Mavs volleyball looks to build off 2023 season

MOSES LAKE — This year’s Moses Lake volleyball team built off the strides the 2022 squad made, qualifying for the district playoffs and finishing the year at 8-8.

“Three years ago the girls did not win a match. I can’t even remember if we won a set or two,” Trammell said on the Studio Basin podcast. “Going into last year and winning matches, taking fourth in league and missing districts by one playoff game — that still haunts us — was fantastic. They saw we can do this, that the hard work is paying off.”

The Mavs won all six contests against Eastmont, Eisenhower and Sunnyside this fall, finishing fourth in the Columbia Basin Big 9. Ahead of them were Davis, whom Moses Lake lost 3-1 to twice in the regular season and once in the district tournament; West Valley (Yakima), whom Trammell said the Mavs had just won their first-ever set against this season; and Wenatchee, who just won the 4A state championship. In a talented league, the Mavs are looking to break through into the top three.

“We knew going into it that you can’t overlook anybody, and anybody can get you at any time,” Trammell said. “Every single match, that’s who we focus on, that’s what we’re doing at practice. When it came to having Davis, Wenatchee and West Valley, the big three that you’re going against above you, it’s hard.”

    Moses Lake junior Madison Bond (11) looks to perform a dig against Davis on Sept. 26.
  

While the team fell short of its goal of making it to state, the groundwork has been laid over the past two seasons in setting up a winning team. 

“The girls are right there, we have a lot of talent,” Trammell said. “The mental part of the game is huge.”

The program’s turnaround over the past two seasons has been noticed by other teams around the Big 9 according to Trammell, as the Mavs had six players named to all-league lists; sophomore Kardyn Martinez and junior Kaelsy Wiltbank on the first team; juniors Madison Bond and Makenna Stuart on the second team; senior Raegen Hofheins as an honorable mention and sophomore Caitlin Decubber on the "good sport" team.

“The coaches (around the league) are starting to recognize them,” Trammell said. “... having the girls make those teams, I smiled. It’s the girls, their hard work and they’re being noticed by their peers, by their coaches.”

Trammell, along with David head coach Steve Standley, was named a co-Coach of the Year in the Big 9. The second-year coach credited the players on the court and her fellow coaches on the staff.

“I told the girls, and everyone else who asked, ‘I’m simply the driver, and it’s the staff and it’s the girls. I just make sure there’s gas, drive them and they’re doing their thing. I’m not the one on the court, I’m not the one sacrificing my body and working hard on the mental part; it’s them. Yes, I may have gotten acknowledged for it, but it’s them. They’re the ones that deserve it, not me.’”

After building on their win-loss record this fall, Trammell said the “No. 1” goal is to get Moses Lake to the state tournament for the first time in its volleyball program’s history. That, along with finishing on top of the league.

“League champs would be fantastic. We’re right there between third and fourth every year, and it’s one or two matches that seem to knock us,” Trammell said. “Next year, we’re going to move that. It’s just preparing mentally, and seeing what we can do set by set, match by match.”

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