It all began at G3 in Corvallis — and baby, look at them now

The U14 team from the G3 Volleyball Club in Corvallis in 2019. Macey Hughes in No. 11 and Taelyn Bentley No. 11 in the back row. Joya Euhus is No. 8 and Kam Mitchell No. 5 in the front row. Coaches are Kass Mendenhall (left) and Autumn Hilberg (courtesy Joya Euhus)

Once upon a time, four girls played volleyball together at a small private club in Corvallis.

Today, the four young ladies are all playing in Division I programs throughout the country.

Kam Mitchell (Oregon), Macey Hughes (Grand Canyon), Joya Euhus (Houston Christian) and Taelyn Bentley (South Florida) all enjoyed successful freshman years at the D-I level.

“It is wild that four girls growing up in Corvallis got that opportunity, when we are such a little fish in the big sea,” says Tim Euhus, the former NFL tight end who is Joya’s father (as well as a sponsor for kerryeggers.com).

The Corvallis volleyball club is called “G3,” built in 2012. It is owned by Jeff Megy, a Crescent Valley High grad who also owns Timberhill Athletic Club. Megy says G3 has about 1,000 members that can play volleyball on four surfaces, including turf and sand courts outside.

Megy, 58, oversees club volleyball at G3 and worked with all the girls in the club’s year-round training academy. But in terms of team volleyball, he actually coached only Joya Euhus, the only one of the four girls to play for the club through the U18 division.

“They were pretty good as an assembled team in 14s and 16s,” Megy says. “At one point, they were ranked top two in 16s in our USAV region, with something like 150 teams playing. They qualified for nationals in 14s and 16s.”

G3 trainers held group weight-lifting sessions with the club players.

“Kam, Macey and Taelyn and I would all work out together through seventh and eighth grade,” Joya says.

Macey and Taelyn aged out of U14s earlier than Joya and Kam, so Joya and Kam chose to “play up” in U16s in 2021.

“We decided to keep our team together,” Joya says. “The coaches were like, ‘You guys have something special going. You’re a good group.’ Kam and I ended up moving up with them when they played U16s.”

That turned out to be a rousing success. But first, some background on each of the cast of characters.

Joya Euhus, shown here on a tap attempt for Houston Christian, got her start in volleyball in middle school (courtesy Houston Christian athletics)

Joya Euhus started playing volleyball in seventh grade at the Corvallis Boys & Girls Club. She was already playing basketball, which she continued until her freshman year at Santiam Christian High.

“I love the physical nature of sports and being competitive,” Joya says. “I like volleyball a lot because it’s a technical sport — very strategic. That’s the way my mind works. I enjoy figuring that stuff out. By ninth grade, I wanted to focus on volleyball, because club volleyball would help me prepare for college. (College volleyball)  was something I wanted to pursue.”

Joya began at G3 shortly thereafter, working out on her own. Soon, she met up with Kam,  Macey and Taelyn. Before long, they were playing U14s together for coach Autumn Hilberg.

“Autumn taught us the basics and made it fun,” Joya says. “She is also super competitive. After we got the basics down, we were able to start doing more things.”

Kam got her start in volleyball at age seven in Boys & Girls Club. Her coach was her mother, Melanie Mitchell, who played volleyball at Oregon. (Her father, Kevin, was a middle linebacker for the Ducks). She started at G3 when she was 11 and played on the U14 team when she was 12.

“G3 is a great program for getting you to love volleyball,” Kam says. “They create a lot of opportunities for you to get in the gym, play some volleyball and meet people; that helps you love the sport. You are playing with your friends. It’s a fun atmosphere. And the coaches are super-dedicated. They’ll come in and do a lesson with you.

“G3 also offered academies to people who didn’t want to play club (volleyball). You can come to the club and get work in on Sundays. I played club, so I had that on top of (the academies). It was just about getting touches.”

Macey Hughes started volleyball as an eight-year-old at Boys & Girls Club.

