EPHRATA – On Saturday, several Basin volleyball teams took to the hardwood in Ephrata for a varsity tournament. Though it does not count toward their regular season record, tournaments are a great opportunity to fine-tune certain things, head coach Krystal Trammell said.   

“We always decide if we want to go for that kill, or do we want to fix some things and get everyone a lot of playing time. What we did was kind of both this weekend, and so we were able to get some people in different positions, get a lot of playing time for everybody, and also work on more of our serving and different defenses. All in all, they went three and one and they had a really good weekend,” Trammell said.   

The Mavericks were the sole Basin team to win their pool Saturday. They competed in pool E against River View, Okanogan and Easton. The Mavs went 3-0 in their pool to advance into the Gold Bracket. They were eliminated in the first round after losing to Tri-Cities Prep 2-1.   

The Mavs' defense was a focal point for them heading into this tournament, said Trammell.

“Defense is something that we're continually working on, and we stress that a lot in our practices, we take a look at how we exploit other people and how they're going to exploit us. Our defense did pretty well overall, but we could be better,” she said.   

She said the Mavs have been good at the net defensively. Moving forward, she wants to make sure they start reading the hitters and players are where they need to be in their formation.   

“The fun thing when you go to these tournaments, it doesn't matter what level people are at, you just have to compete, and at the smaller schools, they're really competitive. That's one of the reasons why we enjoy going to the Ephrata tourney,” Trammell said.   

Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Head Coach Dean Spurbeck shared similar sentiments about competing in the Ephrata tournament. In the Lions’ case, it’s a good experience for a young team to see the different playing styles of other schools.

“What we were seeing at the tournament was a lot of stuff that I would tell them about,” Spurbeck said. “It was a great tournament for us, because they got to see a bunch of that stuff, and why I'm telling them, ‘Why you got to do this, why you got to do that,’ and that was backing a lot of what I said up. It kind of gives them a new place to go.”  

The Lions are currently 2-2 this season. Spurbeck said so far this year, he has had to teach a lot to his players since they’re young in terms of experience. However, he said it has been helpful that his players are eager to learn.   

“That's pretty awesome, because when they want to learn and they want to get better, I can just keep teaching them more stuff. That part of it has been pretty fun, and so the tournament was good for that,” he said.   

Spurbeck said events like the Ephrata tournament are useful because of the experience his players got in one weekend. In regular-season competition, it would have taken them a few weeks to get that, he said.   

The Lions went 0-3 in pool C against Medical Lake, Lake Roosevelt and the Quincy Jacks. However, Spurbeck said his players hung with the competition and kept it close at times throughout various sets.   

Basin volleyball returns to league play this week. Below are the records of each Basin team that competed Saturday.   

Pool A:   

Ephrata: 2-1  

Royal: 1-2  

Pool B:  

ACH: 1-2  

Othello: 1-2  

Pool C:   

MLCA: 0-3  

Quincy: 1-2  

Pool E:  

Moses Lake: 3-0  

Pool F:  

Soap Lake: 0-3  

Pool G:  

Wahluke: 0-3 

    The Huskies’ Meila Zuidema (3) sends the ball back over the net on Saturday. The Huskies went 1-2 in pool B of the Ephrata varsity tournament.
  

    The Huskies bench cheers on their team during a tournament game on Saturday. The Huskies won three sets throughout the weekend.
  

    Quincy’s Alyana Quntanilla (13) prepares for an incoming serve from Lake Roosevelt on Saturday. The Jacks went 1-2 in the varsity tournament in Ephrata on Saturday.