Over the course of three consecutive seasons, sisters Emma and Jesse Mariscal were key pieces of teams that made it to post-season play.
While their love of the sport remains undiminished, the sisters are finding success in the next stage of their lives.
After graduating in 2023, Emma Mariscal decided to serve a mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She spent a year and half in Honduras during her mission, which concluded in November 2024.
鈥淵ou find a lot of people there are just struggling with different things,鈥� Emma said. As a missionary, she found different ways to serve people while also sharing her faith and answering questions.
While her focus was serving the people of Honduras, it also was an opportunity for Emma to grow and learn. For example, while she knew some Spanish prior to the start of her mission, she became much more fluent over the course of her mission.
鈥淚 love that and I love getting to know the culture,鈥� Emma said. 鈥淭he people there are very humble. Not just because they don't have a lot oftentimes, but also because they're willing to help anybody. They're just very joyful over there and I love that.鈥�
ABOVE: Emma Mariscal, center, and her companion during her mission trip in Honduras. TOP: Emma Mariscal (#14) and Jesse Mariscal (#17) celebrate with teammates after scoring a point during a volleyball match in 2022.
During her mission, Emma had the opportunity to serve a handful of different communities in Honduras, while also getting to know fellow missionaries from various countries.
鈥淲hen you go on a mission, you live with one other person, who鈥檚 called your companion,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou switch every few months so I had companions from Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and the United States. It was cool because I didn鈥檛 get to just learn about Honduras and its culture but I got to learn about all these other cultures too and meet people from all over.鈥�
The experience was not only one of the happiest times of her life, it also shaped Emma鈥檚 post-mission plans after enrolling at Brigham Young University to pursue her bachelor鈥檚 degree.
鈥淚t helped me realize that there are people out there that need help and now I鈥檓 going into sociology as my major in school so I hopefully can get into a career where I鈥檓 helping with humanitarian projects or disaster relief,鈥� she said.
Jesse Mariscal, who followed her sister to YVC a year later, transferred to Utah Tech University after graduating from YVC in 2024. She鈥檚 working toward her bachelor's degree in recreation and sports management and is scheduled to graduate next spring.
鈥淢y favorite class so far has been a health and wellness coaching class that I had many opportunities to use what I learned and coach my peers and teacher through life goals,鈥� Jesse said.
Emma (left) and Jesse (right) Mariscal with their mother and siblings.
She also had the opportunity to work at a residential treatment center during spring semester, and over the summer completed an internship with , a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints program that organizes events for youth across the world.
For six weeks, Jesse served as an assistant coordinator, working with a small team of young adults running the events for youth. The experience strengthened her spiritually, while at the same time providing her an opportunity to plan activities and serve as a mentor to the young adult counselors on her team.
鈥淚 was in charge of assisting, training and helping achieve goals with these counselors,鈥� Jesse said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to use what I learned this past summer and year in my career to come!鈥�
Outside of her classes, Jesse plays on the club volleyball team at Utah Tech and is assisting in running the club this year.
鈥淚t has been fun to continue what I have loved and worked so hard to master by playing other colleges near us for some high-level competition,鈥� said Jesse.
For both Jesse and Emma, their experiences at YVC, and in the Yaks volleyball program in particular, helped prepare them for the next steps in their lives.
Jesse Mariscal spikes the ball while Emma Mariscal watches during a fall 2022 game.
Jesse noted she drew important lessons from various coaches and mentors. Volleyball Head Coach Darci Dekker, for example, helped her become more confident and direct, while Assistant Coach Marty McCallum modeled having fun and looking out for others.
Moreover, Jesse said YVC pushed her out of her comfort zone.
鈥淏eing on a team made me work with others, and trust and depend on them in order to get the job done,鈥� Jesse said. 鈥淐oach Dekker pushed each of us individually to be the best we could be so that when the time came we could put our strengths together and feel good about the game and how we performed.鈥�
Emma said that getting the opportunity to continue playing volleyball and gain experience outside of the small town where she grew up opened her eyes to her own potential.
鈥淐oach Darci [Dekker] was really good at helping to build you up and making you think that you could do more than you thought possible,鈥� Emma said. 鈥淚 grew up a ton in those two years at YVC. That helped me on my mission in Honduras and there was a moment that was hard to just realize I can keep doing it. I can get better and it鈥檒l all work out.鈥�
Story by Dustin Wunderlich, director of community relations. Photos by Wunderlich and provided by Emma and Jesse Mariscal.