The boys volleyball boom in NC is here, and NCHSAA sanctioning could be sooner than you think
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The sounds at Queens University of Charlotte’s Curry Arena were familiar enough, even if the sight was not. Who in North Carolina can’t immediately hear the sneakers squeaking and the bellows from the stands and not think of basketball? Sure, the players jumped high, celebrated big moments, huddled for timeouts — but […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The sounds at Queens University of Charlotte’s Curry Arena were familiar enough, even if the sight was not.
Who in North Carolina can’t immediately hear the sneakers squeaking and the bellows from the stands and not think of basketball? Sure, the players jumped high, celebrated big moments, huddled for timeouts — but there were no hoops in store on this day.
This was boys volleyall, a sport that isn’t yet sanctioned by the N.C. High School Athletic Association but is in its ninth year of holding its own state championships.
It has experienced exponential growth and now boasts 135 teams across the state, public and private, with more lined up to join next year.
For the first time in its nine-year march towards sanctioning, the finals and semifinals were hosted on a college campus — fittingly at Queens, the only Division I athletics program in the state with a boys volleyball program.
There was enough interest in 4A to have its own bracket, where West Forsyth defeated Hough 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-18). All 3A, 2A, and 1A schools had their separate bracket, where Triangle Math & Science defeated Mount Pleasant in an epic 3-1 match (25-19, 34-36, 25-13, 25-10).
Previous iterations of the final bracket have split teams up in other ways, but this year’s was streamlined to fit what the NCHSAA does — separating them by size of school.
The changing of the playoff format is intentional, hoping to make it as easy as possible for the NCHSAA to adopt boys volleyball as the newest sport in the near future.
“It just reflected the growth of the game. We saw about a 50 percent split from 1A to 3A and 4A. We modeled that after lacrosse. I think anytime you can mimic something they’re already doing, it makes it easier for them to say yes,” Sarah Conklin, Director of the N.C. Boys Volleyball Association.
A humble beginning
West Forsyth and Hough in the NC Boys Volleyball Association final. Queens University of Charlotte hosted the 4A boys volleyball championship on May 18, 2025.
Conklin played volleyball in college, representing the Charlotte 49ers. When her oldest son, Garrett Garcia, was in middle school, he asked if he could play too.
The natural answer was no. There was no boys volleyball team.
“Well, can’t we just start it?” he said.
That was the humble beginning of a nine-year passion project for Conklin, as she went to bat for a sport that didn’t exist. She found cooperation in Union County — at the middle school, high school, and even club levels — and the journey began in 2016-17 with four middle schools: Marvin Ridge, Weddington, Piedmont, and Parkwood.
Growth was slow for the first years — the pandemic stifled any early momentum — but the last four have seen exponential growth.
In 2022, only seven schools participated.
It more than tripled to 25 in 2023.
In 2024, it was up to 68.
This year, it was at 135 — more than 2,000 percent growth in four years.
Conklin has heard from dozens of athletic directors who don’t want to add another sport until it gets official sanctioning. She notes that while some schools have been enthusiastic in embracing the sport, others are far from it. Some teams did not practice or play on campus as a result.
“Our ADs, our wonderful teachers, are spread incredibly thin,” said Conklin, who now coaches her youngest son at Weddington. “I don’t begrudge an AD (for saying) ‘I don’t want one more thing to do in the spring.’ That’s why we try to make it as easy as possible.”
“We’re limiting the opportunity for so many young athletes to not only to get a college scholarship but to just be part of a team and find a place to belong,” she added. “The camraderie that boys volleyball brings is unlike any other because you have to work so closely.”
Falling in love with the game
West Forsyth defeated Hough in the NC Boys Volleyball Association’s 4A state championship on Saturday, May 17, 2025 at Queens University of Charlotte. (Photo by Ashley Blake/HighSchoolOT)
The game has the same rules as the girls, but there are some noticeable differences.
There are those moments of togetherness after a big point, just like the girls game, but also a few stare-downs and mean-mugs on faces of players after a big point that are more remniscent of a basketball player getting an “and-one.”
The jump serves also stand out. While rare in the high school girls game, most of the Hough and West Forsyth players tossed the ball 20 feet into the air before timing their leap.
North Carolina has had club teams for awhile, and is home to some pretty good talent.
There are currently two North Carolina players on the U.S. National U19 team — Thomas Demps IV of Broughton (whose older sister Jade was N.C. Gatorade Player of the Year) and 6-foot-10 Grant Lamoureux of West Forsyth, who graduated in the fall semester to enroll at national power Pepperdine.
