MV Girls Volleyball Program Ends Season

By AMY DAVIS

The Progress

Members of the Moapa Valley girls volleyball program pose for a photo. The season for the club program ended last week with a major tournament in Moapa Valley.

Moapa Valley has been running a middle school girls volleyball development program for more than 10 years now.

Girls grades 6-8 have gathered to learn skills that will prepare them for their high school years. At the heart of this program is a group of moms who have volunteered their time, all for the love of the game.

Sarah Wadsworth, Kristen Johnson, Kaylin Peay, Erin Leavitt, Dianna Walker and Lindsey Frei are the women who have donated countless hours to the program. They rotate into the 8th grade head coach position each year. This year the head coach for 8th graders was Sarah Wadsworth.

A total of 54 girls were involved in the program this year. Wadsworth said that this is about the norm. There is commonly coach between 50-60 girls; always enough for two teams in each grade.

The season started on the second week of school and this year ended on October 9 with a tournament held at MVHS that included Pahrump, Alamo and Panaca.

Moapa Valley’s 6th and 8th grade teams took 1st place in the tournament.
“The most rewarding part of this program is watching the girls take what they have been taught, apply it and get better,” said Wadsworth. “I have spent a lot of time with the 8th grade girls this year, teaching them how to serve. If you ask them what I say the most they will probably say it is the phrase, ‘if you can’t serve, you can’t win.”

Wadsworth also talks about the process she watches in the young girls on her team becoming mentally tough. “I can teach them lots of skills, but I can’t teach them how to be mentally tough,” she said. “That is something they have to learn on their own. When they learn to get out of their own heads after something disappointing happens, that is where they find strength.”

Volleyball practices are Monday through Wednesday with scrimmages on Thursdays and tournaments as an extra activity on the weekends.

This volleyball program is not a Mack Lyon Middle School team, nor is it school sponsored. Wadsworth said she is truly thankful to Mack Lyon for allowing the use of the school facilities for the program.

“We are also thankful to all of the parents who support their children and support our team,” she said. “It means so much!”