Friends, coaches, teammates, and family all gathered in the Mid-Prairie High School library on March 8 for one purpose, to witness standout Mid-Prairie athlete Landry Pacha sign a letter of intent to continue her volleyball career at Central College in Pella. 

“I knew I wanted to keep playing because I love volleyball so much. I couldn’t stop after high school,” Landry Pacha told KCII sports last December. “When I went there (Central), I just knew that was where I wanted to go. I loved the campus, the college, everything about it was just great. The volleyball coach is amazing, she’s so much fun. The atmosphere there is amazing.”

Before any documents were signed for Pacha to continue her academic and athletic career at Central, Mid-Prairie volleyball head coach, Sherry Evans, thanked everyone for coming to the event and said some kind words about Pacha. 

“Some of the really awesome honors Landry has had all over the years, she’s been an all-conference player, she’s been an academic all conference player, so classroom wise she’s a sharp one,” Evans said. “This recent year she got all-district as well. She was captain for three years, and did a really good job in leading our team in assists basically every year. A new stat for her this year was hitting, which was different but she rocked it, and she led the team in kills. We’re really proud of her.”  

After the pleasant formalities came to a close, Landry, with her parents, Nick and Laney Pacha, sitting next to her, signed her name on the dotted line to make her decision official. 

In her last year playing volleyball for the Golden Hawks Pacha put together a remarkable season. On offense she led the team in assists and kills, with 407 and 264 respectively.  On defense she finished the year with 254 digs and 28 blocks total. As a server she scored a team best 47 aces and had a 94.2% serve efficiency rate 

Pacha’s athletic talents don’t just end on the volleyball court. A multisport athlete for Mid-Prairie, Pacha’s final season of high school basketball came to a close last month. She was selected second-team all conference in the River Valley Conference South and ended the season with 239 points, 30 assists, and 167 rebounds. 

As a freshman Pacha was able to earn a spot on the starting lineup for the volleyball team. Getting better and better every year Pacha was able to accomplish the impressive milestone of 1,000 assists as a junior in 2021. 

“Landry has been a huge part of MP’s success. As a freshman we threw her in as a 6-2 setter alongside senior Cassidy Hershberger. Landry just blossomed from there as a setter,” Evans said. “Her sophomore & junior years she was our only setter running a 5-1. Her senior year we got to utilize her hitting talents and again ran a 6-2 with freshman Jovi Evans. Landry has been an incredible leader for our team.

Part of a rebuild for Mid-Prairie volleyball, put into motion by head coach Sherry Evans, Pacha was an essential component of the Golden Hawks going from a 22 loss team in 2019 to a 27 win team in 2022.  

“[Pacha] is an extremely versatile player and Central College has found an incredible talent as an all around volleyball player,” Evans said. “We are so proud of Landry and her commitment to the Central College volleyball program! She has an incredible work ethic in season and in off season!  She will definitely be missed by MP and we are so excited for her continuing her volleyball career.” 

Pacha, undecided on her major, has plans to focus academically on kinesiology and health science. Appreciative to her teammates and coaches who helped her along the way Pacha will no doubt always remember her time playing volleyball for Mid-Prairie.