Lessons From Covering MVHS Ladies’ Volleyball

By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

I graduated from high school a long (LONG) time ago, but I think I learned as much this autumn at Moapa Valley Empowerment High School as I ever did during my years in my own secondary education setting.

If you’re a regular Moapa Valley Progress reader, you know I’ve been covering the Moapa Valley High School Lady Pirates varsity volleyball team since the end of August.

When editor Vernon Robison and I first discussed the possibility of my writing about the sport, I was a little leery about committing. There was a time (in the distant past) when I was pretty well conversant with most high school sports, but volleyball was not one of them.

Sure, I’d played volleyball in PE all those many years ago, and I have to confess to occasionally watching the long-legged, bikini-clad beauties on television swat the ball back and forth over the net while dancing around on hot sand, but this was different.

First of all, we’re talking real sports here. Not that those who play beach volleyball aren’t real athletes, they are in fact not only real, they’re also real good.

But this was going to be a real newspaper sports thing – weekly games, statistics, photos, get comments from the coaches, etc., etc. So, when Vernon decided Lady Pirate varsity volleyball would give the Progress a more balanced coverage of MVHS sports and he asked if I’d be interested in covering it, I agreed to give it a shot, reluctantly.

I felt pretty smug after I learned from a little online research that volleyball is 116 years old; was developed by some guy at the YMCA in Holyoke, MA; is based on a combination of basketball, baseball, tennis and handball; that the net is 6 feet 6 inches off the ground, and is a true American sport.

My research also revealed it ranks only behind soccer among participation sports, there are 800 million people worldwide who play once a week and there are more than 46 million (that’s MILLION with an M) Americans who play volleyball. There’s a professional volleyball association and a women’s professional volleyball association. Wow, I thought at the time, I’m sort of impressed. Yawn.

So, then it’s the end of August and I’m covering my first Lady Pirate volleyball match at MVHS. Suddenly, within the first few minutes, I’ve discovered that not only do I know nothing – NOTHING — about volleyball, the young women who play for Moapa Valley Empowerment High School are not only incredible athletes, they are incredible volleyball players and I’m way out of my internet-research league.

Thank goodness for Coach Mandie Matheson. At my (almost tearful) pleas, she said I could rely on her for the ins and outs of the sport and she was true to her word. She’s been a gold mine of information.

She taught me about positions including outside hitters (the player most responsible for attacking the ball after it’s been set up by the setter); the setter (the player who functions as point guard or quarterback of the team); middle blockers (those responsible for attempting stop the opponents offense), and the libero (the player who is a specialist and can only play back court). Coach Matheson also taught me about kills, aces, dumps, jousts, passes and more including what a good serve is all about. Who knew?

The real surprise is that while Coach was teaching me volleyball basics, I was actually learning a lot more about life than high school volleyball. And it was the Lady Pirates varsity volleyball players who were the teachers. They probably don’t know it but they taught me, through example, what it is to play, to perform, with heart.

That it’s possible to continuing fighting even – especially – when you’re losing.

That when you’re down and there’s nowhere else to go but up, that’s what you strive to do – go up, improve.

That even if you lose the game, a team effort, is a winning effort.

That there is no such thing as a loss when you know you’ve done the best job you can.

There is still a place for honesty, integrity and more in the dog-eat-dog world of today.

There’s more and I could go on and on but you get the point. I hope these young ladies do too.

I want to thank them all for the lessons including Ashley Noto, Tabitha Witsken, Jeanne Schlaefli, Summer Owens, Malary Reid, Makenzey Staley, Sierra Kimbbrough, Emma Eira, Kassandrya Goodman and Shelbie Gray.

My hat’s off to you ladies. Perhaps I’ll see you next year.