By DAVID VANTRESS

For the Northwest News

It’s not very often that you get the chance to be part of the birth of a new sport in the state of Indiana.

But along with their counterparts at high schools all across the Hoosier State, boys athletes at Carroll High School are doing just that this spring.

Boys volleyball joined girls wrestling as emerging sports in 2023. The two new extracurricular activities are not officially sanctioned by the Indiana High School Athletic Association yet, but both are well on their way to earning that status in the next few years.

The Chargers are 20-5 as they head into this week’s sectional postseason round. Of those 20 wins, 14 have come via sweeps.

Last week was a busy one for the Chargers, with six matches including three at a tournament on Saturday, May 6. Carroll won five of those matches, defeating Northridge, New Haven and East Noble during the week, then dispatching Columbia City and Snider on Saturday in tournament play before falling to Homestead, 2-1.

The Chargers are already developing a boys volleyball rivalry with Homestead: The two schools have met five times in this inaugural season, with Carroll winning three of those matchups.

The Indiana Boys Volleyball Coaches Association is overseeing the development of the new sport and shepherding it through the IHSAA sanctioning process.

Carroll head coach Dawn Potter said demand was high for the new boys volleyball program, with more than 60 boys trying out. That was more than enough to run both varsity and JV teams.

There are efforts underway to re-establish a club boys volleyball program as well, Potter said.

So far in this initial season, there’s been a good mix of Carroll athletes involved in other sports coming out for boys volleyball, Potter said.

“We’ve got some guys who are athletic and very excited to learn the game,” Potter said. “Once it got started, it kind of snowballed.”

Potter said she and her staff would like to expand the program to include a freshman team next season.

Potter is assisted by Jimmy Papagiannis. The JV head coach is Bailey Gallagher, with Zander Sauder serving as the JV assistant coach.

Carrol drew a first-round bye and will await the winner of a first-round matchup between Northrop and East Noble at Northrop. Times and dates for the postseason matches are to be determined.