Maddy Pilon’s introduction into the world of high school varsity volleyball was not your typical process. There was no climbing the ladder and gradually working your way up.
It was more like baptism by fire – if said fire was replaced by powerfully hit volleyballs being rained down on you by some of the state’s best hitters.
One day Pilon was Tumwater High School’s starting JV setter, the next she was directing the Thunderbirds’ offense to a state championship.
Two years ago during her sophomore season, Pilon received the call up to the varsity squad after a pair of starters were suspended for violation of team codes. The suspensions gutted the T-Birds’ starting lineup, and came at the most inopportune time as the incident occurred just before the start of postseason play.
Enter Pilon.
“I was so nervous heading into the state tournament,” Pilon said. “(The nerves) never really went away. I think they just increased as the tournament went on.”
The constant anxiety was there, but so was Pilon’s stellar play, and the once believed short-handed T-Birds exited the Class 2A state tournament in 2014 as champions after sweeping North Kitsap, 3-0, in a finals match that saw her dish out 23 assists.
“We always knew she was going to be a great one for us,” said Tumwater coach Tana Otton. “Her first start was at the district tournament for us. We ran a 6-2 so she wasn’t the only setter, but what she did was huge. She just jumped in and filled that spot and hasn’t looked back since. She’s just so smooth and just does things right all the time.”
A year after setting the school single-season assist record, Pilon is looking to close out her high school varsity career the way it began – by winning a state title.
No one, however, will perceive the T-Birds as underdogs this year like they did two seasons ago.
By virtue of their string of non-conference victories against some of the state’s powerhouse programs, Tumwater has already established itself as the team to beat – not just in the 2A ranks, but among any team in the state regardless of classification.
With Pilon leading the powerful T-Birds’ offensive attack, the squad opened the season about as impressively as one team can as Tumwater has already defeated 4A juggernauts Curtis (last year’s 4A state champ), Emerald Ridge (last year’s 4A state runner-up), Bellarmine Prep (the 4A state champion in 2013 and 2014) and Olympia (the 4A state champion in 2012).
“This non-conference schedule definitely has helped us,” Pilon said. “We’re playing against the best 4A schools in the state. It really shows us what we need to work on.”
While Otton and her staff will dissect the victories and find ways to improve, on the outside it appears very few things need to be altered.
Once overwhelmed as a sophomore when stepping out onto the court to play against the best in the state, Pilon is now the one causing all the intimation.
In those four matches, Pilon registered a combined 169 assists, including a season-high 49 in the T-Birds dramatic 3-2 victory over Bellarmine Prep. Kennedy Croft, who set the single-season school kill record in 2015, has benefitted the most from Pilon’s passing, chalking up an astronomical 91 combined kills in the four matches with 30 against the Lions.
“She runs a great offense,” Otton said Pilon, a first-team all-2A Evergreen Conference pick last year, “but the best thing is, to be honest, she can still get a lot better as far as placement. She knows it and she works on it, but the tools she has are amazing. Kennedy set that kills record because Maddy broke that assist record and put her in the right spot. He just does great things for us.”
Tumwater finished fifth at last year’s state tournament, falling in the quarterfinals (3-2) to eventual titlist Burington-Edison.
Pilon, who will play next year at Eastern Oregon University, and Croft, a junior, will attempt to guide the T-Birds to the program’s third state title under Otton’s watch this year, having also claimed the 2A championship in 2008.
“What’s helped us with the strong start so far is that we have that core little triangle of Christina (Hagerty), and Maddy and Kennedy back. We have our libero, our outside and our setter,” Otton said. “People are still competing for those extra sports, but having those three back has been big for us.”
