by Cassidy Ronk

After the boys’ varsity volleyball team welcomed Coach Calhoun as their new head coach, they quickly went to work relearning the game in preparation for their 2016 campaign. Despite the team’s record, their attitude and willingness to improve are already reaping rewards.

Calhoun, who is a three-time Coach of the Year, and whose girls’ varsity volleyball team are back-to-back White Division champions, said, “My beliefs are the same towards coaching boys and girls. I was excited for a new opportunity and a new challenge.”

As a successful girls’ volleyball coach, Coach Calhoun credits much of his transition to coaching boys’ volleyball to being involved with other boys’ sports over the past ten years as an assistant baseball coach, and assistant soccer coach.

“I’m trying to help the boys get to the next level,” Coach Calhoun said. “I think, every day, we’re getting a little bit better… I already see significant improvement in the team.”

           That improvement is also noticeable to the players, and has helped their confidence. “We are running a lot more different sets [than last year] and we communicate more,” senior captain Tim Nerney said.

Besides communicating more effectively, the team has some fundamentals down pat. “The team is strong in blocking and setting,” Coach Calhoun said, something that will help them to compete against the hard hits he expects from the better teams.

But setting and blocking are only two aspects of a fundamentally sound team, and Coach Calhoun knows there is always room for improvement. Before the season began, Calhoun said, “We’ve made some progress so far in improving our weaknesses, but I feel as if we will be almost completely prepared for the season,”

To that end, Coach Calhoun has been tough on the boys during practices, especially in areas where he knows they can be better during games, such as digging and hitting.

The hard work has paid off for a few players, according to senior Sidney Pierre. “Our middles are very good, [they] put a lot of work in at practice, and also our opposite hitter, Connor Penrod, is excellent, along with Robert Parker and Nickoy Nelson,” he said.

To the team’s credit, Calhoun said they are “eager to learn” and “want to get better,” and for a program looking to establish itself in the White Division, it seems that the boys are setting up for future successes.