Your future, our focus
Four years ago, Kelsey Marchant stepped onto the court as a starter for the Powell Panthers for the first time.
She didn’t know it at the time, but she would be a mainstay in the lineup for the next three seasons, and her team would reach the state semi-finals in each of those three years, including her junior season, when the Panthers brought the 2013 state championship home to Powell with a 3-1 defeat of Douglas.
Marchant was apprehensive about that first start. Not only was she just a freshman, but she was replacing a senior at a crucial point in the season, with just a few matches left before the regional tournament. Powell was eliminated from competition at the regional tournament that year, but for the next three years, beating Powell was a requirement for any 3A team hoping to win the state crown.
Her steady performance during those years caught the eye of Northwest College volleyball coach Shaun Pohlman, and this season Marchant will take the court as a Trapper.
Marchant began playing volleyball early, and enjoyed it from the beginning.
“I’ve always loved it, ever since I can remember,” she said last week. “Volleyball is my passion.”
Her passion made her think about playing in college, but she wasn’t sure it was possible.
“I didn’t know if my dream was achievable,” she said. “So I hadn’t done any exploration of the possibilities, until coach Pohlman talked to me.”
Pohlman began talking to Marchant about the possibility of her playing at NWC during her junior year at PHS. He had been watching and evaluating her, and said he saw qualities that can make her successful, qualities beyond her skills as a player.
“I didn’t recruit her just because she’s good,” Pohlman said, listing maturity, reliability, self-discipline and self-direction as other qualities he sees in Marchant.
“She’s smart, too, and she has a great work ethic,” he said.
Those qualities, taken together, convinced him that Marchant was capable of making a positive contribution to Trapper volleyball, and now that she’s on the team, she’s working hard to prove him right.
Pohlman said when looking at a prospective recruit, he considers how she will fit into the team he hopes to have.
“The question I ask is ‘Does she fit the Trapper-volleyball mold.’ I’ve never had a doubt that she (Kelsey) does. She has been falling in line with our expectations,” Pohlman said.
Like her coach, Marchant is confident that she will be a contributor to the Trappers’ success this season, but she knows she has things to work on. The hard shots she will have to dig this year will come harder and faster than they did last year, but she believes she is up to the challenge because that’s part of the game.
“That’s what I do,” she said. “I feel like I have the physical skills, but I have to work on the mental side.”
Marchant enjoys her teammates, and thinks they are “all pretty equal” in their abilities. She credits Pohlman for bringing a talented group to NWC, and for helping them adjust to the demands of college life.
“Coach Pohlman does a really good job of recruiting all-around good players,” she said. “He sees us as more than just athletes. We miss classes when we travel, and he works with teachers to help us keep up with the work. He really cares about us.”
Coming from the Powell community makes Marchant a plus for the Trappers, according to Pohlman. He wants to keep his team connection. Powell people have been strong supporters of the college and its athletes, and in return, he feels he should look for capable athletes in the community who may have been overlooked and give them an opportunity.
“If a kid is good enough to play at Northwest, we need to give them a chance,” he said.
Marchant is grateful to have been offered such an opportunity, and she hopes it will bring more people out to support Trapper volleyball. She is, however, a bit apprehensive about that possibility.
“It’s kind of intimidating when I think that maybe some people will be coming to watch me,” she said. “But it will be really great for me and the team if there are more people there to watch.”
Looking back on her high school career, Marchant is humbled by the support and encouragement she has received. She thanked all the teachers, coaches and others behind her success. She gave special recognition to her high school teammates who made it possible for her to play the game she loves and develop her skills. She is grateful to all the teachers, coaches and others who have worked with her.
“They all have helped me become the player and the person I am,” she said. “They have made me a better person, and I would not be where I am without them.”