This spring, a new sport will be introduced in District 112. Boys volleyball is a Minnesota State High School League-sanctioned sport and the StormHawks kick off their season next week.
The team is led by Head Coach Sydney Dose. She is assisted by Joe Wilson and JV coach Lisa Ternes, and all of them have impressive credentials in coaching volleyball in various leadership roles. Tryouts were held early on the week of March 17 with 31 athletes attending. The StormHawks now have both varsity and JV teams readying for their first game.
The StormHawks will have 14 games and three tournaments in rapid succession between the end of March and end of May, with the state tournament being held at St. Thomas University in early June.
Coach Wilson led the StormHawks club team for the past two years and pointed out that 10 seniors graduated. This year’s team will build on five core athletes from last year’s club team who will make up this year’s first team.
In visiting with the varsity team at a recent practice, many tried out for the challenge and the opportunity to be a part of the growing sport. One player admitted he joined because of watching his sister play.
Coach Dose shared that the team is made up of a wide variety of athletes with a range of experience.
“We’ve got one player, a senior, who has never played any sport before and wanted to get involved with the team,” she said.
The team is about evenly split at this time between Chaska and Chanhassen athletes.
“My goals for this first season are to help these boys develop more passion for the game and to build a strong foundation for the new StormHawks boys volleyball family to thrive in,” Dose said.
She pointed out the boys game is essentially the same as the girls game. Varsity matches are the best three out of five sets (though JV is two out of three sets). The net is seven inches higher, and she says “the guys tend to have more power and the play might be a bit faster.”
The StormHawks kick off their season and the sport on Thursday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. and (JV) 7p.m. (varsity) against Shakopee at Chaska High School. The entire schedule for the year can be found on their website.
