Darci Mock takes over ML volleyball job

MEDICAL LAKE — Darci Mock has had a soft spot in her volleyball heart for years, all the way back to her days in the early 2000s when she played the sport for Cheney High School. So it seemed natural that Mock would be the person to step in to guide the program during his hybrid winter/spring COVID-complicated season.

“I actually played club volleyball through my whole high school, and we actually had a lot of our volleyball practices at Medical Lake,” Mock explained. “I kind of just grew really, really attached to Medical Lake right from the start.”

Now when the coronavirus has thrown many a curve into every part of day-to-day life Mock was the right choice and the right time to fill in for previous head coach Todd Harr who had to step aside due to work — and a new baby in his family’s life.

Mock, who pursued a career in banking after graduating from CHS in 2003, but still coached at the club level, still had volleyball blood running in her veins and wanted to remain involved.

“One day, I saw that there was an assistant volleyball position open (at Medical Lake),” Mock said. “It really hard, especially if you’re working at another full-time job right after school,” to take on such a responsibility, but Mock’s schedule working from 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. was the perfect scenario.

Getting the job was the easy part in the summer of 2019. What followed was not.

“I worked along (former head coach) Todd (Harr) for about a month,” Mock explained. “And then I actually had to go into surgery for a kidney transplant. I only worked at Medical Lake for one month, and I only worked with the girls for one month.”

After the surgery Mock re-aimed her career back to where she wanted it to go after high school. “After I had my transplant and I just decided I didn’t want to go back to banking and begged and begged them for a job at the high school,” Mock said.

And they — principal Chris Spring and athletics director Justin Blayne found one as a para-pro.

And then came COVID. But Mock made the necessary adjustments combining together all the moving parts. “It’s been quite a transition the girls,” Mock said, praising her team for how they have both come and stuck together.

Crazy as the circumstances actually have been the past year, they actually may have played into the early successes the Cardinals have experienced with a 2-3 start on the court.

“We actually did get to spend a lot of time ‘COVID-ly’ through November until now, with our volleyball girls in pods of six,” Mock explained.

Mock naturally also turned to promoting club team involvement, something that in the past had been a challenge due to its cost, she said. “We did about five girls out for club last year, which was quite an accomplishment.”

Not only does club play help in skill development but in other areas.

“ I think club helped out a lot, just bringing in those extra coaching pieces from other coaches,” Mock said. “It also brought in girls playing with other girls and having to have that mindset of getting to know people and playing with an array of people.”

Paul Delaney is a retired former Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at pauldelaney53@comcast.net.