Vikings volleyball camp draws athletes from across the region

MOSES LAKE — High school volleyball athletes from as near as the Basin to as far as Seattle and Idaho gathered at Big Bend Community College on Friday for a day camp with the Vikings program.  

“I'm super thrilled that we had this many girls come out,” Head Coach Lindsey Linthicum said. “It's fun to see, we have a girl that came from Seattle, we had a girl that came from Idaho, we've had some that have come a little bit farther, like Tri Cities and whatnot. That was a really fun turnout as well, just to see the expanse of how far people have come for this.” 

In a previous interview with the Columbia Basin Herald, Linthicum outlined what attendees could expect. Starting in the morning, they worked through different skill-specific drills. From there, they moved into drills based on position which helps them break down their specific positions to a more fundamental level. After a short break, they closed the day in the early afternoon with competitive games like six versus six or bingo-bango-bongo.  

“Different schools teach different things,” she said. “For them to kind of then also see at the college level, this is kind of where we set, and this is where we like to locate our balls, that gives them another opportunity to learn that skill as well, and then, of course, working them with your hitters and teaching them different angles to cut and different little shots or tips to do as well.” 

As they worked through the different activities Friday, attendees also had current Vikings there to guide them, as well. Sophomore and Ephrata native Jaeda Gonzalez loved what she saw from the high school athletes.  

“You can see their effort,” Gonzalez said. “You can see they want to be here, and I can really see myself in a lot of them just giving their all. It's really fun to watch.” 

For many athletes, it can be intimidating to wonder what collegiate volleyball is like. However, Gonzalez hopes the attendees have a lot of positive takeaways from the camp.  

“To have fun, you can't really give your all without having fun. If there's one thing I hope they take away, it's just that you have to have fun in order to do good things,” she said.  

Linthicum shared similar sentiments on what she hopes the players took away from the camp.  

“I like to compete, but I also like to keep it fun,” she said. “I like to push them to that point of where they feel kind of exhausted mentally, and it's like, ‘How much farther, how much harder can I go?’ For them to then understand and see there's more within you, you just have to push through that. It's been great.” 

In a previous story with the Columbia Basin Herald, Linthicum noted at the time they had eight players signed up to attend the camp, but since that number increased into the double digits.  

“It makes me excited because that was one of the reasons why I got back into this,” Linthicum said. “How can Big Bend make an influence on other people? How as a community do we reach other people? We're going out in that distance, and it speaks volumes to them, the girls that are staying, how their personality and how just their demeanor is impactful”

    Two attendees of the Vikings day camp joke with each other between drills.
  

    A high school volleyballer tosses the ball up for her next serve at Big Bend Community Colleges volleyball camp.
  

    Volleyballers hype each other up after scoring a point in a scrimmage at the BBCC Vikings volleyball day camp.
  

    A volleyballer (in gray) fires off her next serve at the Vikings volleyball camp.
  

    A young player (in black) gets under the ball to set it to a teammate during a game at the Vikings volleyball camp.