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

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

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

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.”

SHREWSBURY — Sign up for Shrewsbury’s volleyball clinic!

From Wednesday, June 4, to Friday, June 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. join Shrewsbury Head Volleyball Coach Brett Crandall and the rest of the volleyball program to improve your game. The clinic will work on passing, hitting, setting, serving, and team-based games.

The gym opens at 4:15 p.m., and the clinic is open to fifth- through eighth-grade girls. Each camper gets a Shrewsbury Volleyball T-shirt as part of their registration. It’s $90 per person, with a discounted rate for siblings: $90 for the first, $80 for each additional sibling.

More information here: 

https://www.shrewsbury-vb.com/clinics/

middle-school-clinic

By: Paul Schofield


Sunday, May 25, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Latrobe boys volleyball coach Drew Vosefski said he was concerned about playing Penn-Trafford for a third time.

Even though Latrobe had won the previous two section matches, the Wildcats faced a different Penn-Trafford squad in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals May 15 and Vosefski’s worries became reality.

The sixth-seeded Warriors rallied to stun the third-seeded Wildcats, 3-2, by the scores of 21-25, 28-26, 25-18, 18-25 and 16-14.

The Warriors (12-7), who lost twice to the Wildcats (16-2) in section play, faced second-seeded Seneca Valley in the semifinals and gave the Raiders a scare before falling 3-2.

They were scheduled to play fifth-seeded Pine-Richland for third place May 23 for a berth in the PIAA playoffs.

Schall said the Latrobe match swung in the second game when his team started to serve better.

“Once we did that, we put them on their heels,” Schall said. “I am really proud of how we played. It was a tough match, and we put everything we had into it. I guess I did too.

“In Game 1, we did not give them much trouble with our serves. We served better starting in Game 2. We had some guys who really served well. We started putting them in some tough spots.”

Latrobe dominated the first game. Penn-Trafford swung the momentum its way in Game 2 early, but Latrobe battled back and tied the score at 25-all.

The Wildcats actually took a 26-25 lead before the Warriors, behind a kill by Caiden McDonald and Nick Laskey, rallied to tie the match, 1-1.

Schall felt Owen Gisi played well up front in all five games with his blocking ability.

The teams split the next two games, Penn-Trafford winning 25-18 and Latrobe answering 25-18, to set up the thrilling Game 5.

“This is playoff volleyball,” Vosefski said. “We had beaten them twice, but there is an old saying is when you get punched to the face, how much do you punch back? They punched back.

“Beating a team for a third time bothered me, but I am not going to make excuses. They played well.”

In the final game, the winner is the first team to 15, win by two. The game was close and went back and forth.

Penn-Trafford took a 12-10 lead, but the Wildcats tied it 12-12. Penn-Trafford went back up 14-12 as Gisi, McDonald and setter Natheniel Rugh started making plays.

Latrobe senior Luke Fiore tied the score 14-all with a service ace, but the next serve sailed long, setting up the final point, and McDonald finished it with a block.

“That was a tremendous team we beat,” Schall said. “They have an excellent setter and hitter. But we stepped up. I knew we would have to be really good, and I thought we’d be in the ballgame.”

Seneca Valley held off a ferocious effort from Penn-Trafford, picking up a 25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-3 win to reach the WPIAL title game for the fourth time in the past 10 years.

Schall said he was happy with the Warriors’ effort.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” Schall said. “We were a third-place team in our section. I thought we were pretty good. I’m proud of the guys for the way they fought hard through the match. Unfortunately, we needed to get through that stretch in the fifth set still in the ballgame.”

Penn-Traffird’s biggest challenge was to find a way to handle Seneca Valley’s middle blockers, 6-foot-9 Brandon Suski and 6-5 Jordan Hoover.

Owen Gisi and Nick Laskey hit well for the Warriors.

“We handled their middle guys OK,” Schall said. “(Hoover) had a fantastic fifth game hitting and blocking. We did well enough to take their big guy (Suski) out. They had to put another guy in. We had to serve well.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford

SHIPPENSBURG — Damira Allen set the top time in qualifying of the girls 100-meter hurdles on Friday at the PIAA Track and Field Championships. But the Chester junior wasn’t at the starting line Saturday to chase a third straight medal and first gold.

Allen was disqualified from the meet due to the Chester girls no-showing their 4 x 400 relay Friday.

Teammate JaNasia Dearry suffered an apparent injury in the girls 400-meter dash. She finished 18th in that event, her time of 57.72 nearly three seconds off her best. Dearry had been third in the event last year and sixth at states in 2023.

As a result, Dearry scratched the 200. Chester also scrubbed its girls 4 x 400 relay, which included Dearry and Allen. The Clippers, per PIAA officials, listed two alternates on their relay card and had one present in Shippensburg but did not run. As a result, it was registered as a no-show rather than an injury/illness scratch, leading to the disqualification from the rest of the meet for anyone on the card, with Allen as the only individual qualifier other than Dearry.

The PIAA is a no-scratch meet, with a pre-meet deadline for event alterations. Should an injury or illness occur, per its bylaws, the PIAA can make accommodations. However, “if a relay team is scratched for a reason other than injury or illness, and the relay no longer has four eligible contestants to compete, each remaining member of the relay team shall be scratched from the meet, as determined by the meet director.” Since the Clippers had four runners but did not run, it was deemed to be a scratch for “reason other than injury or illness.”

An appeal by Chester was denied by the PIAA meet’s jury of appeals. Chester’s athletic department did not comment on the matter.

The confusion deprived Allen a chance to chase her first PIAA gold medal. Allen had been first in qualifying at 14.02 seconds. She set the Delaware County record at 13.91 seconds at Delcos. She was third in the state each of the last two years.  Allen also qualified in sixth place in the 300 hurdles in 43.60.

