Mental Strength

By Michael Ashcraft --

There she was, their leader, in the dark hallway adjacent to the gym as some girls cried, imparting mental strength to her team even after a semifinal defeat. The girls were listening to Coach. Then Allie Scribner took over talking.

"I know this sucks and you're all thinking about your mistakes," the team captain said. "But right now, you need to think about what we accomplished this season. We went really far. We've made people proud of us. This hasn't happened in forever. We are literally making memories. We've been a team this whole season. We'll stay a team. I love you all equally."

The spry sophomore produced some jaw-dropping hits, sets and serves all season to befuddle opponents and lead the Lighthouse Christian Academy of Santa Monica into semifinals. The Saints lost in Game 5 to AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park Saturday.

Allie has cycled through a list of nicknames highlighting her prowess. She's been called a gunslinger for her serves. She's been said to fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee (playing off the nearly homonymous Ali). Her performance continued to inspire Saturday: Rally Allie, Aerial Allie. She blocked AGBU three plays in a row.

Thanks to her mental coolness, Allie eliminated Eisenhower High School from playoffs with three serves that shot out like nails from a nail gun. She didn't flinch or get nervous, just delivered crushing serves, one of them an ace, to seal an improbable win.

As the tireless team engine, Allie inspired teammates against Packinghouse Christian Academy and Chaffey High. It didn't matter if LCA faced public schools or private schools. She maintained the mental strength to calm her team and somehow always scrape through to the victory.

"Mental strength is a decision. You have to decide what is going to affect you and what is not going to affect you," Allie said. "Professional athletes train to have mental strength. If you don't have it, you have to train to have it."

Mental strength is there to help you win. And when you lose, mental strength remains.

To the other nicknames, add Little Philosopher.

Her dazzling displays and mental strength weren't enough to help the team Saturday. Lighthouse gave away the game with squandered serves; they didn't communicate. The highlights from earlier playoff games went MIA.

"The girls forgave each other," said Coach Jessica Young. "There was lots of moments to forgive."

LCA won Game 1 and 3. But it lost Game 5 -- the short game of the series -- 9-15.

Eye-rolling errors muddled their competitiveness.

When it was all over and at least half of the girls were in tears, when it was time to go home and sulk or fume, when there was no more reason or need to inspire, there Alli was, giving inspiration- pumping up deflated teammates.

She had always spoken loudest with her actions, but now the words flowed loudly, bringing unity, healing and even pride. Defeated, she remained undefeatable.

It had been a sensational season. Lighthouse hasn't gone so far into playoffs for a decade.

This generation of players from the small school on an alley in Santa Monica had played through injuries and sickness. They surpassed the possibilities and defied the mathematics (they defeated a team with a talent pool 75 times larger to draw from than Lighthouse).

"The girls need to hold their head high," Jessica said. "God helped us. We prayed a lot, and he helped us. They played with their all."

Read about LCA's other games:

Claramente

Thou Shalt Know the Wrath of Dahlia

She Flies like a Butterfly and Stings like a Bee

Should that be illegal, like doping?

She's Pho Real

Poker Face

War of the Battleships

Four more inches, please

God save the Queen!

Is Tuesday the 13th a Thing?

Zeus Showed Up
Michael Ashcraft teaches journalism at the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Santa Monica.