Twelve boys' volleyball teams from across Oregon gathered at Barlow High School on Saturday to compete in a tournament celebrating the May 4th Star Wars holiday and the growth of boys' volleyball in Oregon this spring.
The Oregon School Activities Association Representative Council voted in October 2023 to list boys' volleyball as the first “emerging activity.” The designation allows schools in the state to gauge interest in the sport since boys' volleyball is played as a club activity. The OSAA is keeping an eye on this, as having more than 50 teams would ensure that men's volleyball could become an official sport in the state. within the next few years.
And the numbers suggest that Oregon boys love volleyball.
In men's volleyball's first year as an emerging sport, the number of teams nearly doubled. Last year there were about 30 boys teams across the state. This year, 52 teams from 68 schools will participate.
And this increase in numbers means teams can play more games.
“We had a lot more games than last year, so I thought it was really good,” Clackamas senior Nick Sciulli said. “I’m really glad I was able to play in a few tough games and play a few times.”
The Cavaliers are one of the top boys' volleyball teams in the state, and many of the players entering the season had already competed in the sport at the club level. However, more than half of the team has never played volleyball before this year, so there is still plenty of room for growth.
“Volleyball is still pretty small in Oregon. It's much bigger in other states,” Clackamas senior Keenan McMorris said. “For high school volleyball to get this big, it’s going to be transferred to clubs and the OSAA is going to really push boys’ volleyball in the state.”
McMorris was originally a basketball player, but Ciuli invited her to try volleyball. His fellow senior, Sam Glenn, was a baseball player before falling in love with volleyball. All three now participate in club volleyball outside of school.
Glenn said he has noticed a noticeable increase in the volleyball community this spring, and the school is paying more attention to the team than in past years.
“It just improves every community around it,” Glenn said. “You can be like, 'Let's go to a volleyball game.' Normally we don't get that kind of recognition for anything. Now it's become a high school thing. I'm able to get people to support me.”
However, men's volleyball is not an activity only for those who are already involved in club activities. Ashland made the five-hour commute to Gresham on Saturday to play in the tournament and earned an upset win over the undefeated Cavaliers in their pool opener.
The Grizzlies are a team made up entirely of sophomores and two freshmen, and until this spring, only two players on the team had played club volleyball.
Freshman Kai Hendricks joined because his older brother Noah is also on the team. Hendricks ran cross country for the Grizzlies in the fall and would have run long distance races for the track and field team if not for volleyball, but he said he is enjoying his time with the team this season.
“(I) like the fact that it’s a team sport,” Hendricks said. “I love being able to communicate with everyone and play as a team. It's so different than cross country.”
Fellow freshman Jude Whalen has been a volleyball fan for years and signed up as soon as volleyball became available at the school.
“I’ve been watching girls volleyball since about sixth grade,” Whalen said. “This was my first chance to play.”
Like Hendricks, Whalen probably would have been on Ashland's track and field team if it weren't for volleyball (where she competes in sprints and long jumps), and the opportunity to bond with her teammates is a highlight of the meet. Whalen agreed with Hendrix on that point. spring.
“I’m not the type of person to talk (to my teammates) outside of class or volleyball, so it was really fun,” Whalen said. “So it’s really fun getting to know my teammates.”
The earliest the OSAA Board of Delegates could vote on adding men's volleyball as a new activity would be an October 2025 meeting. Hendricks and Whalen are both freshmen and could play if the schedule goes well. They both immediately said they were excited to have it given to them.
The last time the OSAA approved the addition of a new sanctioned sport was women's wrestling in 2023. However, rather than adding girls' wrestling, the move was to separate wrestling into boys' and girls' categories (to make it easier for schools to manage the competition). Girls wrestling has already had its own state championship since 2018, so the two teams could be treated as separate organizations if necessary.
Prior to that, the most recently added sport was softball in 1979.
Since the addition of softball as a new activity, water polo and women's flag football have also started moving towards receiving the same designation. The OSAA has also previously considered what kind of participation could come from esports.
— Nik Streng, nstreng@oregonian.com, @NikStreng