“I didn’t like it at first,” she says. “It was something my parents made me do. At my first practice, I cried. I did not want to be there. It is hilarious looking back on it now. But my friends all played. We started playing together. I was very into gymnastics at the time, but I got too tall for that. So volleyball it was.”

Macey also played basketball until her freshman year in high school. “Then I had to choose between that and volleyball,” she says. “It got too time-consuming for both.”

She played at G3 from sixth to eighth grade.

“Some of my favorite memories of playing volleyball came at G3,” Macey says. “That was when I started enjoying it and playing better. It was an awesome club to be at when I first started playing. All my friends from school played there. It was a super-positive experience.”

Taelyn Bentley began playing volleyball when her family moved to Corvallis when she was in the eighth grade. Before that, she played basketball, ran track and swam.

“I just loved playing sports,” she says. “It was fun to compete. I had a lot of great friends on the various teams. And I was successful in all of them. In a lot of ways, that increased my volleyball abilities. Doing multiple sports is good for your body and your health and also your mindset.”

Bentley skipped basketball as a sophomore and junior in high school.

“That was the right move for me at the moment,” she says. “Then I came back and played both volleyball and basketball as a senior.”

Her time at G3 “were my first years playing volleyball,” Taelyn says. “At that point, volleyball wasn’t my main sport — it was just fun. The purpose was to be with girls I went to school with and had built good relationships with.

“The coaches there helped me with a lot of little things. They covered a lot of groundwork with me. That was great. I was pretty athletic and they thought I was coachable, so it worked out well.”

The Dean of Portland Sports is now on BlueSky.

In the fall of 2020 and the winter of 2021, Covid shut down indoor activities in the U.S. Megy got around it by utilizing G3’s outdoor facilities. The outdoor sand courts are covered and wind-protected. Megy brought in three space heaters to help fight the cold.

“We followed the rules,” he says, “but kept playing volleyball outside.”

Joya, Kam, Macey and Taelyn were regulars there during that time.

“We called it ‘secret volleyball,’ ” Kam says. “They put heaters in for our parents to sit and watch. It was a time when we didn’t have anything to do. Pretty much every day we went out and played volleyball and hung out. That made it more fun, because we were all really good friends.”

The girls braved the elements to continue their volleyball routine.

“I remember picking Joya up one day and it was 22 degrees,” Tim Euhus says. “It was so cold.

“Jeff has a passion. I can’t speak highly enough about him. They had to play with masks. He did everything that was legal to comply with what the state mandated so those girls could keep developing their skills, and more importantly, they had a release — an opportunity to get out of their houses and enjoy each other. He created that environment.”

The quartet played together as 13-year-olds on the G3 U14 team and experienced a lot of success under coach Autumn Hilberg.

“Autumn was teaching us the basics and wants to make it fun,” Joya says. “She is also super competitive, so she pushed us a lot to work on the basics. After we got that, we were able to start doing more things.

“We didn’t start out very strong, but we ended up fighting our way to the top. I was the newcomer. Kam and Macey had been playing for a couple of years. There was authority dynamics. Kam has always been a great leader. She showed us how to go about things. It was definitely some fun times. We were just little girls back then.”

The next year, when Macey and Taelyn had to move up to U16s, Joya and Kam — both with late birthdays and still 14 — joined them.

“Joya and I were the babies,” Kam says. “You keep playing up until you can’t play up anymore.”

The girls were then coached by Evan Hilberg, Autumn’s husband.

“Very different coaches, but I took away a lot from each,” Joya says. “Evan is super technical. He made a great 16s coach, because after you have the basic foundation, he teaches you to be more strategic and competitive. I really liked that.”

Two other girls who would go on to play college volleyball — Bella Jacobson and Vivian Buford — moved up a level to play on the G3 U16s team.

