MOSES LAKE — The next step in Liana Sushik’s athletic journey has led her to play for the Big Bend Community College Vikings volleyball team this fall after a successful career with the Soap Lake Eagles. Joining the Vikings is something she feels has deepened her love for the sport, she said.  

“I fell in love with the fact that there’s more than just high school volleyball; there’s another level,” said Sushik. “It’s like a whole new chapter and I’m so excited to see what I have next because there’s a lot that I’ve been through to get here.” 

Despite her success on the court, Sushik said she didn’t initially start out as an athlete.

“I honestly never liked sports, never did sports, I was never athletic,” she said. “I had another cousin, she did it and I wanted to try it once, so I gave it a chance in sixth grade.” 

During that sixth-grade season, she fell in love with volleyball and decided to continue in seventh grade. By the time she got to her eighth-grade season, Sushik said she was brought up to play for the high school varsity team. 

“That really had me lock in and I found true love for sports,” she said. “That’s when I started focusing on all the little things like working out on your own time.” 

It was also around this time Sushik said she began to realize she wanted to pursue a career in volleyball even beyond the high school level. 

Niki Noble, who was the head coach for the Soap Lake Eagles volleyball team during Sushik’s tenure, said she was a leader for the team when it came to work ethic. 

“She wasn’t really a vocal leader, but her work ethic was very strong,” said Noble. “Just in general she worked very hard at staying strong and getting better.” 

She said Sushik put in a lot of effort into her training between her freshman and sophomore years and that fall returned with a stronger skillset. This regimen continued through the remainder of Sushik’s time at Soap Lake High School. 

“Liana’s big change that summer was a good example for a lot of the other players and that made a difference for some of the younger players coming in and seeing that change,” said Noble. “I used that as an example for others to be able to show that growth over the summer and putting in the work and the effort over the summer pays off in the fall.” 

Sushik and the rest of the Eagles team grew stronger over the years and together brought Soap Lake back to the 1B state tournament during her sophomore, junior and senior seasons, said Sushik.  

“That was huge,” she said. “I’m still thankful for my parents for letting me do this.” 

Throughout her high school career, Sushik attended Big Bend’s summer volleyball camp. Last season, with Lindsey Linthicum stepping in as the new Vikings Head Coach, Sushik said she loved the environment and knew this was where she wanted to be. 

“I love the way (Linthicum) coaches,” said Sushik. “I like that no matter what she’s like, ‘If I can do it, you guys can do it.’ She respects everybody and she pushes everyone to their limits.” 

Linthicum said that Sushik was the one who took initiative after last year’s volleyball camp to talk with her and show interest in joining the Vikings program.  

“Just her having that initiative to step forward and come to the coach, that takes a lot of internal confidence,” she said.  

The two of them kept in touch throughout the fall and winter, and soon enough Sushik had fully committed to BBCC. Linthicum said what has stuck out to her about Sushik is her “no quit attitude.” 

“Just the way that she approaches a mistake,” said Linthicum. “She doesn’t allow that mistake to dictate who she was, she’d either ask, ‘Is there something I need to fix’ or she already knew what she made that mistake in and made that adjustment. Just showing that coachability and showing that she has the mentality of,  ‘That mistake doesn’t define me’ speaks volumes to me as a coach.” 

With her college career ahead, Sushik finished her senior year of high school, graduated and immediately started training over the summer. 

Even before the start of the season with BBCC, Sushik said she has already noticed a significant difference between the high school and college levels just based on summer workouts. 

“It (was) the fourth day and I feel like I worked out for three months, I was dead,” she said. “It’s not as bad because I did work a lot this summer, twice as much as I did last year.” 

Early season workouts have also given her an opportunity to meet and work alongside her new teammates. Growing up in a small town and meeting athletes from across the United States and Canada has been exciting for her. 

“I love to get to know new players,” said Sushik. “At first we were all shy, but now we’re locked in. It's going to be awesome.” 

One thing she said that really stuck out about the Vikings squad is the level of commitment from each of the players. 

“Everyone has strong potential right now because you’re going against awesome people as well,” said Sushik. 

For herself, she wants to continue to get 1% better every single day, even when it gets hard. 

“I try to set a little goal every day in practice and try to reach it,” she said. 

Three main goals Sushik said she has set for herself ahead of her freshman year at Big Bend is to form a strong bond with her new teammates, pushing herself no matter what at both practices and in games, and to be supportive of her team both on and off the court. 

Linthicum said she is excited to get to work more in depth with Sushik this fall and help develop the young athlete’s skills further. 

“I feel like she’s going to contribute to the program in the sense of having the girls understand that we’re here for a reason,” said the Vikings coach. “She just loves volleyball, any situation you can tell she’s always like, ‘that was fun.’ That’s the right mindset is finding the fun in everything.” 

Sushik’s journey came full circle earlier this week as the Vikings held a summer training camp with student athletes from Waterville-Mansfield and Almira/Coulee-Hartline. Here Sushik had the opportunity to coach students at the same camp that started her path to BBCC last year. 

“It feels very bittersweet that I was at the same exact spot as these girls my 10-12th grade doing this camp,” said Sushik. “It’s crazy to think how fast time flew for me now that I am coaching young athletes, knowing that this is where I was recruited to play at Big Bend. It's also an awesome opportunity to be able to give back to the camp that played such a big part in my volleyball journey.” 

Even now Sushik looks toward a future that keeps volleyball as a part of her life and wants to help teach the next generation of volleyball players in Soap Lake. She hopes that her own efforts can inspire the young players in the same way she was inspired over the years. 

“Working on yourself will get you where you want to be,” said Sushik. 

    During pink night at Soap Lake for her senior season, Liana Sushik serves the ball to her opponent.
  

    Liana Sushik keeps her eye on the ball during an away game against Wilson Creek last fall.
  

    Playing for the Eagles last season, Liana Sushik leaps in the air to send the ball flying back toward the opposing Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions.