Sounds of volleyball games fill the Haworth Gym in the spring this year as the KHS boys’ volleyball team takes to the court for the first time in history. As an IHSAA emerging sport, KHS added a boys’ team to its spring sports lineup for the first time.
Because the sport is new, and most of the team has never played competitively, head coach Kelly Hopkins started with the basics.
“I like to focus on fundamentals,” Hopkins said. “Honing in on the basics of the game and getting reps is super important, especially with a team full of guys that have never played competitive volleyball outside of gym class and/or recreational sand volleyball.”
Senior Travis Kewley is an outside hitter for the team. Kewley was introduced to the sport through the Homecoming volleyball tournament Student Council has hosted. He is hopeful that the team’s success will get others excited about playing volleyball.
“I also hope that we can gain attention for the program so it can continue after this year. Because we are losing 14 out of the 16 people on our team after this year, we hope to find more boys who are interested in playing volleyball,” he said.
While winning games is important to the team and coaches, it isn’t their top priority this season. They’ve already reached their goal to win at least four games.
“Obviously we want to win volleyball games,” Hopkins said. “But an overall goal is also to get guys interested in playing the sport and spreading that interest throughout the community and getting younger guys interested now, that way the high school program will develop and soon be able to compete with the programs that have been playing for a while.”
One thing that is important to Hopkins is building a team unity off the court that will translate to the court during games.
“I took the team to see a Ball State Men’s Volleyball match versus Ohio State and we had a great time. It was good team building and really nice for them to experience the men’s game at a higher level,” she said. “It was also pretty cool taking them back to my alma mater. They met Steve Shondell, my college coach, whose entire family has a huge impact on the game.”
That team bond has helped the Kats already this season.
“We stay motivated during tough matches by just always continuing to have fun whether we are winning or losing,” Kewley said. “When we keep good attitudes and don’t get down on ourselves we always play better.”
The Kats take on University High School tonight at 6pm in the Haworth Gym.
