Kelsey Rhoades began coaching Mackenna Thayne when the latter was in eighth grade. She showed up as a responsive, athletic volleyball player – a tall outside hitter who could smash balls into the sun.
Over the next five years, starting out playing for a club team then at Highland High, Rhoades taught Thayne all the intricacies of the game. How to execute a quick two-step on attacks. How to play the back row as a tall hitter. How to get the most out of natural athletic abilities.
The biggest thing Rhoades tried to teach, though, was confidence.
“She’s just a very humble individual. I, still to this day, don’t think she recognizes how great of an athlete she is,” the Highland volleyball coach said. “I’d praise her for like a really good kill and she would be like, ‘Eh, it was OK.’ I was like, ‘Ha, OK? You practically just hit the 10-foot line.’”
To onlookers, Thayne’s skill was so evident. She did things on a volleyball court that Rhoades still speaks about with such awe. Like the time against Rigby she smashed the ball like a downward rocket accidentally into the face of a Trojan’s player, creating this jaw-dropping “Matrix moment,” Rhoades said with a laugh.
Or like what she produced at this year’s Peg Peterson Tournament. In the finals against powerhouse Sugar-Salem, Thayne knew the game, in a way, rested on her. That pressure hasn’t always produced impressive results. But in her senior year, Thayne’s aggression and ability to rack up kills propelled Highland to its first Peg Peterson championship in more than 15 years.
This season, Thayne set a school record with a whopping 422 kills and notched 23 blocks and 59 digs as well. Her performance began to catch the eyes of college coaches around the country, including at the College of Southern Idaho.
But, even that surprised Thayne.
“When she told me she had been offered the scholarship to CSI, she was telling me and my assistant coach thank you and everything and she’s like, ‘Yeah, I still can’t believe they want to give me a scholarship,’” Rhoades said. “And I’m like, ‘Why can you not believe that? I can 100% percent believe that.’”
When Thayne called CSI volleyball coach Jim Cartisser soon after to tell him she wanted to be a Golden Eagle, the accomplishment began to set in, joy carrying over to her official signing at Highland last week.
“It was so exciting. I was so nervous but it’s good to know what your future holds for you,” Thayne said. “It’s a rush of nervous energy. I haven’t really played with them yet so it’s a little scary to like walk in there. But it’s just like a feeling of anxiety a little bit, at least for me.”
Rhoades thinks she has nothing to worry about. The Highland coach speaks of Thayne with such jubilation, noting she’ll always be one of her favorites. Thayne’s humor always cracked Rhoades up. Her hammer swing always gave the Rams confidence. Her maturation into a team leader was excited to witness. And her willingness to learn from errors was really impressive for a high-schooler.
But Rhoades also understands the pressure of it all. She, too, came from a family with a line of athletic prowess.
Thayne’s older sister, Allie, was also a standout at Highland before also signing with CSI, just for basketball instead of volleyball. Allie is now a junior guard at Mercer University in Atlanta, which makes many believe Mackenna will also play at a Division I school in two years.
She very well may, but she’s not sure yet.
It’s not that decision that weighs on her. It’s the pressure that comes with some almost expecting her to replicate her sister’s every success.
“Oh my gosh, there totally is. Especially since Allie went to CSI as well and I’m kind of following in her footsteps,” Thayne said. “Her boosters there are people we know in town and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, we need to request to have Mackenna.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh no, what if they don’t like me as much as Allie.’ So it’s totally nerve-wracking.”
There is some pressure in having to follow a family legacy. But Rhoades has seen first-hand all the time Thayne puts in on a volleyball court. She knows her work ethic isn’t going to change in Twin Falls. Her athleticism and skill aren’t going to suddenly vanish. And Thayne’s ability to push past mistakes has already been set.
So the Highland coach tells her star player how good she is, how good she’s going to be and how she’ll always be supporting.
“I always get in my head and I’m like, ‘I can’t do this. I’m not as good as this person,’” Thayne said of Rhoades. “I totally do that and I have her all the time telling me like, ‘Mackenna, you can do this. You’re better than you think you are.’
“It totally helps. It gives me confidence and a boost because someone believes in you.”