“That year was one of my favorite seasons of club,” Joya says. “I was a tiny little eighth-grader. I didn’t play too much at the beginning. I learned so much and ended up having a spot later in the season. It was huge for my personal growth. I really had to fight for a spot. It was special, being a very young group and getting to play under some good leaders who had been through the 16s system.”

Two of those were high school sophomores at the time — Naddy Hellem and Hannah Blubaugh.

“They were phenomenal leaders,” Joya says. “Leadership can make or break a team. They took us under their wings and showed us how to do the whole club thing. They were what a young team needed at that time.”

Playing in the top division, G3 finished second in league and fifth in the region of more than 100 U16 teams that year, Megy says.

“We had a special bond at G3,” Macey says. “It was cool to have all us girls play together in a small club.”

That summer, G3 put together a “power team” that competed in the national AAU Tournament in Orlando.

“That was the most fun,” Macey says. “We stayed in a house together for two weeks. We played the 14s one week and 16s the next. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. Now looking back, it was such a cool opportunity.”

“We did really well,” Joya says. “Macey sprained an ankle the second day. We’d have placed in the top five if we hadn’t lost her.”

The experience was an epiphany of sorts for Taelyn.

“It made me realize that competing with the top level teams in that division, maybe I had a path to college volleyball,” she says. “That hadn’t even been on my radar. After we did well, I felt like I might be able to actually compete at that level.”

► ◄

In Oregon, serious youth players play both high school and club volleyball. The high school season begins in early September and ends in early November. The club season starts the last week in November, with tournaments beginning in January and running through May. If club teams qualify for nationals, they are in July, which makes the season even longer.

Joya, Kam, Macey and Taelyn all played both. And as the girls entered high school, their paths diverted.

Joya and Macey went to Santiam Christian as freshmen. Joya finished there, but Macey moved to San Antonio after her freshman year. Kam and Taelyn were at Crescent Valley High for their first three years, winning back-to-back state 5A titles as sophomores and juniors. Taelyn then transferred to South Albany and led the Rebels to the state 5A crown as a senior, with CV, led by Kam, placing second.

Taelyn and Kam were both first-team all-state and were the only unanimous selections to the 5A All-Tournament Team as seniors. Taelyn was a four-time all-state tournament selection. Kam was also unanimous first-team all-state tournament as junior and sophomore and a three-time all-state selection.

Joya was two-time 3A All-State Tournament and the PacWest Conference Player of the Year and first-team all-state as a senior. Macey was the state of Texas’ No. 2-ranked right-side hitter as a senior at Cornerstone Christian in San Antonio.

After their freshman years, Macey was gone and Taelyn moved on to another club. Kam left for another club after her sophomore year. Joya was the only one who stayed at G3 through the end of high school, playing three years under Evan Hilberg and Megy.

“Joya is a fantastic player and one of the best kids from one of the best families,” Megy says. “She is an old soul — a great leader, super steady, calm under pressure. A lot of the girls looked up to her. She was super supportive of her teammates.”

Joya considers her G3 experience good training for college.

“There is a saying in the world of volleyball,” she says. “You get to have fun and play hard in high school volleyball. Club is where you get a lot of teaching and do a lot of learning. A lot of club coaches have college experience, and they understand the recruiting world. I owe a lot to my club coaches that I was able to get recruited. They taught me how to do that.

“In terms of pace, high school was on the slower end of playing, and club was in the middle. College has been a lot faster than both. But club prepared me to speed up my game and play against better players. Especially for me, playing at a 3A high school, we don’t always play against the best. It’s fun, it’s competitive most of the time, but sometimes you play some bad teams. That’s not going to prepare you for college. But in the club level tournaments, you play against some really good players. Playing with and against the best has prepared me for college.”

► ◄

Joya Euhus wound up starting as a right-side hitter as a freshman for Houston Christian (courtesy Houston Christian athletics)

Joya considered Sacramento State and Corban University in Salem before choosing Houston Christian in the Division I Southland Conference.