The girls 100 hurdles were won by Ella Bahn of Spring Grove in 13.64 seconds Saturday. Kennett’s Aydriane Bowden was second in 14.07. Bahn won the 300 hurdles in 41.98.

Allen’s prelims times would’ve placed her second in the 100 and fifth in the 300.

By: Michael Love


Sunday, May 25, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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When the Gateway boys volleyball team defeated Fox Chapel on May 8 to wrap up an 8-2 Section 4-3A slate and clinch the section championship outright, players, coaches, administrators and many others at the school were excited and expected to see the Gators presented with a first-round home game when the WPIAL playoff brackets were revealed the next day.

But Gateway was tabbed as the No. 9 seed and had to make the trip out to No. 8 Mt. Lebanon, another section champion, for a first-round matchup May 13. The Gators were the only section champion in either Class 3A or Class 2A to travel in the first round.

“If I tried to tell you that it didn’t have an effect on our confidence, I’d be lying,” Gateway coach Phil Randolph said. “I can parrot all the talking points about ‘embracing the role of the underdog,’ but these are smart kids who were raised by smart parents and guardians, so they saw the same thing that I was seeing.

“It was a tough pill to swallow, and it was difficult to find our footing when we abruptly and unexpectedly realized that we would have to turn on a dime. It was frustrating and disappointing to say the very least.”

While the Gators brought a fight to the Blue Devils, they were not able to advance. Mt. Lebanon scored a 3-1 win with set scores of 25-19, 16-25, 25-14 and 26-14.

“It was a ‘hold your head high” postmatch speech, and I truly meant those words,” Randolph said. “There were certainly nerves and emotions, both the visible and the repressed types, but our guys worked their tails off and played a heck of a match. Up until the closing point of the fourth set, these guys gave it everything they had.”

With the adversity of having to travel in the first place, the Gators were put behind the 8-ball with the Game 1 loss, but Randolph said he knew his players would not fold their tents, and they rebounded with a solid Game 2 victory.

“For me, I think that a big part of the night was making sure that we are the ones who were putting our opponent into situations where they are creating unforced errors,” he said. “As noted, there were a lot of nerves heading into the first set, and once we got that out of our system a bit and were able to dictate the pace, we looked like the team that I had come to know and love.

“In that second set, we did what we had to do to put Lebo in a position to adjust to us. We were careful yet calculated in our serving, we had high points of contact on our swings, and we were able to take advantage of a height differential that emerged after they stacked all of their bigger guys into three side-by-side spots on the court. It’s a fickle game though, and momentum swings easily.”

Gateway capped its season at 10-4 overall and will be able to put a ‘2025’ on the section-championship banner.

“Despite the abrupt end, we had a great season, particularly considering the move up to Triple-A,” Randolph said. “Prior to our last section championship in 2022, there was something along the lines of a 36-year gap on that banner. The gap is now three years, and we’ll look to trim that time down even further from here as we turn our eyes to the 2026 season.”

Gateway will enter the 2026 season without this year’s senior group that included four-year team members Owen Echegaray, Darious Farrar, Ethan Nguyen and Tom Nikou.

“Given the manner in which this loss marked the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another, it was also really easy to take pride in seeing how Owen, Darious, Ethan and Tom had grown so much as athletes, leaders and young men,” Randolph said.

“On and off the court, I’ll miss them tremendously, as will their teammates. The boys who are graduating, however, are ones who have taken pride in helping build this program into what it is today.”

Randolph said it was equally satisfying to see how the underclassmen who constituted the rest of the starting lineup — middles Chase Lewandowski and Donovan Shaffer, outside hitter Dan Bozicevic, oppositional side hitter Aiden Coughran and middle hitter/outside hitter Toktobek Kubanychbekov — have taken big steps this season.

“They can have organic, earned ownership of calling this ‘their team’ from here on out,” he said. “This is a great bunch of young men, and it is easy to root for them.”

Gateway was well-represented on the Section 4 all-star team with Bozicevic, Echegaray, Farrar and Nikou voted to the first team. Coughran and Kubanychbekov are second-team selections.

“Volleyball is the ultimate team sport, and it was a team-oriented approach that led us here,” Randolph said. “We have a competitive group of guys, and I encourage them to challenge one another every day in practice to really earn it and call it their own. That challenging attitude extended into attendance at open gyms in the offseason. I think that it’s healthy to be accountable to your brothers on the court in that manner, and I loved to see that these guys felt the same way.

“More than anything, it was a lot of ‘invisible hours’ that went into the program. While the season runs from March to May, we are unofficially a year-round program, and our summer open gyms will begin in about two weeks from now. Nothing worth anything is ever earned easily, so we’ll continue to come together as one and come together often so that when March 2026 rolls around, we’ll be more than ready to roll.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway

The Middlebury women’s track and field team closed out competition at the NCAA Championships on Saturday. Audrey MacLean was the sole Panther to take part in the day, hitting the track in the 5,000 meters at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• MacLean settled into the middle of the pack for the first half of the race, climbing 10 spots by the midway point.
• The sophomore maintained 10th place until the final 400 where she passed a pair of competitors to finish in eighth place with a time of 16:42.81. 

NOTES

• MacLean earned runner-up honors in the steeplechase on Thursday to secure a pair of All-American honors.
• This marked MacLean’s fourth appearance at a national meet, competing at the NCAA Championships in cross country each of the last two years, while placing sixth in the steeple a year ago.
• This season, MacLean rewrote the record books for Middlebury, setting clockings in steeplechase (10:21.15) and the 5,000 (16:26.94).

The official list of All-American honorees will be shared in the coming days.