Volleyball in the bloodline

Published 4:45 pm Monday, November 10, 2008

As a three-week-old infant, Kylin Munoz had a rough introduction to the sport of volleyball.

Munoz was in the stands with her parents at a University of Washington match when an errant hit knocked a ball into the crowd. It bonked little Kylin right on the head.

“Maybe that explains it a little bit,” said April Munoz, Kylin’s mom, joking about why volleyball has become such a huge part of Kylin’s life.

It’s that way for the whole family. Kylin Munoz, a senior, and her sister Kendal Munoz, a freshman, both play for the state-ranked Monroe High School volleyball team. The team’s first-year head coach is April Munoz.

A former prep All-American in Arizona who played college volleyball for the Washington Huskies, April Munoz isn’t surprised her daughters love the sport. She’s seen their interest blossom year after year.

“They’ve just been raised with volleyball from day one,” April Munoz said. “One of the first things Kylin could say was, ‘Go Uckies! Ooh-dub!’”

This week the Munoz sisters will help lead Monroe, the Western Conference North Division champion, at the Class 4A District 1 tournament. Monroe (14-1) plays either Arlington or Shorewood 4 p.m. Wednesday in a first-round clash at Marysville-Pilchuck High. The top three teams in the eight-team tourney qualify for the state championships.

After losing to Kamiak in the district title match the past two years, Monroe is once again shooting for the top spot. Monroe was No. 6 in last week’s Washington State Coaches Association 4A rankings. Kamiak was No. 7, Edmonds-Woodway No. 10.

“It’s a big deal,” said Kylin Munoz, an outside hitter who this week plans to sign an NCAA National Letter of Intent with Brigham Young University. “For the last two years we’ve been a little shy of our goal of winning districts, so this is our (seniors’) last chance and we’ll make it good.”

After spending three seasons as an assistant at Monroe High and coaching at Monroe Middle School, April Munoz picked up where former Monroe High head coach Dawn Hanson left off. If Monroe earns its fourth straight trip to state, the Bearcats could improve on their eighth-place 2007 finish, April Munoz said.

“We have as much or more potential as we did last year,” she said.

In addition to the leadership of senior setter Kaitlyn Drew and 6-foot-1 Kylin Munoz — the team’s only other senior — Monroe features 6-foot junior outside hitter Megan Birch. But on Oct. 30 Birch suffered an ankle injury in a match versus Marysville-Pilchuck. Her replacement was Kendal Munoz, a freshman who played like a veteran in Monroe’s 3-2 triumph over M-P.

“Kendal stepped it up. She ended up with 15 kills that night. She did an awesome job,” April Munoz said.

Volleyball success seemed inevitable for the Munoz sisters considering that their mom won a state championship her senior season at Mountain View High in Mesa, Ariz. She also played on a nationally top-ranked club team before competing at Washington.

In 1989 April Munoz met her eventual husband Mike Munoz, who was an assistant volleyball coach at Tyee High in Seatac. Mike played too and he and April went on to play outdoor doubles together.

But years later when their daughters decided which sports to pursue, volleyball wasn’t the clear-cut favorite. Kylin Munoz and Kendal Munoz both played basketball for awhile. Kylin was a versatile hoops standout who initially resisted her parents’ path.

“I wanted to have my own thing,” Kylin Munoz said, “because growing up volleyball was a big thing in my family and I wanted to have my own sport.”

But after friends encouraged her to join a club volleyball team in eighth grade, Kylin Munoz got hooked. By her freshman year at Monroe she gave up basketball and focused on volleyball.

By that time Kendal Munoz, who also had played basketball growing up, joined a club volleyball team and found a new passion.

Now the sisters have teamed up at Monroe. It’s their only chance to play high-school ball together. So far it’s gone well.

“Of course getting a new coach, a lot of people would think it’d be kind of a hard transition,” said Kylin Munoz, ranked No. 6 in the nation among Class of 2009 players by PrepVolleyball.com. “But since it’s my mom and my sister it’s been a really comfortable transition. It’s been fun.”

Kendal Munoz agreed. Having her mom as a coach feels normal, she said, because April Munoz coached Kendal at Monroe Middle School.

The experience has strengthened the sisters’ relationship, April Munoz said. And it has given Mike Munoz, Kylin and Kendal’s dad, a special perspective from the bleachers.

Said Mike Munoz: “I recognize, ‘Hey, this may never happen again.’ So it’s been really nice to see them play together.”

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.