By MARK MOSCHETTI
Seattle Pacific Sports Information
 
SEATTLE – She doesn't know yet when she'll be able to get back into maroon.
 
A maroon uniform, that is.
 
So for now, Maddie Batiste is focusing on silver.
 
Silver linings, that is.
 
More time at home. More strength through extra work with weights.
 
And perhaps, depending on how things work out in the months ahead …
 
… more time to be shine on the volleyball court for Seattle Pacific.
 
 

"It hasn't been too crazy, luckily," the Falcons star outside hitter said of her life during the coronavirus pandemic, which has altered most everyone's daily routines since March. "I've gotten to spend a lot of time with my family. I babysat a little bit, and had a chance to play some outdoor volleyball with my sisters.
 
"I did lots of weights and I physically transformed over the summer and got a lot stronger," she added. "And just playing beach and sand ball gave me an opportunity to work on my eyework – sometimes, there was no net and it was just reading the other person who was hitting it to me.
 
"We got pretty unique with what we could do."
 
Batiste and her teammates are among those who have returned to campus this week for the fall quarter – two weeks earlier than it normally would start. However, the communications major will be spending her academic time on the computer screen, as all three of her classes are being taught remotely.
 
While she won't be spending time in an actual classroom, Batiste will get to spend some on the court inside Brougham Pavilion, although it's certainly not how she imagined starting her senior year. Instead of getting ready for what was supposed to be this week's Great Northwest Athletic Conference openers at Simon Fraser and Western Washington, Batiste will be limited to practicing with a maximum of four teammates at any one time.
 
But for now – even in its limited form and no matches until perhaps next spring – it'll be volleyball.
 
"My first thought (when the fall season was canceled on July 17) was instant sadness – 'Am I never going to play volleyball again?'" said the 21-year-old Batiste, who took up the sport at about age 8 and has played it exclusively ever since. "It seemed like the biggest part of me was being taken away.
 
"I leaned pretty heavily on my coaches and my fellow seniors when I heard (the news). But I saw the silver lining in that I have more time to be part of SPU volleyball. It wouldn't end in November, it would end next June. So it was, 'OK, I have another whole year of volleyball.'"
 
TWO FALCON NEWBIES CONNECT
In the fall of 2016, Maddie Batiste was coming off the best season of her career. She led Portland's Central Catholic High School to the Oregon Class 6A (large school) state championship in what was the team's fourth consecutive trip to the final. Not only was she named the Mount Hood Conference Player of the Year, she was named the Oregon Player of the Year.
 
Some three months later, in February 2017, Abbie Wright was hired as the new head coach at Seattle Pacific after Chris Johnson retired. She had seen Batiste play at the club level and had spoken to other coaches about her. Wright liked what she saw – and heard.
 
 

"Watching her at a tournament before I met her, I kind of picked her out of the crowd," Wright recalled. "She had a heavy, good arm, was scoring points, and was a great presence on the court, really energetic and enthusiastic. I could tell she added to the team in more ways than just volleyball."
 
Wright, who came to the Falcons after playing four years and then coaching four years at Biola in Los Angeles, hadn't even moved to Seattle yet, but flew into town on the way to another recruiting trip. It was then that she got Portland native Batiste up to campus.
 
"I remember giving her a tour of the gym – and trying to learn the gym myself," she said. "Things like that is where I feel like Maddie has been that player for me who has a special place in my heart just because of all the firsts that we went through together."
 
At the end of April 2017, the 6-foot Batiste officially became Wright's first Falcons signee.
 
 "I've gone through this program with Abbie, and I wouldn't trade it for anything," she said. "I just felt a connection with Abbie since the first time she called me. … She's like that cool aunt, and she keeps me going."
 
Added Wright, "In recruiting, you're taking a chance on kids, but Maddie took a chance on me. I was a young, first-time head coach and there would have been a lot of reasons why she wouldn't have come to play for me. Her deciding to say 'yes' was a really cool experience and I'm really grateful"
 
FINDING HER GROOVE – BUT NOT RIGHT AWAY
Success in high school doesn't always transfer over to college immediately. The increased intensity, higher level of talent, and business-like approach all take time – and sometimes take a toll.
 
