New culture pays off for Mavs

MOSES LAKE – Having gone winless a year ago, new Moses Lake volleyball head coach Krystal Trammell and the Mavericks have been putting together a new culture around the team, which has translated to wins like Thursday’s 3-1 victory over Eisenhower.

“It was high,” Trammell said of the energy entering Thursday’s match. “We are in our second round of league (games); we know what we have to do. So we tell the girls, ‘That was a great practice,’ or ‘That was a great set,’ Great effort, better effort next. We do one set at a time, we do not look over anyone.”

The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead in the first set, doubling up Eisenhower by 14-7 at one point. The hot start led to an eventual 25-14 win in Set 1 for Moses Lake. Fans dressed in pink for breast cancer awareness night cheered on as the Mavericks took a 1-0 lead in the match.

“We had not done a breast cancer awareness night in six or seven years,” Trammell said. “It’s something that has affected all of our lives, and so the girls decided ‘Hey, we’re gonna do this.’”

The second set was more back-and-forth, as both teams were tied at 17 before a late effort by Moses Lake to take a 25-20 win..

“It was awesome,” Trammell said of the game. “Everything is new this year; new coaching staff, new coach. We’re working on our culture. We call it our MVP – our motto, our values and our core principle. We started working on that in June.”

In Set 3, Moses Lake jumped out to an early lead again, but this time the Cadets were able to mount a comeback to tie the set at 16. After taking the lead on the next rally, the Cadets were able to keep their foot on the gas to win the set.

“We work a lot on situations, if we’re in this situation what are we going to do?” Trammell said. “So every time we’re doing something I want them to watch their body language, re-focus themselves and get it through.”

Set 4 was another back-and-forth affair, including ties between the teams at 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.

“I think if we just get that one point, and then we all feel like we can do it together,” Moses Lake senior Jazlynn Torres said. “Then we all just mesh together again, and start connecting all the points.”

A late surge by Moses Lake gave the Mavericks a 25-23 win, winning the match 3-1. Torres led the Mavericks with 16 digs, junior Paytan Andrews led with nine kills and senior Sydney Macdonald led with 26 assists. Stuart, Macdonald, sophomore Maddy Bond and junior Raegen Hofheins all tied for a team-high two aces.

“Our energy is just way better than it’s been for a while, and our culture has gotten better,” Torres said. “It’s just fun to be with these girls all the time, they’re really fun to play with. We come together really nicely.”

With the win, Moses Lake improves to 5-5 on the year with a 4-3 record in league play. The Mavericks are tied for third place with Davis in the Columbia Basin Big Nine Conference.

“It helps us trust each other more, and helps us believe that we can do it together,” Torres said of how the new culture affects the play on the court. “It’s not just an individual sport, we all come together as a team and we’re gonna be good.”

Moses Lake returns to the court on Monday for a road matchup against Eastmont. The match begins at 7 p.m.

“They are a fantastic group of girls,” Trammell said. “They are athletic, they’ve gained so much. All their hard work was in the summer, and it’s paying off now for them.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

Set 1: Moses Lake 25, Eisenhower 14

Set 2: Moses Lake 25, Eisenhower 20

Set 3: Eisenhower 25, Moses Lake 18

Set 4: Moses Lake 25, Eisenhower 23