MOSES LAKE – Outside of the result of the Mavericks’ 3-2 loss to Davis on Thursday night, Moses Lake volleyball celebrated its seniors who had given years to the program.

“Some of these girls we’ve had for years whether it was club or middle school,” Moses Lake head coach Krystal Trammell said. “Some of them we’ve had since they were 10 or 11 years old, so it was emotional, for sure.”

Entering the gym were poster boards with photos of the soon-to-be graduating players, a picture booth with 2023 balloons and more.

“It was a lot of fun,” Trammell said. “Our moms did a fantastic job. We had a photo area, they decorated the whole gym. They brought in boards for the girls.”

Senior nights are a time when senior players are rewarded for their hard work throughout their high school careers, even if they did so off the court. This was true for one Maverick on Thursday night.

“We had Gracie Smith that got in for the first time this year, and she did fantastic,” Trammell said. “So proud of her.”

The Mavericks took a 2-0 lead after the first two sets, winning Set 1 26-24 and Set 2 25-21. Through two sets, sophomore Kenna Stuart led the team with six kills and was tied with junior Kylee Voss for the lead in aces with one.

“When we were up we played beautiful, and then we kind of get into that valley and we had a hard time digging out,” Trammell said.

The third set saw Davis jump out to a 7-2 lead that was quickly tied up with three kills by senior Kailee Kellum and back-to-back aces senior Jazlynn Torres. Moses Lake later led 16-10 after an ace by junior Paytan Andrews but the Pirates tied the set at 17, then once again at 23 to later win 25-23 in Set 3. Davis again jumped out to early leads in Sets 3 and 4, winning them 25-22 and 18-8, respectively.

“That fourth set we gave them eight points right in a row, as we missed eight serves,” Trammell said. “Coming back from that, they still came back through it, that’s a hard deficit and it’s something we work on every day.”

Trammell credited the play of Kellum and Torres along with Stuart for their ability to stay in sets against Davis.

“Our outsides came alive, our back row did really well,” Trammell said.

Moses Lake (7-7) has its regular season finale on Tuesday against league-leading Wenatchee. As of Thursday night, the Mavericks are in third place of the Columbia Basin Big 9 Conference.

“We still have a playoff game, so even though we lost, we’re still in the playoffs,” Trammell said. “We know that we will turn around and probably play these guys the first round of districts. So, emotional for senior night, but ready to go.”

Moses Lake’s road match against the Panthers begins at 7 p.m.

“Have fun – we love playing at a higher level, and we will play at a higher level,” Trammell said.

Ian Bivona may be reached at [email protected].