MOSES LAKE – Moses Lake Mavericks volleyball player Kardyn Martinez made school history during Thursday’s game against West Valley, becoming the first athlete in Moses Lake High School history to reach 500 kills on the volleyball court.  

“It’s kind of surreal because I’m a soccer player, personally, so I never thought that I would be in this position right now,” said Martinez. “It’s honestly so cool.” 

Martinez was congratulated with a roar of cheers from everyone in attendance for her accomplishment following her third kill of the evening and was officially honored in between the first and second sets. A kill in volleyball is when the player’s attack is unreturnable by the opposition and leads to a point for the team or when it causes a blocking error for the opposing team. 

Mavs head coach Krystal Trammell worked with faculty to not only gather as many people as possible in the crowd to celebrate, but to keep it a secret from Martinez as she was unaware of her feat until that moment. 

“To be honest, I had no idea. When I looked in the crowd, I was like, “What is happening right now?” and then everybody’s congratulating me,” said Martinez. 

Attendees of the game were discreetly given signs with “500” printed on them and were instructed to hold them up following her third kill of the night. Additionally, Martinez’s family orchestrated a surprise visit from her sister, Kaydence Martinez, who attends Eastern Oregon University and came up to congratulate Kardyn. 

“It was really neat to see everyone come in and have their ‘500’ pieces of paper and cheer for her,” said Trammel. 

While the night was spent recognizing the Martinezes’ accomplishment, it was also the culmination of years of work and building connections among the Mavs team. Martinez said her achievement couldn’t have happened without her teammates.  

“They’re always here for me; they’re always cheering me on; and I honestly couldn’t do it without them,” she said. 

Trammell said she was proud of her team as a whole for working together. 

“I feel like we’re celebrating all of them and this year especially since (Martinez) hit that mark, the first one in program history,” said Trammell. 

Trammell said Martinez has shown a great work ethic since joining the Mavs volleyball program as a freshman. Now a senior, she continues to be a great asset to the team.  

Though the Mavs did not end up winning Thursday’s game against West Valley going 0-3 on the night, both Martinez and Trammell agreed the team will make their comeback in the following weeks as the team works hard. 

“We were just trying to get everybody hyped up, but honestly, sometimes you just can't pull yourself out of it,” said Martinez. “I know that in another game we’ll for sure get them.” 

The Mavs got their chance to prove themselves Saturday as they played in a tournament in Ephrata, where they would be up against multiple familiar opponents, including West Valley. 

Results of the tournament and the teams that attended will be printed in Tuesday’s edition of the paper.  

BOX SCORE:  

MLHS: 20-12-19: 0
WVLY: 25-25-25: 3 

    In between sets the school officially honored Kardyn Martinez for reaching 500 career kills and was congratulated by her family, including her sister Kaydence who secretly came up from Eastern Oregon University to support Kardyn’s accomplishment.
  

    Madison Witwer,5, hugs Kardyn Martinez,11, following her 500th career kill and Caitlin Decubber, 8, runs up to congratulate her teammate.
  

    Bella Minor, 7, sets the ball while Addison Burns, 4, from the Mavericks keeps their eye on the ball during the first set against West Valley. Kardyn Martinez said she couldn’t have accomplished 500 kills without all of her teammates.