Cooper Gives Back To Clearwater-Orchard Volleyball Program

​Former Clearwater-Orchard volleyball player Mallory Cooper is giving back to the program that helped land her a spot on Dakota Wesleyan’s volleyball team.

Cooper, along with Dakota Wesleyan volleyball coach Lindsay Wilber, hosted a volleyball camp in Clearwater for Cyclone players on Monday. “It’s great (to be back),” Cooper said. “I had a lot of good supporters throughout high school. It’s really good to give back to my hometown and the program I originally came from.”

The one-day camp featured two, three-hour sessions – the first for high schoolers and the second for grades fourth through eighth–focusing on fundamentals and technique.

“I do all kinds of different satellite camps,” Wilber said. “I do four or five (camps) a summer. This is my first time in Clearwater, so as a college coach, I can expand my horizons and I get to show who Dakota Wesleyan volleyball is. It’s good exposure for our program and good for me to see different players.”

Along with teaching the game to younger athletes, Cooper also helped shed some light on being a collegiate athlete.

“It is all about hard work and effort,” she said. “Coming from a small town and playing college volleyball, I wanted to give it a shot. I say my hard work and putting it all out there every day at practice got me where I am at.”

The camp was also beneficial to Cooper as well. The junior defensive specialist had to switch roles from player to coach during the instructional practice.

“Coach (Wilber) says it’s really good to help with camps because we see the fundamentals,” Cooper said. “If you teach it, then you can do it. It helps us put that more into action.”

The Clearwater-Orchard graduate has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming season along with balancing a few jobs.

​“I work at the hospital in Neligh as a CNA (certified nursing assistant) and I work at the pool in Orchard as one of the managers,” Cooper said. “I go up to Mitchell (South Dakota) about once a week for open gym, and I hit the weight room three times a week. I do a lot of working out and getting ready.”