“I always wanted to go somewhere warmer for school,” she says. “I really enjoyed going to a Christian high school and getting a faith-based education. I wanted to continue that. And part of my decision was that I have a lot of family in Texas.”

Joya reached out to Houston Christian coach Trent Herman.

“She sent us some info,” Herman says. “I took a look and was like, ‘We gotta go watch this kid play live.’ I knew she is a great athlete, playing at a small club, a little bit off the radar, which is good for us. She is the type of kid we typically recruit. I recruit raw volleyball athletes and train them, because we are a smaller Division I program and we are not going to get the finished products like the big schools get. I saw her play and thought, ‘Oh yeah, this is someone we can train.’ ”

The 6-1 Euhus wound up starting 28 games for Houston Christian, which went 12-18 overall and 7-9 in conference play. She scored 213 1/2 points and was second on the team with 191 kills.

“Joya did far better than I thought she would, honestly,” Herman says. “She reminded me of a kid I recruited when I first got here, Jessica Wooten, a really good athlete who knew the game. I didn’t know how quickly Joya would transition to the speed of the college game. Once we put her on the floor with five players who knew what they were doing, it allowed her to just play, and she took off. After the first week of the season, we knew she was never coming off the court again.

“Her work ethic is tremendous. That comes from her family. She puts in the extra time, asks a ton of questions and is always willing to learn. That goes a long way toward allowing her to blossom a lot quicker. She is a great teammate, always looking out for others, always has the best interests of the team at heart. I couldn’t ask for a better player.”

Joya says she could hardly have enjoyed her freshman season more.

“I have learned so much,” she says. “Trent is a very technical coach. He values a girl who is coachable. It’s a higher level game. He has taught me a lot about how to make good decisions in a game. We train so much more and harder during the college season. It was a successful season for me. I hit the goals I was hoping for, made good friends on the team, and we played competitively.”

The 6-1 Euhus played out of position as a freshman.

“We brought her in to play on the left, but we lost four starters due to injuries early, so we transitioned her to the right side and she took off there,” Herman says.

Joya says she will be training for both right-side and outside (left) hitter during the offseason.

“Being that versatile is something else we had no idea she would be,” Herman says. “When we first saw her, she was playing middle. We thought one of the pins was going to be best for her in college; we just didn’t know where. Her having that flexibility is huge for us.”

Joya is majoring in business, with a minor in psychology. She was a 4.0 student her first term at Houston Baptist.

► ◄

Kam Mitchell, here serving for Oregon, was a leader on G3’s U14 and U16 club teams (courtesy Oregon athletics)

Kam Mitchell didn’t have much of a decision to make when it came to college.

“I have always wanted to go to Oregon,” she says. “Both my parents played sports there. It has always been my biggest dream to play there. I am so grateful it happened.”

Kam committed to Oregon before Trent Kersten was hired last February after earning WCC Coach of the Year honors at Loyola Marymount.

“I got in touch with her within a few days and knew it was a fit, from the things she was saying she is about, her work ethic and her family,” Kersten says. “It was a seamless transition for us. I am super excited she is a part of our program. She grew up coming to Duck games. It is nice to have someone living out her dream every day. She works her tail off. She takes so much pride in being a part of the program and being a Duck.”

As a 5-10 setter, Mitchell played sparingly and in 19 games this season for the Ducks, who with 15 new players were 17-13 overall and 8-12 in Big Ten action in Kersten’s first season.

“She played a lot at the beginning of the year when we ran a 6-2, and came in as a double set at some points toward the end (of the season),” Kersten says. “She grew a lot. It is such an adjustment to the college game from high school and clubs — the physicality, the speed, the amount of information you have to process. She did a really good job throughout the year of continuing to grow and compete. She helped us not only in our performance but also our training environment with how consistent she is.”

Kam’s best traits as a player?

“It’s hard not to talk about her work ethic right away,” Kersten says. “As a freshman, she is one of the top people in our strength program as far as how much weight she can throw around and how much she is giving to our offseason program. Kam finds ways to win a lot of the mini-games we have in practice. That is such a valuable skill to have. I am looking forward to watching her continue to grow.”