Conklin said that club interest hasn’t sparked high school interest (there isn’t yet a team at Broughton for Demps, for instance) but the reverse. Once players encounter the sport at a high school setting, they then seek out club options.
Not every team has a club player, but they also don’t need one.
Other sports backgrounds have made the transition to the game easier than it appears.
A wrestler might make a great libero, or a goalkeeper a great middle blocker.
But over everything else, a willingness to learn and improve is all that’s needed.
“There’s a lot of courage involved and vulnerability to learn a sport as a high school guy. A lot of guys have only been playing a few years — even if they play club — (so) they still remember what it was like to not be able to pass the ball with your forearm, because you don’t grow up doing that.,” Conklin said. “But they learn so quickly so as a coach it’s so rewarding because you have win after win almost every practice and they learn so quickly.”
Path to sanctioning
West Forsyth defeated Hough in the NC Boys Volleyball Association’s 4A state championship on Saturday, May 17, 2025 at Queens University of Charlotte. (Photo by Ashley Blake/HighSchoolOT)
Conklin is on the board of directors of First Point Volleyball Foundation, which works to grow the boys’ game in a number of states. When a North Carolina school adopts the sport, she and her team offer to handle scheduling. There are also grants for first-year and second-year teams to help ease the transition.
This year, her team even calculated teams’ RPI to mimic how the NCHSAA seeds its brackets.
Everything is done to make a seamless transition into NCHSAA sanctioning, but it’s not as simple as just gaining popularity.
For a sport to be officially adopted by the NCHSAA, it must meet at least one of two participation thresholds for two consecutive years.
One of the two thresholds is if at least 50 percent of schools within a single classification offers sport. They hit that benchmark this year. Fifty-four of the 103 schools in 4A fielded teams.
One down, one to go.
However, the “50 percent of a classification” rule is getting phased out and, starting next year as the NCHSAA expands from four to eight classifications, the bylaws will have just the one remaining threshold: a sport must be played by at least 25 percent of all NCHSAA member schools to be sanctioned.
But good news: that should be met as well.
With 446 total NCHSAA members, the 25 percent threshold comes out to 111.5 schools. Already, eight schools have told Conklin they plan on having teams next year, which would bring the total to 113 — enough to meet a required standard for a second straight year.
Girls flag football, another sport on the cusp of sanctioning, has hit thresholds in back-to-back years but has other hurdles, like differences on field size and preferred season (spring or fall) among schools.
Volleyball has no such incongruity among its participants, which could make for quicker sanctioning.
Conklin hopes that both sports can make it across the sanctioning finish line.
She knows what volleyball has meant for her sons and her players.
“What I love is I’ve never had a guy step in my gym who doesn’t fall in love with the game,” Conklin said. “You almost have to keep them from playing so much.”
Copyright 2025 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Cathedral Catholic duo leads All-CIF beach volleyball team
2025 All-CIF San Diego Section beach volleyball team Pair of the Year: Lauren Hanson and Jojo Wilson, Cathedral Catholic Hanson, a junior, and Wilson, a sophomore, helped the Dons to the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship, beating archrival Torrey Pines in the finals. Cathedral Catholic finished 17-0. Wilson is verbally committed to Long […]
2025 All-CIF San Diego Section beach volleyball team
Pair of the Year: Lauren Hanson and Jojo Wilson, Cathedral Catholic
Hanson, a junior, and Wilson, a sophomore, helped the Dons to the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship, beating archrival Torrey Pines in the finals. Cathedral Catholic finished 17-0. Wilson is verbally committed to Long Beach State.
Coach of the Year: Huy Nguyen, San Marcos
First team
Name, School, Year
Lauren Hanson, Cathedral Catholic, Jr.
Jojo Wilson, Cathedral Catholic, So.
Holly Cassidy, Torrey Pines, Sr.
Kelly Randolph, Torrey Pines, So.
Ruby Partain, Carlsbad, Jr.
Havani Embry, Carlsbad, Jr.
Aurora Fernandez, Point Loma, So.
Caroline Tadder, Point Loma, Jr.
Kristen White, Scripps Ranch, Jr.
Riley McDonald, Scripps Ranch, So.
Second team
Name, School, Year
Maya Evens, Cathedral Catholic, Sr.
Mae Kordas, Cathedral Catholic, Sr.
Aubrie Dingman, Torrey Pines, So.
Parker Herrin, Torrey Pines, So.
Elyse Taschner, Scripps Ranch, Jr.
Emma Garrett, La Jolla, Jr.
