The Los Alamos Lady Hilltoppers volleyball team lost just one game in District 2AAAA competition last season. That loss must have impressed someone, because the architect of the upset, Española Valley coach Garry Maskaly, was hired as Los Alamos’ volleyball coach March 27 to replace departing coach Diane Stokes.
Maskaly, who served as an assistant coach at Los Alamos during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. had a 7-13 record last season at Española Valley and was 5-3 in District 2AAAA. The Sundevils district record included a 3-2 victory over Los Alamos at Los Alamos.
Maskaly lives and works in Los Alamos The drive to Española influenced his decision to apply for the position in Los Alamos.
“The commute was really hard for me,” he said. “It was exhausting to do after work.”
Maskaly said that his experience at Española helped him grow as a coach.
“The only way to become a better head coach is to be a head coach,” he said. “I learned a lot about running a program.”
One of the lessons that Maskaly learned at Española involved a plate he used to illustrate how players have to trust each other. If they didn’t, the plate would break.
“One player — Monica Naranjo — said the goal was to “Protect the plate,”” Maskaly said. “That’s what we said in our huddles after that.”
Despite now being the coach at Los Alamos, Maskaly will continue to follow the growth of the players he had at Española.
“I’m really happy to see players grow as athletes and people,” he said. “As a coach, that’s really rewarding.”
Española athletic director Dave Fontaine said the school is receiving applications for Maskaly’s vacated position.
“We’d like to get it filled before school ends so the new coach can meet the kids and put in a summer program,” Fontaine said.