Climbing the Ladder

So, we played Tuesday against Portugal and Japan. First match of the day, 9 am, ct 5. Portugal match was solid. We played well and had the opportunity to feel the sand and enjoy the morning sun. We won in 2 sets.
Next match at 12pm, center court, rematch with Japan.......Tanaka and Koizumi. We played them in Korea and lost in 2 sets. We started off serving the right side player this time and thought we would take a different anlge of attack. It started off great. We were playing consistent all the way through. We had the 11-10 lead at the technical time-out and kept the lead until the 18-17 switch, Japan's up. Japan took point 19 as well. so.....it was a time-out for us. Coming out of the time-out we were on the GOOD side. I am serving, Heidi's up......we dig and transition for 18-19..still down by 1. Next serve, Heidi puts up a HUGE block.....19-19......we proceed to keep using the GOOD side. Finishing the set 21-19, we won......
Now, game 2. Not a great start......we played decent but not great. No details, but they win game 2 21-15.
So, game 3 starts... we are the BAD wind side and start out 0-2. Not going to elaborate, but I stunk it up......could not hit around the 5'7" blocker. We lose 15-9 (or something like that). The Japanese team goes on to qualify and now are ready to take at least a 17th place finish.
Weather is TERRIBLE......rain all day and heavy wind..........
Well, 4 more days here and going to have to find some time to train and make sure we qualify in the Montreal event.
Again, we will be seeded in the bottom half and have to knock off a top seed, which I KNOW we can do..................