Madisyn Parady, La Costa Canyon, Sr.
Kenidee Wax, Eastlake, So.
Kylie Osborne, San Marcos, Sr.
Alexis Schwartz, San Marcos, Sr.
Note: Team based on vote of Coaches Advisory Committee.
MINNEAPOLIS – University of Minnesota Associate Head Coach Peter Miller was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year, the USTFCCCA announced on Friday. Miller coached Kostas Zaltos to a Big Ten and NCAA hammer throw title at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. For Miller, the regional honor is the eighth of his career in his […]
MINNEAPOLIS – University of Minnesota Associate Head Coach Peter Miller was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year, the USTFCCCA announced on Friday. Miller coached Kostas Zaltos to a Big Ten and NCAA hammer throw title at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
For Miller, the regional honor is the eighth of his career in his 12th season at the ‘U’. Miller has cemented himself as the premier throws coach in the region, and also nationally, as the former Gopher thrower has coached at least one All-American in a throwing event on either the men’s or women’s side in all 12 seasons as a coach at Minnesota. The 2025 men’s hammer throw season goes down as a historic one with Angelos Mantzouranis’ NCAA silver medal pairing with Zaltos’ NCAA championship. The 1-2 finish in the men’s hammer throw made Minnesota the first team to do so since 2011 (Virginia Tech) at the NCAA Championships. With Miller’s coaching the duo of Zaltos and Mantzouranis finished the season first and second in nine of the 10 meets they competed in together. Miller’s coaching on the men’s side was not limited to Zaltos and Mantzouranis with the Golden Gopher men’s hammer throw group setting a new USTFCCCA ‘Event Squad’ record in the event as the first quartet (Zaltos, Mantzouranis, Schafer, Tzamtzis) to average over 70-meters (70.79m | 232-3).
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on X, Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
HOUSTON – Jim VanHootegem, a three-time USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year and Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year selection, has joined the University of Houston Track & Field program as an assistant coach, Director of Track & Field Will Blackburn announced Friday. “This is the realization of a long-held aspiration to […]
HOUSTON – Jim VanHootegem, a three-time USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year and Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year selection, has joined the University of Houston Track & Field program as an assistant coach, Director of Track & Field Will Blackburn announced Friday.
“This is the realization of a long-held aspiration to be a part of Houston Track and Field,” VanHootegem said. “I want to thank Eddie Nuñez, Lauren DuBois, Will Blackburn and Carl Lewis for this opportunity. I can’t wait to continue the great Cougar tradition of developing individual student-athletes to the highest levels and contending for team championships. So much of my coaching has been based upon what I’ve learned from legendary coach Tom Tellez, and it’s an amazing honor to follow in his coaching footsteps.”
VanHootegem (pronounced van-OTT-eh-ghem) will coach the horizontal jumps after spending two seasons at South Plains College. During his time with the Texans, he was named the 2025 USTFCCCA Indoor Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year and helped guide the team to three team NJCAA National Championships, including seven individual National Championship titles.
“We just got even better as an overall program with Jim’s addition,” said Blackburn. “He brings years of experience as both a head coach and assistant, having led the program to win team National Championships titles at the NCAA and NJCAA levels. Our program is built on representing the University of Houston at the highest level in the Big 12, NCAA Championships and on the international level. Jim understands the rich history of Houston Track &Field, and we are excited to have him join the program.”
In his career, VanHootegem has helped guide his programs to 15 National Team Championship titles and 27 conference team titles. Additionally, VanHootegem produced 138 All-American honors as an event coach and 63 honorees as a head coach.
His coaching accolades include the 2016 Big 12 Conference Women’s Outdoor Head Coach of the Year, three USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, three USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year honors and five Big East Conference Coaching Staff of the Year recognitions.
VanHootegem brings a wealth of Big 12 experience as he served as the head coach at Oklahoma for six seasons from 2013-19. He guided 83 Sooners to NCAA Championship berths, 62 collected All-America accolades and 28 won individual or relay Big 12 titles. Additionally, 65 student-athletes earned All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA.
From 2004-2013, VanHootegem served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M where the Aggies won seven NCAA team titles, 22 individual NCAA Champions and 14 conference crowns. VanHootegem was named the 2009 Men’s National Assistant Coach of the Year and a 2012 Mondo Regional Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.
VanHootegem was an assistant coach at Miami from 2001-04, where he won five conference titles and was a member of the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year on five separate occasions.
As a student-athlete at North Central College, VanHootegem helped lead his squad to a pair of NCAA Division III national championships and two third-place finishes. He is a seven-time All-American and was named the team’s most valuable athlete and a team captain.
