Trio has competed in volleyball tournaments together, coached three Big Sky youth clinics
By Jen Clancey DIGITAL PRODUCER
It’s 7:26 a.m. and varsity volleyball coaches Ashley Muckway, Steven Reid and Gavin Dean are in the Lone Peak High School gymnasium. The high school girls volleyball team filters into the gym for their first practice of the 2024 fall season, and their first time with all new coaches.
Head coach Muckway, and assistant coaches Reid and Dean, began two-a-day preseason practice sessions for the girls volleyball squad—a 14-strong roster—on Aug. 16. While it’s their first time coaching Big Horn volleyball, it’s not their first stint coaching the sport in Big Sky.
The trio have competed in Bozeman volleyball tournaments together and played pickup volleyball at the BASE community center, and upon realizing the sport’s local popularity, coached three successful youth clinics. Clinics included two eight-week sessions starting in January and April as well as an outdoor week-long session in June.
“Coming in as a first time coach, I was confident because we work well together and we have the same mentality towards community building and developing our youth,” Muckway said. She’s played volleyball her whole life and began the coaching experience by helping lead youth volleyball nights at BASE.
Reid, who serves as the recreation coordinator with Big Sky Community Organization, was excited to see so much participation in the sport. In total he’s coached volleyball for six years in North Carolina, Colorado and now Montana.
“I didn’t think ever moving to a small town like this, that there would be such a large and competitive volleyball community here,” Reid said. “That rubs off on our kids, because the kids see us playing, they see us playing competitively, having fun.”
The trio also has a former Division I volleyball player in Dean. He hopes to work alongside Muckway and Reid to support the players in the gym and help them grow outside of athletics.
“Passing on the knowledge that we have in athletics is great, but ultimately it’s about the development of these people and making them great humans, you know?” Dean said.
As for the fresh season, Muckway said the energy of the first practice showed that the girls are enthusiastic, and she hopes that excitement remains.
“I want to see the attitude in them to go for everything and do everything in their power to make that play … if I can say you did everything you could in that game, that’s my goal,” she said.
The coaches also aim to build lasting relationships with the team.
“I want them to be able to look back on this … as a really great year for them, maybe for some of them, a turning point,” Reid said. He spoke of his hope to support student-athletes in a variety of ways, from technique pointers to writing college recommendations. “I want them to be able to remember this and be able to use us as resources forever.”
At the end of the first practice, the coaches smiled when they overheard an upperclassman offer a ride home to an underclassmen in the parking lot. They said that seasoned players have already taken on a leadership role by communicating with the team about practice times and connecting with players. Coaches will select captains next week.
The girls volleyball team will play their first game away on Sept. 5 in Boulder against Jefferson High School and will play their first home game on Sept. 7 against Three Forks High School.
