Stepping Up pg.18 Viking Tries

viking tries: PICNIC GAMES PICNIC GAMES

text by ELIZABETH FETTER, ANIKA CHANG, and HAILEY BECK design by SOFIA LEVA

This issue, Viking tried family friendly picnic games. We joined hands to dissipate our normally competitive and aggressive sport mentalities to give three picnic sports, cornhole, volleyball, and spikeball, a chance.

cornhole toss tournament

Photos by Anika Chang

TREY & HILLARY VS CAmeron & Jackson

As summer approaches, and the weather warms, the grass becomes a little greener and the sky a little bluer. People shyly venture out of their hermit shells and into the wide world of the outdoors. This itch to go outside hasn’t passed over our Viking staff, who spent a period outdoors soaking up the sun and playing various picnic games. Here we partook in a variety of family-friendly practical, yet fun, activities that are perfect for the warm weather. Viking tried cornhole, Spikeball, and volleyball, among other picnic games, and rated them based on fun, convenience, and inclusivity. The first and arguably most popular game played by Viking staff was cornhole. Though a seemingly simple game as initially observed, cornhole is actually a more complex game of strategy than one would expect. Cornhole begins with two teams. Viking played a doubles game of cornhole, with a total of four players, two people on each team. The two members of each team mirror each other on opposite boards. Viking teams consisted of junior Hillary Studdert and sophomore Trey Collins, juniors Cameron Toland and Jackson Martin, juniors Ivan Ijzerman and Caleb Wong, and junior Owen Bittinger and senior Madhu Ramkumar. To start, all eight beanbags, four blue and four red in this scenario start on one side. Three points are awarded to a team if they make their bag into the hole; one point is awarded to a team if their bag makes it into the face of their board; no points are awarded if the bag doesn’t make it onto the board or touches the ground first. Once each team throws their four bags, the final points for the round are calculated. Each team’s points cancel out. If the red team scores five points from making one bag in the hole and two points from scoring two bags on the board, and the blue team scores three points from making three bags on the board, the red team gains two final points since the opposite team’s points cancel out three of red’s. For the first Viking match, we saw Studdert and Collins facing off against Toland and Martin. Here, they toss four bean bags at the opposite board, trying (and often failing) to get the beanbag in the hole. The clear favorite of the Viking staff was the Studdert-Collins duo. They decimated the other team, winning 21-6. “It was a hard, tough loss,” Martin said. “It hurt to get beat by such a wide margin, especially because I’m on the basketball team and Cameron pitches for softball.” As Toland and Martin dejectedly slouched off the court to a round of polite applause by onlookers, the next round of hopeful champions “stepped up to the plate;” Izjerman and guest star,

junior Phela Durosinmi. They were ready; they had practiced and perfected their technique; they had their pre-game warmup and rituals down to a science; they were ready. Or, so they thought. Sadly, this dynamic duo was not ready for the inexplicable natural skill of superstar Studdert and cornhole champion Collins. Not only did Collins and StudVOLLEYBALL

dert obliterate opponents, but they did it in style. Collin’s underhand double flip and Studdert’s behind-the-back ringer helped their team to the victory. After crushing yet another team (sorry Ivan and Phela, better luck next time), both teams sauntered off the court and the crowd moved on to another—more evenly matched—game.

For this, volleyball was the perfect target. It was a smaller-than regulation court, but the fans didn’t seem to mind. The energy was high, but unfortunately, the ball was often not. The players were all seniors: Sebastian Chancellor, Hailey Beck, and Anika Chang. They are, to say the least, not the most (ahem) skilled. Analysts reviewing the game speculate that SPIKEBALL

the rough game was a ploy: the key is to make future competitors underestimate the team so that they can obliterate them in future games. To the untrained eye, however—based on the serving, hitting, setting, and passing technique—the obvious conclusion is that these players are simply not built for volleyball. The score, as the ball rarely made it off the ground, let alone over the net, has been nullified and we hope that they work hard on their skills for next year.

“Even though I did not have much experience going into it, it made me respect the hard work and practice that all the Paly volleyball players have to put in to be as good as they are,” Chancellor said.

Despite this disappointing volleyball play, fans were amped up. The spirits, like the bird in the clear blue sky, were soaring. The laughter, like the bees buzzing on the flowers, was constant. After the last play on the volleyball court, the crowd moved on to the third and final game of the day: the long-awaited spike ball.

“The energy is always so high,” senior fan Sofia Leva said. “Being able to watch the action-packed game gets me pumped.”

Here, we had some star athletes. First up: senior Josh Donaker. Varsity baseball pitcher. Arm made of pure muscle and fast-twitch tendons, perfect for aiming killer serves onto the net and swinging lighting-fast attacks. Paired with Chancellor (yes, the same Chancellor that struggled in volleyball. For Donaker’s sake let’s hope the smaller ball helps with the hand-eye coordination). Chancellor is a starting basketball point guard. His specialty is facilitating the offense and setting up plays for the rest of his team. This skill combined with the wicked arm of Donaker sets up the team for neareast victory. Or, so the audience would

assume. “I’m not a regular Spikeball player but I never shy away from the plate (or net) when needed,” Donaker said. “I’m capable of walking on with a competitive mindset and like to leave my opponents in the dust, even if it’s just a friendly picnic game like Spikeball.” The truth is that the team they were facing off against also brought a lot to the table (or should we say net?). This team was composed of Senior Zach Hayward, a skilled baseball outfielder, and an expert “The energy is always at fielding ground so high ... being able to balls and catching pop-ups. Working watch the action-packed with him we see Jake Foster. Senior sprintgame gets me pumped.” er on the track team, Foster brings his un- Sofia Leva (‘23) matched speed and acceleration to the game, evening up both teams. Initially, the game was not close. The Donaker-Chancellor duo pulled ahead with an early lead. But, Spikeball, played to 21, is a long game. “I had the confidence going into the game that Donaker and I would sweep ZayHay and JayFosty,” Chancellor said. “I’ll admit, a bit of sweat broke out when they started catching up. There’s no way I was going to get beat by these fools.”

It was Donaker’s turn to serve. He stepped back the obligatory two paces, took a breath, and wound up, smashing a nearly impossible hitter to the net. There was no chance of returning it. They were now up 20-19. It was the game point.

“I’m going to win,” fans heard Hayward say under his breath. “Ain’t no way I’m letting Jade and Sebass take this dub from me.”

Donaker narrowed his eyes, bringing his hand back to throw the final serve. The crowd held their collective breath. Then, a shrill ring cut through the still air. The period was over. As if it had never been there, the tension dissipated and the competitors and fans alike walked off the field, coming back to reality and the truth and after all, this was just a fun picnic game.