For Moses Lake volleyballers, there’s no time off in summer

MOSES LAKE — With the academic year wrapping up, local high school sports are done for the summer as well. However, many programs like the Mavericks volleyball team gathered Monday for offseason workouts.  

“Today is our first summer workout with all the girls,” Head Coach Krystal Trammell said. “We bring in all the girls, returners, new, and get them into the system, and basically teach them the fundamentals, the skills, and work on the foundation.”   

While they can’t hold official practices, Trammell is allowed to host voluntary summer workouts which provide student athletes with an opportunity to work on their skills. According to her, about 75 players and counting have attended these workouts.  

“We understand that a lot of athletes aren't able to make everything,” August said, “but we let the girls know the more we see you during the summer, the more we can work with you, we can work on your skill set, the knowledge of the game, and so the more that we're able to see them, the better it is when tryouts come in August.” 

Throughout the summer, Trammell and the Moses Lake athletes will run exhibition games against other Basin programs like Othello, Royal, Wahluke, Ephrata and Quincy, she said.  

“We all just kind of come together and play, perfect time just to see what we have, and to work the kinks out. At all levels, too, not just varsity,” said the coach.  

These exhibitions also provide athletes an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the speed of the game. According to the coach, they also bring in referees to officiate the scrimmages.  

“Every Monday we'll pick a different team host, and you just show up,” she said. “We do have referees, which is fantastic. We enlist them, and they can come, and if they've got new referees they can come, and so they really get the full experience of what it might be like.”  

While offseason workouts like these serve the players, it can also benefit coaches like Trammell who are looking to see how to approach their coaching strategy each season.  

“We lost quite a bit for varsity, and it's exciting to see the core we have, their personalities, what it's going to be and what kind of coaching style will they respond to,” Trammell said. “I'm excited, because the girls that we have coming back, they're a lot of fun, they're smart, and they're fundamentally sound, so practices (in the fall) in my mind are going to be very efficient.” 

While the coaching staff was there to help guide the workouts, current Moses Lake seniors, like Caitlin Decubber, who will not be with the program in the fall also showed up to help. Seeing her most experienced athletes still wanting to contribute on their way out was heartwarming to Trammell.  

“We try to do that every year,” she said. “We tell the seniors, ‘If you want to come back for the summer workouts, share the knowledge, share what you have learned through the program, what you've taken from here,’ I think it's a great testimony to them being a part of the program, and then leaving their legacy and helping the younger ones get started. I love it.” 

Summer workouts are expected to run through the end of July, Trammell said. From there, they will pivot to conditioning in August as they gear up for the start of the new season.

    Alivia Dehoog eyes the ball as she goes to bump the ball back into the air.
  

    The Mavs’ Allison Bond practices her serve at summer workouts.
  

    Ella Wiltbank sets her feet before bumping the ball back into the air at summer workouts.