A native of Kewanee, Ill., VanHootegem earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from North Central College. He is currently a USTFCCCA Academy instructor for the jumps curriculum. Van Hootegem is a certified strength and conditioning coach by the USTFCCCA Academy and is Level II certified in the USA Track & Field Coaching Education Program.
VanHootegem is married to the former Carmen Melendez, and they have three children, Tori, Quin and Olivia. The VanHootegems also have two granddaughters, Eden and Hazel.
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Marquette wins water polo district championships | Sports
The Marquette Mustangs earned a 14-7 win over Kirkwood in Walker Natatorium at Kirkwood High School to win the water polo championship. (Photo provided) Photo provided The Marquette Mustangs are the Missouri Water Polo district champions again. The Mustangs earned a 14-7 win over Kirkwood in Walker Natatorium at Kirkwood High School. Marquette finished 24-1. […]
The Marquette Mustangs earned a 14-7 win over Kirkwood in Walker Natatorium at Kirkwood High School to win the water polo championship. (Photo provided)
Photo provided
The Marquette Mustangs are the Missouri Water Polo district champions again.
The Mustangs earned a 14-7 win over Kirkwood in Walker Natatorium at Kirkwood High School.
Marquette finished 24-1. The win made it back-to-back championships and third overall. Water polo for girls began in 2021.
Coach Claire Maniscalco said there was no pressure on her girls to repeat.
“We set the same input goals every year, focusing on training and how we work. We don’t pay attention to results,” Maniscalco said. “We do the work and accept whatever results happen. Our kids are great at buying into the program’s approach.”
In the regular season, Marquette defeated Kirkwood 15-3.
Going into the final, Maniscalco said her girls were not overconfident.
“Confidence is earned by putting in the work. This year’s team really trained hard,” Maniscalco said. “What we refer to as the right way. They earned the confidence they brought into the championship game.”
The keys to the victory, Maniscalco said, were the Mustangs’ defensive and offensive disciplines.
In the win, cousinsNeveah Kerberand Cassidy Kerber played well. Cassidy, a sophomore, scored six goals. Neveah, a senior, scored five goals.
“Their power on offense stands out and the hard working movement defense lead by (junior) Olivia (Brzyski) in the goal and Isla (Sattler) mirroring their top shooter and effectively limiting her scoring chances stood out. Our four first year starters (Sattler, Dani Hume, Avery Anthony and Gabby Silasi) really bought into and learned zone help defense and executed amazingly.”
The Mustangs lose only Neveah Kerber to graduation.
“The sport is growing so competition gets stronger each year,” Maniscalco said. “We have two players returning who were first team all-district two years in a row now and a third who made second team this year. We’ll be in a good position to compete again next year.”
Salt Lake Community College to cut track and field programs after banner season
TAYLORSVILLE — One of the more successful athletic programs at Salt Lake Community College has been discontinued after just three seasons. The Bruins have discontinued both the indoor and outdoor track and field programs, the state’s largest two-year college confirmed to KSL.com Friday afternoon after a banner year for the sport on the Taylorsville campus. […]
TAYLORSVILLE — One of the more successful athletic programs at Salt Lake Community College has been discontinued after just three seasons.
The Bruins have discontinued both the indoor and outdoor track and field programs, the state’s largest two-year college confirmed to KSL.com Friday afternoon after a banner year for the sport on the Taylorsville campus.
“After thorough evaluation, this decision reflects broader institutional priorities and financial challenges,” the school said in a statement. “It was made after careful consideration and in no way reflects negatively on our student-athletes, who have represented the college with excellence and dedication.”
Athletes on scholarship and those who have signed letters of intent prior to the announcement will have their scholarships honored for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year, a spokesperson for the school said.
SLCC will continue to field a men’s and women’s cross country team, and “has no plans to discontinue cross country,” per the college.
Salt Lake is in the early days of new athletic leadership under Gary Veron, a former associate athletic director at BYU over student-athlete experience and NIL who replaced long-time athletic director Kevin Dustin after a decade in charge.
Prior to his time in Provo, Veron held several positions at BYU-Hawaii, including interim athletic director and associate athletic director for compliance and student-athlete welfare.
SLCC head coach Isaac Wood, who led the Bruins to three cross country national championships in his first three seasons and dual men’s and women’s national titles last year with the program, could not be reached for comment.
The 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association national coach of the year of the Bruins was coming off arguably the most successful season in the combined program’s short history, including national championships in both men’s and women’s cross country. It was the second consecutive title for women’s cross country, which also won the NJCAA half-marathon title in the fall.
