MOSES LAKE — Keeping players in motion is an important goal for the Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School volleyball team. 

“(We’re working on) being very aggressive,” Lions Head Coach Dean Spurbeck said at practice Aug. 30. “Hit the balls, and then movement. I want everybody to be moving and I want them to smash the ball all the time.” 

The Lions went to state two years ago, but then lost six seniors to graduation, Spurbeck said, and last year they lost at districts. 

“Last year we were very young,” he said. “We had one senior and the girls were a couple of years into it, barely. So now we’re into our third year and the experience is much better.” 

This year Spurbeck’s squad includes four seniors, one of whom transferred from out of state and has shown some skill, he said.  

“Our setters are three freshmen and one senior,” he said. “They’re getting to where they’re decent.” 

Team cohesion and communication were issues the players felt they needed to address. 

“(I think we need to work on) good communication and making sure my team is lifting each other up and not bringing each other down,” said senior Brooklyn Dorsing, who said this is her first year at MLCA, but she’s been playing since she was 5. “Making sure each set is better every time, getting my feet to the ball and putting up a good set.” 

“I think that the team needs to work on more teamwork and working together and not getting mad,” said senior Angela Ferguson. “And personally, I feel like I need to work on communicating with my team and learning from each other.” 

Players sometimes have personal issues with each other that they air online, Ferguson explained, and that hurts the whole team’s ability to bond. 

“They get upset to the point that they don’t care about the game anymore,” she said. “As a team, I think we need to work on communicating to the point where we can talk through it and get past it as a team, not one person individually, because that doesn’t make the game fun. Volleyball is supposed to be fun; it’s fun if you win, but like (Spurbeck) always says, it’s better to be a hot winner than a hot loser.” 

    From left: Sasha Veresko, Rebecca Wiser, Kayla Piper, SanTahna Ferguson and Brooklyn Dorsing pass the ball around at Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School volleyball practice Aug. 30. Team cohesion is something they’re working on this year, players said.
  

    From left: SanTahna Ferguson, Rebecca Wiser, Kayla Piper, Brooklyn Dorsing and Sasha Veresko keep moving as the ball crosses the net at Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School volleyball practice Aug. 30. Head Coach Dean Spurbeck said aggressive movement is a focus of this year’s training.
  

    Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Head Coach Dean Spurbeck, left, addresses his squad at Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School volleyball practice Aug. 30.