Eastcoast2005

It was yet another epic battle. Here's the highlights while it's fresh in my mind.
Game 1 - I jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead but Manu recovered and came back strong to win the first game 15-10. This game was highlighted by many amazing recoveries by Manu as he chased down digs and sets that looked like the point was over. Many of these were simply unbelievable even for Manu.

Game 2 - Manu took an early lead 4-1 but I came on strong and took a lead at 7-4 (I think). But Manu fought back and tied it at 8 or so. Points became very hard to come by at this point as we traded single points up to about 11-11 with many sideouts. Then I put together a string of points on some solid play including a left back kick dig for a point!
I called my first time out of the match serving for game 2 at 14-11. We were both exhausted at this point and the heat, humidity and long rallies were all clearly taking their toll. I felt like I needed a couple of minutes to make a strong finish and I knew would lose the timeout if I didn't use it. The plan backfired however when Manu came out of the timeout rejuvenated as well. I served at least 3 times for game point but Manu came back and ultimately took the lead 15-14. I scored again to tie the game at 15-15. It seems like we had 20 or so sideouts at 15-15.
Fatigue was really becoming an issue for me at this point. I could muster the energy to sideout but was having trouble generating offense to score a point. Manu scored the next point to go up 16-15. I fought off a few Match points but Manu ultimately prevailed 17-15. At more than 1 1/2 hours, this was easily the longest 2 game match I have ever played.