Mitchell says she has enjoyed her time with Kersten.

Oregon coach Trent Kersten praises Kam Mitchell’s work ethic as a freshman setter (courtesy Oregon athletics)

“I love playing for Trent and the whole staff,” she says. “What is so awesome about Trent is he cares for us on a deeper level than just as players. We are like his people. He makes a point to be involved in our lives outside of volleyball.”

Kam considers her first college season a success.

“It went great,” she says. “We have a group of hard-working girls. We have a unique situation with everyone being new. We got to create our own culture and standards and make Oregon volleyball how we wanted to make it. Everyone jelled great, even those who didn’t play but did what was best for the program.”

Mitchell says she enjoys the setter position because “you are the middle man, the quarterback out there. You run the offense. You are involved from a leadership standpoint. You see the game in a cool way. The goal is to give the best ball for my hitters, to put people in position to crush the ball early and shine. It is awesome to see my hitters be successful.”

Oregon’s starting setter, Cora Taylor, was a senior this past season and has exhausted her eligibility. Kam hopes to be in the running for a starting spot next season.

“That is more up to the setting group, including Kam, than it is me,” Kersten says. “We will figure out a lineup that brings out our best. With Kam’s experience and the amount she got to play this year, you would hope she would get to take the next step in her career. She is doing everything right to be able to do that.”

Kam is majoring in psychology with minors in sports business and legal studies. She says her grades for the first semester were “great.”

► ◄

Macey Hughes chose Grand Canyon because it fit her Christian-based beliefs (courtesy Grand Canyon athletics)

Macey Hughes wound up at Grand Canyon for similar reasons as those that helped convince Joya Euhus to go to Houston Christian.

“There were a lot of factors, but one of the main things was I wanted to go a school where I felt backed up with my faith,” Macey says. “I am a strong Christian. I wanted to go to a school that had similar beliefs and would support me in that. I looked at other options, but ultimately when I did my official visit, there was something different about the campus. Everything here is super faith-based. It was a no-brainer decision. As soon as I set foot on campus, I could see myself being here for four years.”

Hughes made her mark immediately as a right-side hitter. She started five matches and scored 117.5 points, sixth on the team, as Grand Canyon went 17-13 overall and 9-9 in Mountain West play. She totaled 98 kills, 33 digs and 38 total blocks in 22 appearances.

“I think the season went well for me,” Macey says. “The team was super successful. It was our first year in the Mountain West. We were picked for eighth and we finished fifth. That was a big win for us.”

As with Kam at Oregon, Macey picked Grand Canyon before the school hired coach Kendra Potts.

“The previous coaching staff was a big reason why I chose Grand Canyon,” Macey says. “When I found out they were leaving, I was like super scared. You don’t know what will happen with the coaching switch. But when Kendra first came in, she had calls with all of us. From the first call, I knew she was going to support me. She has been a blessing. So has the whole coaching staff. They are one of the reasons I am loving volleyball and loving the school.”

Potts came to Grand Canyon after a stint as head coach at Division II power West Texas A&M.

Macey Hughes, here doing the “airplane” for Grand Canyon, says some of her favorite volleyball memories came playing for G3 (courtesy Grand Canyon athletics)

“Ironically, Macey was on my recruiting list there, so I knew who she was,” Potts says. “Once I took the job, I wanted to get to know her and see if I’d be a fit with her. It was a great connection from the start, with both her and her family.”

The 6-1 Hughes began the season as a starter and was in and out of the lineup during the season.

“Typical freshman learning curve and growth,” Potts says. “What I appreciate about her is that she shows up the same every day — same focus, same energy. She is very dependable. We know what we are going to get from, her day in and day out. She found a way to make a positive impact when she wasn’t playing the most. Her freshman year was great. She handled it so well.”

Potts likes Hughes’ position as a right-side hitter.