Batiste certainly went through it. During her freshman season, she was behind senior outside hitters Hannah Lautenbach and Colleen Hannigan on the depth chart. Sophomore outside Gabby Oddo was back from a knee injury that had halted her phenomenal freshman season. And, Batiste was battling alongside fellow freshmen Olivia Turner and Jaeden Hooker for playing time. She saw action in just 48 of the 114 games, totaling 14 kills and 10 digs.
 
"I was not ready my freshman year, honestly, for the mental aspect of college volleyball," Batiste acknowledged. "Here, everything is kicked up a notch, and you have to be on at all times."
 
Things ratcheted up the following year when Batiste saw action in all but four matches, totaling 86 games. She even got six starts, and recorded her first college double-double with 13 kills and 19 digs in a preseason five-gamer against Metro State of Denver.
 
"Not playing (all the time) wasn't easy my freshman and sophomores years," Batiste acknowledged. "High school was successful for me. Not seeing that continued and growing here was tough. Abbie was my saving grace through all of that, and the other girls were great."
 
One of those "other girls" was middle blocker Gabi Stegemoller, part of that same 2017 recruiting class. She came from Jesuit High School in Beaverton, one of Central Catholic's big rivals.
 
"I knew of her in high school, but had never talked to her personally," said Stegemoller, whose Jesuit team beat Batiste's Central Catholic in back-to-back state finals, first when they were sophomores in 2014, then as juniors. "I was a little nervous when we were both already committed and came on a visit. Once I finally met her in person, we decided to be roommates, too. It was completely fine, and we started hanging out."
 
BUBBLING TO THE SURFACE
Even when she wasn't getting as much playing time during her first two SPU seasons, some silver linings shined through for Batiste.
 
"I'm grateful for those two years. It gave me the opportunity to be on the sidelines and study the big teams that we were able to beat last year, and just work on the mental side of my game," Batiste said.

 

Last fall, she began reaping the rewards in a big way. Batiste played in all 28 matches (starting 23). She was on the court for all 105 games – one of just three SPU players with that distinction. She tied Oddo for the team lead in kills with 369, a 3.51 per-game average that ranked No. 3 in the GNAC.

Batiste also came up with 344 digs, second-highest on the team behind libero Mallie Donohoe, and logged 15 kill-dig double-doubles.
 
"Last year, it was fun to see how much we've grown, especially since that first year," Stegemoller said.
 
As much as Batiste enjoyed slamming those 369 kills, racking up nearly as many digs was just as enjoyable to her.
 
"I love defense – I would be the libero if Abbie would let me," Batiste said with a laugh. "There's something about taking a hitter's kill from them. That's the most satisfying feeling."
 
At season's end, Batiste made her first All-GNAC team, earning honorable mention.
 
"That year was just bubbling within me from the two previous years of just not seeing the court as much as I wanted to, Batiste said. "I had the mindset that, 'I'm going for it' I wasn't really concerned about playing time. I wanted to beat those big teams.
 
"I just knew I wanted to make a difference, whatever that would look like, bettering my play and being focused on bettering the other players around me," she continued. "That allowed me to have a good breakout year and I'm really eager to get out there again."
 
OATMEAL, THE BIBLE, … AND VOLLEYBALL
Eager to get out there again. College athletes everywhere in every sport are carrying around that same pent-up energy, waiting to put it back into action.
 
About the closest Batiste has come to action since last spring was some volleyball on the beach with her four older sisters. But the pandemic-forced downtime didn't mean sitting around and doing nothing, either.

 

For instance, she enjoys working in the kitchen and has gotten into concocting various types of oatmeal, using different combinations of fruit and sweeteners. She has delved more into reading the Bible, and currently is focusing on Proverbs and Psalms.
 
Batiste and her sisters also did some binge watching of "Last Chance U,' a Netflix-produced series that follows some athletes who have had trouble with academics and other aspects of their lives as they try to get their athletic dreams back on track.
 
But all the while, she has longed to get back to volleyball.
 
"I transitioned into being a captain over Zoom, and we did all our leadership meeting over Zoom," she said of the ubiquitous online meeting app. "I feel like everyone is going to play a lot more free, especially since there's not any pressure for playing time or forcing connections quickly, since we don't have a match coming up in a week.
 
"Everyone on the team is ready for next week's practices," Batiste said. "There's no nerves – we're all at the same level."
 
No nerves. No occasion as of now to put on any maroon, either.

Her maroon uniform, that is.
 
So until that time arrives, Maddie Batiste will focus on silver.

Silver linings, that is.