Grand Rapids volleyball coach Bryan Fideldy calls Sidney Mattson the most competitive athlete he’s ever coached.
At no point was that more evident than during a 2013 match against Iron Range Conference rival Greenway, when Mattson brushed off a nasty, face-first fall like it was a hangnail.
“She basically bounced her face off the floor. Her nose was cut just like she was an MMA fighter,” Fideldy recalled. “She said, ‘I’m good to go, put some tape on it,’ and just kept rolling like nothing ever occurred.”
Mattson has the talent to match her toughness. And the senior setter, so vital to everything the Thunderhawks accomplished during her four-year varsity career, is the News Tribune’s All-Area Player of the Year.
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Mattson leaves behind a resume that requires a bookmark to get through. Quarterbacking Grand Rapids’ 5-1 offense, she piled up 2,330 set assists, including a school-record 815 a year ago when the Thunderhawks advanced to state for the first time since 1996. There, Mattson set a single-match tournament record with 57 assists in a consolation semifinal.
She relishes being the focal point of the attack.
“Being a setter, there’s about a million things going on around you at one time,” said Mattson, who will play collegiately at Division I North Dakota.
Despite her athleticism and size - “I’m (5-foot-11) with shoes on, so let’s just say 5-11,” she joked - Fideldy never gave serious consideration to making Mattson a hitter. While she ended her prep career with 425 kills, the coach never wanted Mattson to focus exclusively on hitting.
Instead, Fideldy wanted to ensure she was touching the ball on every possession, primarily because, as he says, “She always has the ability to make everybody else look a little better.”
Grand Rapids went 81-35 with Mattson in the lineup, including 53-10 the past two seasons.
Mattson grew up in a family that specializes in churning out Division I athletes. Her sister, Lindsy, is a sprinter at the University of Colorado, while younger brother Mitchell also will attend North Dakota on a hockey scholarship. Her mom, Tara, played volleyball at Minnesota Duluth and her dad, Jeff, was big into sports when he was young.
Sidney Mattson was asked to name the best athlete of the bunch.
“Oh, gosh, I don’t know if I can answer that without getting in trouble,” she said before praising her siblings. “I’d say we’re all good at different things.”
Mom similarly took a pass.
“I’m not picking!” said Tara, a Grand Rapids assistant.
After dabbling in a multitude of sports, Mattson opted to focus on volleyball as she entered high school. It was an easy decision, she says, even though she was a promising basketball player and a fast runner who already had qualified for the state track meet.
She’s never looked back.
“I don’t regret any of it,” Mattson said. “I’ve been playing (volleyball) for four years nonstop and I still love it. I’d say that’s pretty good.”
The Thunderhawks’ season, and Mattson’s prep career, ended Oct. 24 in a playoff loss to Andover. It was three weeks before the Junior Olympic season started, a lengthy layoff that had to burn Mattson.
“The worst punishment for her is not being able to play volleyball for a week or two,” Fideldy said.
Mattson will redshirt as a freshman at North Dakota next fall. It will give her time to acclimate to a faster game while getting “bigger, faster and stronger,” she says.
“It’s going to be a huge leap for me, but I’m really excited,” she said.
