This is an article in Sporty Seniors, a bi-weekly column celebrating M-A senior athletes’ dedication to their sport.
At the net, senior Addy Moeller may be shorter than the typical middle blocker, but as a captain, she has never been small.
Moeller started playing volleyball in third grade, around the same time she tried basketball and soccer. “When I first started playing [volleyball], I thought the sport was literally impossible,” she said. Her mom, who coached her elementary and middle school volleyball and basketball teams, told her the goal was to keep the ball in the air, but Moeller remembers struggling to do that even with a simple balloon.
Her friends and team environment kept Moeller in volleyball, and she went on to play club volleyball at Red Rock Volleyball Club. She then joined M-A’s volleyball team freshman year.
Moeller met some of her closest friends on the freshman team. “I just met people that I never would have been in a group with before because I was on that team,” she said.
Moeller values how her teammates support one another, even when a play goes wrong. “When you make a mistake [on the court], the other team gets a point,” she said. “So you need the cheering on the sideline, [and] you need the energy on the court.”
For Moeller, that energy is what makes playing special. “When it’s there, you’re like, ‘This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life,’” she said.
Before settling into the role of middle blocker and captain, Moeller was a utility player, meaning she filled in wherever the team needed her. “If you need a passer, I’ll be that. If you need a setter, I’ll be that. If you need a right side, I’ll be that,” she said.
While middle blockers mainly attack and block, Moeller’s favorite skill is the one most unconventional for her position: passing. Whenever her coach asks for passers during a drill, Moeller’s hand is always the first one up. She even jokes with her team about playing libero. “I’m not the best at it, but it’s my favorite thing to do,” she said.
For a long time, Moeller says she knew which skills she needed to work on, but she didn’t feel she was seeing much improvement. “I would always repeat to myself, ‘If I tried more, I could have been better, and I could have played in college, and I just didn’t try hard enough,’” she said.
Over time, Moeller learned to take pride in her growth as a player and to enjoy the sport as is. “You don’t need to be the best,” she said. “You can just be happy with what you are.”
Moeller says volleyball posed one of the biggest challenges to her school life. During her junior-year club season, Moeller got home from practice around 10:15 p.m. She got good at using a planner to keep track of schoolwork, but staying organized was only one part of balancing school and volleyball. “I think the most difficult part was learning to ask for help,” Moeller said.
Through busy seasons, Moeller’s biggest supporter was her mom. Her mom, who was a basketball and volleyball player in high school and college, was there every step of the way. “She would drive me to all my club tournaments in Manteca and Salt Lake City and all the random places,” Moeller said.
Once the tallest player on her team, Moeller watched her teammates outgrow her. Now, as a coach for a Red Rock travel team, she sees her younger self in players still learning to use their height. “You see these really tall 12-year-olds, and they don’t know how to use their body yet,” she said. “I see myself in them.”
Before senior night, Moeller worried about everything going perfectly. When she walked in, she saw posters the younger players had made, heard applause, and listened to prepared speeches. Moeller felt as though her work for M-A volleyball had paid off. “I can leave this program feeling like it’s in good hands,” she said.
Moeller plans to keep playing in college through a club team or intramurals, and she encourages other students to give sports a try. “Play sports. Sports are awesome. Sports give you friends,” Moeller said.
