“She’s such a sweet spirit too. It was very hard to find that out. We have a jersey on our bench. The girls all touch it before they come slap my hand. She’s always on our minds.””

Deer Valley girls volleyball coach Jackie Wallace

By Richard Smith
Twitter: @rsmithYWV

Deer Valley volleyball could not wait for this season to begin, after advancing to the 4A state quarterfinals last year with only one senior playing regularly.

All those game-related goals and state title dreams took a back seat in June when the Skyhawks learned they were losing one more player. Senior Maddison Clark was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and needed to begin chemotherapy immediately.

“She’s such a sweet spirit too. It was very hard to find that out,” Deer Valley coach Jackie Wallace said. “We have a jersey on our bench. The girls all touch it before they come slap my hand. She’s always on our minds.”

Wallace said on Sept. 17 that Clark was about to start her fifth and final cycle of chemotherapy. Acording to the gofundme page of a family friend, Clark completed her treatment Oct. 8.

If her progression continues, Clark should be able to return to school for the second semester.

Her coach said she first talked with Clark about her hip issues during an open gym in early summer. According to a GoFundMe page set up by a family friend, she first tweaked her hip last season.

Clark did not play basketball or run track as a junior. An endocrinologist noticed a swollen lymph node on her neck, which led to a CT scan and a biopsy that confirmed the cancer.

“She’s such a fighter. We actually just texted yesterday and after this fifth round she’s on the road to recovery. We’re hoping to see her on senior night, but I get that we might not because they have to be extremely careful.” Wallace said.

Clark was coming into her own as a junior, forming a front line barrier with classmate Savannah Davis. The duo combined for 217 blocks in 2018, with Clark contributing 90 total blocks.

Wallace called Clark a huge force defensively and in the block. With Davis the No. 1 option in the middle, Clark also learned how to play on the right side.

“We love her so much and I feel like seeing her go through that pushes us more to win those tough games and go all the way,” Davis said. “She was such a good player. She came to us as a middle because we’re both super tall. We moved her on the right side and she struggled with it. But now she was so good on the right and we were all so proud of her.”

As much as the Skyhawks now want to win a state title for Clark, her absence gives the season a tinge of melancholy.

“It’s tough without her,” Davis said.

To help Clark’s mother, Sarah Cole, with medical expenses visit www.gofundme.com/f/MaddisonClark.