MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake three-sport athlete Carina LeFave will continue her athletic career in college.

LeFave recently committed to play volleyball at Wenatchee Valley College. After she visited the school it felt like a good fit right away.

"I think it all started when I took the tour over there and met the coach, Daria Winckler," LeFave said. "She was so positive and so encouraging and I don't know, the campus and the program and everything. It just felt like the right thing after we got out."

LeFave was a key cog in a Moses Lake volleyball team that finished 6-4 in the Big Nine and 6-9 overall. The Chiefs took third place and narrowly missed advancing to state after losing to Wenatchee in five games in the district tournament.

LeFave plans to bring her upbeat attitude to a Knights team that stumbled to a 7-26 overall record, finishing last in the NWAACC East.

"I think optimism, encouragement, enthusiasm and just playing my best every time I'm out on the court," she said. "Doesn't matter if it's a drill, shagging or whatever, I'm going to give my 110 percent and just give the best I got."

LeFave instantly bonded with Winckler and is a member of the coach's first recruiting class at Wenatchee Valley. LeFave was impressed with her new coach's pedigree on the court.

Winckler is a Wenatchee Valley alumna who played for the volleyball team. She was an NWAACC Sophomore All-Star, East Region leader and East Region Co-MVP, a two-time All-American and an AVCA First Team All-American.

Winckler continued her career for two years at Texas A&M International in Laredo, Texas.

"She's very up front," LeFave said. "She's going to help you on the court, she said she wasn't a yeller, she's had a lot of on-court experience ... She's young and excited about what she has to bring as a coach and I'm just excited to be in her program."

Along with being a standout for the volleyball team, LeFave played significant minutes for the Moses Lake girls basketball team who finished fifth in state and is now a member of the Chiefs' #1 doubles tennis team.

Moses Lake head volleyball coach Michael DeHoog, who also coached volleyball at Big Bend, wished he could've had more than one season with LeFave.

"I was hoping she was a freshman," he said. "As a former college coach, she has all the tools that I looked for in my student-athletes. First and foremost, amazing character, she has good court sense, high volleyball IQ and great teammate."

LeFave thanked her coaches, parents and teammates.

"I can never believe that I'm playing collegiate volleyball, even at a junior college," she said. "It was never on my radar when I first started playing."