Sneakers squeaked in Kokomo High School’s Haworth Gymnasium and a couple of people dodged red, white and blue volleyballs that had been served too hard.

Pressing a microphone, announcer Jacob Bough told the crowd to breathe in the historic moment.

Friday marked Kokomo High School’s first home boys volleyball game.

Along with girls’ wrestling, boys’ volleyball became an emerging sport of the Indiana High School Athletic Association in 2022. They were the first two sports to earn the designation.

According to an IHSAA news release, the designation means the IHSAA provides rule books, conducts rules meetings for coaches and provides coverage in the Catastrophic Medical program.

The two sports would be officially recognized and receive state tournament sponsorship from the IHSAA if half of the organization’s schools adopted them.

Fort Wayne’s Snider Panthers were the first to serve in Friday’s game, but a kill by Kokomo freshman Bryce Brassard earned the first point of the match. Kokomo quickly grabbed a second point, but the score was tied a few seconds later.

There was a slight lull in the crowd’s energy for a while. But as both teams scored points into the 20s, the crowd became louder and more enthusiastic.

Some parents turned to ask other spectators if they knew how many points it took to win a game; the answer was 25. The first game went to Fort Wayne Snider.

Building a team

Ethan Wyrick, a senior and point guard on the team, had asked to start a team his sophomore year, but was told there wasn’t enough room in the gym.

He had tried many other sports, including football, baseball, and soccer, but he never found one he really liked.

“Volleyball was the only thing I enjoyed doing and at the same time I was pretty good at it,” he said.

Then, during his junior year, Kokomo held a school-wide tournament. Wyrick recruited his friends to form a team.

“We lost the first round, but it was still a lot of fun,” said Owen Moore, a senior and middle hitter on the team.

They began playing at Jackson Morrow Park and finally received word from the principal over the summer that they could form a team. They just needed to find enough players.

“We finally got a chance to play, we got everyone who wanted to play together and we had a good turnout on call day,” Wyrick said.

More than 20 people tried out to be part of the team, but there were only 15 spots left to fill. He added that it was particularly popular with the international students, who make up half of the team.

Back looking for a win

Kokomo entered the second game looking for revenge.

They scored two points quickly, lost a point due to a net violation that the crowd was fine with for a while, and then got two more points. For a moment, they led by five points.

A timeout was called once Snider caught up to him. Both teams fought hard for the next point, sending the ball into enemy territory several times before Wyrick managed a kill.

Head coach Kelly Hopkins gave him an encouraging smile.

Minutes later the game was tied again. Snider took the lead (the crowd wasn’t too happy about that) then senior Travis Kewley, the team’s outside hitter, tied it again.

“We’ve got a big game here, folks,” Bough said.

The crowd became even louder, yelling with every volley and yelling when Kokomo won a point.

The home team gained a six-point lead. However, he began to slip.

Hopkins called a timeout with the score hanging at 24-22.

Bough commented that he should have gotten some good advice, Kokomo won the game.

A learning experience

Bough has been an assistant coach for the Kokomo High School girls volleyball team for the past few years. She recently found out that she will become the head coach.

Given her experience with the sport, the school asked her if she would be interested in becoming the head men’s volleyball coach.

“It’s been a great learning experience for all of us,” Bough said.

It is her first experience as a head coach. Going over the complex rules of volleyball and developing team techniques can be a challenge.

“But they have been champions and they have taken on everything,” he said of the team.

“We are very excited to grow the sport of men’s volleyball. I mean, it’s growing tremendously,” Bough added. “It’s such an exciting time that the sport is growing. More and more schools are accepting it. …and it’s exciting that our community is starting to build on that.”

the game is still on

In the third game, a Kokomo player dove into the stands, trying to catch a ball.

The home team seemed to have a sense of humor. When a serve fell short and went under the net, team members joked and assistant coach Alex Eades gave the server a smile.

“We were just joking around and trying to keep the spirits up, people locked in and still wanted to play,” Wyrick explained after the game. “Because when you let your teammates get down and get into their own heads about it, everything falls apart.”

Fort Wayne Snider took a nine-point lead early in the game. Although Kokomo was able to close the gap a little, the game ended 20-25.

With one match left to win the game, Snider refused to lose his momentum in game four. They won the final round 15-25.

“We did our best,” Wyrick said after the game. “This team was really…they weren’t much better than us, but they definitely just outplayed us and had a better attitude and more experience.”

The captains added that they anticipated facing more experienced teams during their first season.

“We’re already starting to say we’re going to have fun this season,” Wyrick said. “Not just going for wins, trying our hardest, but we’re going to have as much fun as we can.”

The team is halfway through the season. There are two more home games left, scheduled for April 26 and May 1. Both games are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

“It’s definitely eye-opening to see how many people want to come at least see us and support us,” Wyrick said. “We’re trying to continue with this because we’ve discovered how much fun it is.”

“It’s definitely history in the making,” Moore said.

“I really enjoy playing on this team,” Kewley added. “There are a lot of really great people on this team and we have some really good coaches. Even if we lose, we are learning and it is a lot of fun to be here.”