PENDLETON — This season has not been all sunshine and roses for the Blue Mountain Community College volleyball team, but coach Ceanna Larson can count on Kenzie Williams to bring the energy every day.

“She is such a team player,” Larson said. “Even the night she got injured, she was in the training office, got assessed, got a boot on and she was back as a bench player. You’ve got to love her enthusiasm. It’s great to have a player like that.”

Williams, a 2020 graduate of La Grande High School, has always had a spark to her game, and she’s not shy about sharing that with her teammates.

“It comes from my parents,” Williams said. “I do my best and give my best every day. I try to bring that to practice and to the team. We have a lot of talent and we work hard. It’s important to me, especially since they nominated me as a team captain. I try to take that positive vibe to practice every day.”

The Timberwolves are off to a 5-13 start to the season, and have just started the second half of Northwest Athletic Conference East play. They have shown they can play with the best teams in the East, pushing No. 3 Columbia Basin College to five sets Friday, Oct. 15, before losing.

“Last year was very hard,” Williams said. “It was hard having no one in the gym but us. It made us better players. We are prepared for whatever comes.”

BMCC had to play a few matches without Williams after she came down on a Treasure Valley player’s foot during their Sept. 24 match and injured her ankle.

“You could see her leadership, especially through her injury,” Larson said. “When she was on the bench, she led the team with that enthusiasm.”

The Timberwolves actually lucked out in having Williams on their roster.

“I wasn’t really planning on trying to pursue any college sports,” she said. “I watched one of the Blue Mountain games after my (senior) season. I knew one of the assistant coaches. She said she had told Ceanna about me. I had a tryout the next week. Just a dumb luck thing. If not, I don’t know what I would be doing now.”

A hidden gemWilliams, a 5-foot-8 setter, was a standout player in high school. She was a right side hitter and setter for the Tigers, and Larson liked her versatility.

“There are kids who are sometimes overlooked because of where they are at,” Larson said. “In all sports, you could see she has such a competitive streak. She understands the whole of the game. She understands the roles of her teammates and how important they are. She comes from a family of coaches, and I think those players understand the game more.”

Larson has played everything from soccer to volleyball to basketball and track. She played soccer up until the eighth grade when she tore her ACL.

The Tigers went to the 4A state volleyball tournament her junior year, but they went 0-2.

“I’ve always been involved in sports,” she said. “I love to compete and I’m very competitive.”

Williams gets her athletic ability from her parents. Her mom, Cindy, played volleyball at Eastern Oregon University, and is the junior varsity volleyball coach at La Grande. Her dad, Clint, played football at EOU.

“They have always been supportive with everything I do,” Williams said. “I appreciated them very much. My mom has only missed one game since I’ve played — even at Blue Mountain. “It was this year, because she had a match the same day.”

Williams is working toward her veterinary technician certification at Blue Mountain. She said she would love to go back to the Animal Health Center in La Grande.

“I actually started working at the vet clinic in La Grande three or four summers ago,” she said. “I was part of the kennel staff, feeding the animals, walking them, and then I started helping the current technicians with some things. I just wanted to keep pursuing it. I love working there. The owner told me he would love me to come back.”