For Mineola senior Mahayla McMahon, every play she makes with the volleyball is an adrenalin rush. 

“We have some great back-row players, so when I see that initial pass, I know that it will generate a good set – my heart already starts racing. When the set comes, the adrenalin has kicked in fully. There is nothing like it. I just know I have to get the ball down. It is indescribable.”

‘Getting the ball down’ is volleyball vernacular for spiking a ball with the placement and velocity as to make it unreturnable. In short, a kill. 

McMahon has become a scoring specialist. She recently eclipsed 1,000 kills for the Mineola Lady Jackets. The team took the occasion before the Sept. 26 match against Eustace to recognize the achievement.

Reaching 1,000 kills in a scholastic volleyball career is a rare event. A search in practically any state in the nation will uncover only a handful of student-athletes who reach this mark.

Discussing the achievement with the Mineola senior striker is a lesson in volleyball. 

Those lessons began, for her, in the seventh grade.

“It was my first year in volleyball,” she explained, “and I just wasn’t very good at all.”  It was the guidance, support and instruction of two Whitehouse Junior High coaches – Lindsey McKinley and Denise Pratt – who saw something special in her. It also began her love affair with volleyball.  

“I do love volleyball,” McMahon confessed, “the teamwork, the communications, the pace, the physical challenge.”  The striker went on to explain that to be the best one can, one has to love the sport.   

McMahon’s love of the game is obvious to anyone who watches her play. She brings excitement to the court. 

The most notable aspect of her game is her leaping ability. McMahon’s ability to elevate, and to do so without a big run-up, is remarkable. It also generates possibly the most important skill of a striker – power. 

“The anticipation when I get a chance to swing at a set is amazing. When I let it go, I hit it as hard as I can,” McMahon explained.   

She advised how, by changing the angle of her body when generating a spike, or by altering the angle of her hand, she can improve the direction of her kill attempt. Those directional changes are a distant second, however, to the sheer power with which McMahon sends the ball over the net. 

She stepped through the emotional process of a kill: the anticipation, the adrenalin, the release, the brief euphoric moment of success and the celebration with teammates.

“The little team celebrations after a kill just affirm in everyone’s mind that the team scored the point,” the senior remarked.

What may not be so obvious in McMahon’s play is the amount of communication which takes place, point-to-point, in a match. There is a game plan of course, based on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent.

Additionally, within each set, the Lady Jackets break down the set into 5-point ‘mini-games’. Win enough mini-games and you win the set. There is communication among the team in the quick huddle between points, communication once aligned before the service, and verbal and non-verbal communications while the point is being played.

McMahon also commented on the proper positioning of each teammate on the floor as being a type of non-verbal communication.

“We have to have confidence and trust in each other,” she stated.          

Those elements of volleyball which McMahon described – communication, confidence and trust – are also essential, she admitted, to recapturing momentum or stopping an opponent’s rally.

“We also have some preplanned responses which we use based on what transpires within a set,” McMahon shared.

Most of her kills this season have come from the steady hands of setter Callie Black. McMahon commented on Black’s consistent skill in providing a set which is well-positioned and predictable. 

Her favorite play is a ‘first set’ when the Lady Jackets are able to offer her a set for a kill attempt with the first touch of the ball, not the second, as is normal.

“A first set will normally catch the blockers off guard, offer better sight lines and more defensive gaps, and it feels more powerful,” McMahon explained.      

It was clear when listening to her explain the tactical side of the game, that humility is a central part of her core values. Also important to her is faith.

“I play for God first and foremost, he has given me this opportunity,” she stated. 

She also thanked her parents, Adam and Brittany McMahon, for their unwavering support and for teaching her to always do her best. Head volleyball coach TaShara Stephens and all the assistants were lauded for their support and their trust.    

McMahon hopes to continue playing the sport she loves at the collegiate level. Although she has not yet chosen a university, she intends to become a pediatric speech therapist and never to be too far away from a volleyball court.