“Being left-handed, that is a natural skill to throw people off and create some edges for her,” the Antelopes’ coach says. “She was very thoughtful and took blocking very seriously. It’s important that you can slow down the opponent’s best hitter with your block. She was meticulous and took scouting reports seriously, and also making in-game adjustments.

Grand Canyon coach Kendra Potts felt Hughes was a natural as a southpaw at right-side hitter (courtesy Grand Canyon athletics)

“I liked her process and how she learned as games went on. She didn’t stay in a rut. If she did, she found ways to get out of it. That was cool to see from a freshman.”

What kind of attributes does Macey have as a person?

“If I were to use one word that describes her, it is sunshine,” Potts says. “She is very happy. She serves people so well. She is selfless. She wants to make others feel special when she’s around her. Every single person on our team would describe her that way.”

Potts expects Hughes to come in as an improved product as a sophomore.

“Offseason is a great time for development,” Potts says. “You don’t have to rush training. I am excited to be able to get more time with her in that space, to grow her confidence and her experience. I see her role elevating. I think she is going to be able to do it quicker and sustain a higher level of play more consistently next year, understanding the speed of the game at the college level.”

Macey is thinking along team lines about next season.

“All of us returnees are super hungry.” She says. “We want to be near the top or at the top of the Mountain West.”

Macey is majoring in biology with an emphasis on pre-med. Her grade-point average for the first two terms was 4.0.

► ◄

Taelyn Bentley began playing volleyball after her family moved to Corvallis when she was in the eighth grade (courtesy South Florida athletics)

Taelyn Bentley grew up in Alaska and moved to Corvallis in eighth grade. Location played into her decision to go to South Florida.

“I figured that if I had the opportunity at one point in my life to do something completely different and new, now would be the time to do it,” Taelyn says. “It was a chance to get my school paid for and to go live in a big city for the first time in my life. I thought it would be fun to see what the other side of the country was like.

“It has been very different, definitely a culture shock. But there are so many things I love about Florida. I have learned so much about the culture and people through volleyball.”

The 6-foot Bentley started 12 times and played in 18 matches for South Florida, which was 17-13 overall and 12-4 in American Athletic Conference play. As a middle blocker, she scored 95 points, with 68 kills and 42 total blocks. The Bulls advanced to the NCAA Tournament, losing in the first round to defending national champion Penn State.

“We won a set, which was awesome,” Taelyn says. “We really improved throughout the season. I had some great opportunities and took advantage of them. The whole season was a great experience — definitely not something I expected my freshman year.”

Taelyn’s major at South Florida was public relations. She got “all As and Bs” during her first semester.

Now Bentley is on to a new adventure. She has transferred to San Diego State.

Taelyn Bentley spent her freshman volleyball season at South Florida, but has since transferred to San Diego State (courtesy Taelyn Bentley)

“I wanted to be closer to my family on the West Coast,” she says. “I still want to enjoy the beach and the things I love about living in a city.”

San Diego State’s head coach is Brent Hilliard, a member of the U.S. team that earned a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Games. An assistant is Steve Timmons, the first American male to win three Olympic medals in volleyball (gold in 1984 and ’88, bronze in ’92).

“They both also played professionally and are extremely experienced,” Taelyn says. “I am excited about what I can learn from them and the culture they bring in the volleyball community.”

► ◄

Now all four young ladies are playing college volleyball in the Western U.S., not too far from where it all started for them — in Corvallis, which you wouldn’t consider to be a hotbed for the sport. Tim Euhus believes it is a testament to perseverance and determination.

“With all that is going on in college sports, you are still going to be found if you work hard, if you apply yourself and do the right things,” Tim Euhus says. “Coaches are still going to find you.”

► ◄

Readers: what are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below. On the comments entry screen, only your name is required, your email address and website are optional, and may be left blank.

Follow me on X (formerly Twitter).

Like me on Facebook.

Find me on Instagram.