Volleyball is a sport that does not simply get played. It is a sport that enables the senses.
Sight to see the ball, hearing to get info from teammates, and touching the ball in the right spot to hit it over the net.
Volleyball forces players to hone in on these skills and eventually become masters of their craft.
The Lakeland Hawks (30-8, 6-2) volleyball team has mastered this skill to perform at their highest level.
They started the year by facing off against the Moscow Bears. LHS was able to win that match 3-1 with little struggle, but they had zero clue what was to come.
Continuing a winning streak for the next two matches against Sandpoint, they soon met a worthy opponent, the Post Falls Trojans. The Trojans won 3-1, handing the Hawks their first major setback.
Only able to win one more game before their next loss, they had to face off against Moscow again. Moscow learned from last time and was ready to shut down the Hawks’ strategy. LHS ended up falling 3-1 to the Bears.
Maintaining the same pattern, they went on another two-match winning streak, but they went into a match that they already knew was going to be hard. They faced off against the Coeur d’Alene Vikings. They fought their hardest in this match but ultimately lost in five sets.
After losing to Post Falls once again, the Hawks broke out of the pattern and went on a dominant seven-game win streak. They beat Lake City, East Valley, Cashmere, Lewis & Clark, Newport, Lewiston and Timberlake. Throughout this win streak, Lakeland proved that they were a force to be reckoned with.
Sadly, this streak came to a close in a second match against Coeur d’Alene that resulted in a Vikings sweep.
Lakeland bounced back against the powerhouse Post Falls team that had already beaten them twice. The Hawks stunned the rest of the league with a sweep over the 5A favorite Trojans.
They carried the momentum from the Post Falls game along with them through a five-game winning streak before having to forfeit against Timberline.
Lakeland’s best achievement of the regular season was sweeping 4A IEL rival Sandpoint.
The Hawks finished the regular season with a record of 28-6 and were the second-seeded 4A team in Idaho. They ended up finishing fourth place after having to face off against other top volleyball programs such as Canyon Ridge, Skyline and Skyview. Ultimately, the 2023 season came to an end against Bonneville when Lakeland was defeated 3-0.
“I think that this year was our best year. We were more bonded this year than others,” junior Addyson Hocking said.
This Hawks team proved that banding together is one of the most important things when it comes to sports.
They played in multiple tournaments throughout the year. They were able to perform just as well there as they did in league games, which was essential while going up against storied schools like Centennial, Mountain View, Weiser, Highland, Melba, Timberline and Rocky.
“I think that we kinda gave up our last game. We could have done better,” Hocking said.
Though they managed to place fourth, the team believes there were things they could have been more resilient to win. Junior Ziya Munyer mentioned that the team has great respect for each other and brings out the best in one another.
“I think Addy was really good because she was our libero and controlled the back, and Ella also did well because she knew how to control the court,” Munyer said.
