4A volleyball MVP: Salem Hills senior Macky Treanor shared her love of volleyball with teammates

SALEM — The daughter of a volleyball coach, Macky Treanor fell in love with volleyball before it loved her back.

While some star players show promise from the moment they pick up a ball, Treanor's path to success was more difficult and less obvious.

"Even up until she was a freshman, she was tiny and not very strong," said Salem Hills head coach and the senior's mom, Kathy Treanor. "She felt a little inferior on the court until she started to fly."

Once Macky figured out that she could jump, there was nothing this year's 4A MVP couldn't do on the court.

"The fact that she was only a back-row player for many years made her a really good passer," said Kathy Treanor. "In club, she was always on the top team, but she was not one of the top players. It took confidence for her to stay in there and compete."

Even some of their relatives were worried that Macky might have chosen the wrong sport. But as her body caught up with her desire to play the sport her mother played in college, Macky became a force.

"It was her junior year (when) she really kind of grew up," said Kathy. "It was about then that she decided she could control the court."

Those things that may have discouraged her as a young player made her one of the state's best players in any class. She helped Salem Hills to a region title and a third-place finish in the state tournament.

"She's very athletic and springy," said Kathy. "She's very driven on her own. This has been something that she's always wanted to do, always sacrificed to do."

Macky, who committed to play volleyball at Utah Valley University, which is where her mom played, led the Skyhawks to a second-place finish last year after two weeks of painful back spasms.

"She came into the state tournament after sitting for two weeks," said her mom. "We didn't know what caused it until this fall. We learned she had (dangerously) low iron. It just made her muscles knot up and contract. She's really been fighting through this for a couple of years and we just didn't know."

Treanor works hard in the classroom, maintaining a 3.7 GPA, and despite her drive to succeed in every area of life, she's a laid-back, fun-loving personality.

"She lives life to the fullest," Kathy said, laughing. "She really does. She's just really full of energy and full of fun."

Treanor has had the chance to refine her skills on high-performance club teams, but she gives her knowledge freely to her friends and teammates who have not had those same opportunities.

"She really builds those girls," said Kathy Treanor. "She is a big fan of her teammates. She loves them. She works hard for those girls."

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