Ahead of her sophomore season with Long Beach State women’s volleyball, Madi Maxwell and her family suffered a tragic loss.
Maxwell’s father and volleyball coach in her youth, Gerrit Maxwell, died in January at the age of 52.
Maxwell, who was rehabbing a significant injury at the time that forced her to miss a large part of the team’s offseason, questioned whether it was right for her to continue to pursue volleyball during such a difficult time for her and her family.
However, what drove Maxwell to return to The Beach was her love for her teammates, whom she calls a “second home.”
“There were a lot of moments that I wanted to quit and give up and just be at home with my family, but I love this sport, and I love this [team], and that’s who I do it for,” Maxwell said.
Persevering triumphantly through grief and injury, Maxwell blossomed into a star in her sophomore season. As the team’s starting setter, she finished third in the Big West in assists per set, putting her on the path to earning All-Big West Second Team honors.
In a thrilling five-set victory at home against Cal State Bakersfield on Oct. 25, Maxwell recorded the first triple-double in program history since 2012, and then doubled up that performance with another triple-double in the same week.
Despite her gaudy numbers, playing setter was not actually her most natural position.
As a freshman, Maxwell played opposite hitter, a position she played at Hart High School, where she finished her career with a whopping 1,206 kills.
Maxwell excelled in her role, racking up 142 kills, and was awarded a spot on the 2023 Big West All-Freshman Team.
With LBSU head coach Natalie Reagan having 10 new roster additions to manage this past offseason, she and her coaching staff approached Maxwell about moving her to the setter position. The request seemed daunting to the Newhall native.
“It can be a little suspicious with all these freshmen coming in and [the coaching staff] being like, ‘We want you to play this other position,’” Maxwell said. “But the trust they have in me to be a volleyball player is so great, and I’m so appreciative of it.”
Maxwell looks back on her offseason position switch as a “fever dream.”
The star setter was asked to change her role on the team entirely while still recovering from injury. What made it work out for Maxwell and her teammates was the sophomore’s intense dedication to being involved in any capacity she could, according to Reagan.
“That’s a pretty difficult role for a leader to be in, but she did a really good job of connecting with her teammates off the court and being in practice all the time, and showing that dedication when injured means so much to your fellow teammates,” Reagan said.
As the setter responsible for orchestrating Reagan’s unique, fast-paced style of offense, which led the Big West in kills per set this season, Maxwell had to take command of the team quickly.
LBSU fans got very familiar with the sight of Maxwell emphatically celebrating and slapping hands with teammates after setting them up for kills, which she did 1,113 times this season.
LBSU sophomore setter Madi Maxwell celebrates a point with senior middle blocker Nieko Thomas at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Aug. 31. Diego Perez | Long Beach Current
According to her head coach, what drives her to the level of success she has seen in her young career is her relentless work ethic and volleyball IQ.
“[Maxwell] has done a great job of doing the work behind the scenes, whether that’s watching film or training or skill acquisition, that’s something she is really passionate with,” Reagan said. “I really see it as a partnership being able to run an offense together, and there’s no one I’d rather do it with.”
Years before arriving at The Beach, Maxwell’s volleyball journey began at a very young age.
The 6-foot-2 dual-position player comes from a family of athletes. Her mother, Wendy, played volleyball at Cal State Los Angeles, while her father, Gerrit, played football at Cal State Northridge.
Maxwell’s first love in sports was soccer, but she found a new passion when she went to a volleyball camp with her best friend at 7 years old.
After falling in love with volleyball, both Wendy and Gerrit coached her during her club volleyball days.
After Maxwell went on to star for LBSU, and Maxwell’s younger brother Parker began to make a name for himself playing football at Hart High School, their parents put a bow on their coaching careers.
“My parents are the most sacrificing parents ever,” Maxwell said. “They stopped coaching so they could support me and my brother in our sports; they dropped everything to support us and our family vacations became volleyball tournaments and football games.”
Days after LBSU was eliminated from the semifinals of the Big West Championship Tournament, a round further than the team finished a year prior, Maxwell reflected on the emotional, resilient season she had.
LBSU sophomore setter Madi Maxwell celebrates with her teammates, who have turned the women’s volleyball program into a “second home” for Maxwell. Diego Perez | Long Beach Current
While coming to The Beach was initially about furthering her volleyball career as a star high school athlete, Maxwell has found a family at LBSU that she plans to lead for years to come.
“It’s more than a game,” Maxwell said. “No matter what you’re going through, injury, grief, loss, whatever it is, it’s just a joy to be with the people you love every day.”
A senior at CSULB, Timothy Hessen serves as the Sports Editor of the Long Beach Current. First joining the Current as a copy assistant editor as a junior, Timothy has written about sports in several different publications, including the Long Beach Current, the Coast Report and the Laguna Beach Independent. After graduation, Timothy hopes to pursue a career in journalism or public relations, with the long-term goal of either covering or working for an NFL or NBA team.