightly as Jaden chuckles.
"It was no biggy" Kurai smiles as Coach Copley claps again. Everyone turned to him.
"But you know what this means… The starting lineup is changing again… I'm changing it because I want to see how these two will fare in a game and their skills pairing well with Kurai's" the gym goes quiet as the screen flickers on.
"During last Month's Olympics tournament, our starting lineup consisted of Kurai, Sean, Jordan, Max, Kyle, and Tyler… which fared really well, but I'm going to be swapping out Jordan and Tyler for Emelio and Jaden… and depending on how they fare in our first match of the VNL against Poland, they may keep their spots, or they may not" Jordan grits his teeth. 'I WAS worthless during the Olympics then-' Tyler hits Jordan on the back.
"Stop that"
"Stop what?"
"Stop hating yourself, yes, we're off the starting lineup, but we can use this chance to grow unlike before" Jordan nods.
"Yeah, Okay"
Kurai fist bumps Jaden.
"Good to have you here, dude" Coach Copley claps again, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Here's the deal. Today we're working on our serves, that's our focus. Once our main practice and workouts are over, we'll hold a practice match so we can all get along and learn each others meshes, mainly on behalf of Jaden and Emelio… now, come one… hup to it!" he claps as everyone stands from their benches, turning to the 8 professional volleyball courts behind them.
--
Kurai tosses the ball, sprinting forward and jumping, the ball appearing on the court as he exhales. Emelio jumping a bit.
"Jeez, it's been so long since I've seen one of Kurai's serves!" Sean perks up.
"What? You've faced his serves before?" Emelio lifts his hands, waving them.
"Oh, no, no, no… I couldn't even… back in my Freshman year at LakeWood Tech, Kurai was one of the 4 senior players on the team, it was because of them I tasted victory at Nationals as a High School freshman… and I've strived for that glory since" Sean swallows some water.
"Hmm… interesting… and the other dude?" Emelio shrugs as Jaden ties his shoe strings.
"Not sure… maybe a college friend?"
Coach Copley steps forward.
"Practice match time, you guys… Sean, Daniel, Kyle… I want you to serve first, Kurai, you're with Emelio and Jaden on the receiving side. This'll be a short first to win 1 set game, so make it count!"
Kyle glances over.
"Why's Kurai with the rookies?" Copley smirks.
"Kurai's the central tower of this team, if they can't sync with him, then this is worthless" Kyle pauses.
"...Good point"
Kurai, Jaden, and Emelio stand across the net from Sean, Daniel, and Kyle. Coach Copley blows the whistle.
Sean tosses the ball high. Stepping forward, stretching out his penultimate and leaping high. Smashing the ball over the net. Kurai jumped back and brought the ball up softly. Emelio smirks.
"Oh, we're doing that!?" Emelio sprints towards the net, swinging his wings back. Suddenly flying above the bottom tape of the net. Sean and Daniel gritting their teeth. 'What's with that vertical!?' they jump to block as Emelio smiles brightly. Spinning midair, setting behind his back to Jaden.
Jaden exhales and runs forward, jumping out, then flying in front of the net, smashing the ball onto the court with no blockers. Landing with a smirk.
Team Kurai 1-0 Team Sean.
Coach Copley pauses, eyes wide as he grins.
Kyle freezing.
"That was SO unfair…"
Sean growls.
"He got us there…"
Kurai high fives Emelio then Jaden with a smirk.