Boys volleyball’s second pilot season is underway
The second pilot season for boys volleyball kicked off last week, just about a month before the sport hopes to gain official sanctioning from CHSAA’s Legislative Council.
This season, there are more than 80 teams participating, representing nearly 50 individual schools. (During the pilot season, schools are allowed to have multiple teams.) They are split into two classifications, 5A and 3A.
In 5A, teams off to hot starts include Cheyenne Mountain Maroon (7-0), Thornton Blue (4-0) and Grandview Black (2-0).
In 3A, unbeaten teams include The Academy Blue (6-0), James Irwin Blue (4-0), Thornton Gray (4-0) and The Vanguard Gold (3-0).
The sport has a big single-day event, the Paul Hastings Tournament, on April 6. Regionals are May 3-4, and the state championship is May 11.
Already, five boys volleyball seniors have signed to play college volleyball: The Vanguard’s Hayden Frear (McKendree College), Grandview’s Brady Mullens (Endicott College), Monarch’s Zig Licis (Queen’s University), Chaparral’s Ryan Smith (Cambellsville University) and Horizon’s Rowdy Martin (Cardinal Stritch University).
Like the other pilot sports — girls wrestling and unified bowling — boys volleyball has cleared a number of steps along the sanctioning process, including the Equity Committee and Classification and League Organizing Committee.
The final steps are a vote from the Board of Directors on April 23, and, if approved there, a vote by the Legislative Council on April 24.