Emerald Kehr, one of the stars of the 2023 national champions who prepped at West High, went on to sign with LSU after finishing second nationally in cross country and top five in the NJCAA in the mile, 3,000 meter and 4×800-meter relay.
Salt Lake sophomore JaQuavious Harris finished first overall to pace the men’s team in 23:30.7. The Cheraw, South Carolina, native then signed a professional running contract with Saucony and still competes and trains regularly with the local Run Elite Program.
The Bruins followed up the feat in March, when freshman Jayden Holdsworth won the NJCAA indoor 3,000-meter championship. The redshirt freshman from Orem surged to the front of the pack in 600 meters to become the second individual champion in the men’s track and field program’s short history and pace an eighth-place finish at the national meet.
In the outdoor season, Michael Maiorano and Melanie Anderson won championships in the men’s and women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, respectively, and American Fork native Jayden Fitzgarrald finished runner-up in the 5,000 meters. In all, 19 athletes earned NJCAA All-American status.
SLCC men’s cross country and track and field fielded 39 athletes on its roster last year, the majority of whom were from the state of Utah, with all but 11 of them coming from the state of Utah.
The Salt Lake women’s program lists 30 players on its roster — all but six of whom come from the Beehive State.
With the move, SLCC will sponsor four men’s sports and six women’s sports, as well as cheer/spirit squads and varsity esports rosters.
Salt Lake Community College swept the men’s and women’s NJCAA Division I cross country national championships, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo: Courtesy, SLCC)
Recreation Commission forwards Moraga Canyon recommendations The Piedmont Recreation Commission forwarded its input on the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan at the Commission’s June 18 meeting. Also at the meeting, a group of Piedmont High School beach volleyball players spoke out asking the Commission to consider space for a facility to host matches and practices in […]
The Piedmont Recreation Commission forwarded its input on the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan at the Commission’s June 18 meeting.
Also at the meeting, a group of Piedmont High School beach volleyball players spoke out asking the Commission to consider space for a facility to host matches and practices in Piedmont. The team just completed its third season and has no practice facility in town, with commutes of 40 minutes each way to a facility in the town of Moraga.
The Moraga Canyon Specific Plan involves a potential development on the north part of town around Coaches Field. Housing could be build but the plans also include improvements to Coaches Field, including expanding it to the size needed to host Under-14 year old soccer, including spectator stands, bathrooms and the like. The current is grass and hosts multiple sports including soccer, baseball and softball. The new field would potentially have artificial turf with overlays for baseball and soccer. It could also host lacrosse and other sports.
The Commission voted 5-0 to send a recommendation back to the City Council for the improvements, which did not include a beach volleyball facility.
Daisy Tran, who will be a junior in the fall, was one of the players who spoke at the meeting.
“I believe that having our own courts locally would create a stable foundation for further team improvement,” Tran said. “Local courts would open many opportunities for people of all ages to build community through playing beach volleyball.”
Coach Justin Hoover said he had 72 players express interest in trying out for the team this past Spring, but only eight were able to play. He attributed that dropoff to not having a facility in Piedmont. Rising sophomore Allyson Huynh said, “I was one of those 72 girls who had signed up to play beach volleyball. However because my parents were unable to contribute to the carpool, I was unable to play.”
Although the players were speaking to the agenda item on the Moraga Caynon Specific Plan, the site is unlikely to be open to a beach volleyball facility. Plans have been drawn up on the idea of improving the site for its current usage. Further, it’s unknown where exactly the housing would be built – there are no proposed projects yet. In theory, someone could eventually propose a court on the city-owned property. But it seems unlikely at this point in the process, which began in 2023.
“It was not a recreation facility that was identified by the city council when they approved the recreation facility as part of the plan,” Piedmont Director of Planning & building Kevin Jackson explained.
Hoover said his team’s appearance was mainly to raise awareness of the problem.
“I did not go in thinking we’re going to get a volleyball court,” he said. “I did go in trying to make sure they know we’re here.”
The Piedmont beach volleyball team: (L-R) Mia Bechtel, Daisy Tran, Izara Dando, Lucia Dorsey, Sofia Meyer, Olivia Stevens and coach Justin Hoover.
The players all talked about the rising popularity of the sport – both indoor and beach volleyball have seen massive increases in participation in recent years. They also all spoke of the commute time denying kids the opportunity to play.
“It would be such a shame to see all the love for the sport go to waste since we didn’t have a stable facility,” said Fiona Olsen, a rising junior.
