Sumter High works to establish boys volleyball program

Starting a program is never easy, but the Sumter High boys volleyball team is trying to lay a strong foundation.

The Gamecocks hosted their home opener on Aug. 3 and even managed to pull out a 25-22 victory in the second set against Wilson High School. Rome wasn't built in a day, but head coach Terrie Wood-McCray thinks her team is setting the groundwork for long-term success.

"The teacher in me says you've got to start somewhere," she said. "It's very rare that you're going to start on the top; you have to work your way up. From this one, we're going to work on winning more and more as we go until we blow it out every time."

This first season was years in the making at Sumter High. Athletic Director Crasten Davis has been interested in forming a team since joining the Gamecocks, but the pieces didn't fall into place until this year. They were able to build a team of 13 players after a few rounds of interest meetings and tryouts. Luckily for Wood-McCray, it's easier to start a program for a sport like volleyball when the girls already have most of the basic equipment in tow.

"We didn't have to worry about that," the SHS head coach said of equipment like nets and volleyballs. "We really just had to get the skills into them. I started out with just me, then I found an amazing assistant coach. Now, together, we're trying to get them on the road to winning."

Of course, they needed a schedule, too. That task was a challenge in and of itself. There are several 5A schools with volleyball programs, but many are out in the Myrtle Beach region where Sumter High resided in all of their sports for the last few years. Those schools were hesitant to add a team so far away onto their schedule, especially when there was no guarantee they'd have enough athletes to form a team. The Gamecocks caught a break when Lakewood, which started a boys volleyball program last year, did not have enough players for a team this fall. Sumter High simply took over their schedule instead, leading to an opener against Wilson.

With a schedule in place, the next task was teaching volleyball skills. While Wood-McCray and assistant coach Jessrel Gilbuena found that their players had some basic skills, the Gamecocks needed some structure to learn how to play proper volleyball.

"I found volleyball reflexes with some of them," Gilbuena said. "We really have to work hard with a lot of skills, especially with the basic ones. They had minor experience, but they never had a system." Wood-McCray added, "We did have to break them out of the P.E. volleyball mindset. In P.E., everyone goes for the ball."

General athleticism was an important baseline for picking up volleyball quickly, but Wood-McCray said that having a background in different sports could definitely give certain athletes a leg up.

"The more generally athletic they are, the easier it is for them to learn some of these things," she said. "Also, if they have played other sports before, it gives them a leg up. If they have played tennis, because it's kind of the same swing. And the footwork. We've got a couple tennis players, so they already have some of the makings of what they need to be great volleyball players."

Owen Sunderland is one of a handful of tennis players who joined the volleyball team this fall. He showed an early ability to serve and strike the ball consistently because of those ingrained movements.

"He's very athletic, and he is all in," Wood-McCray said of Sunderland. "If we say you're running, you're serving, whatever we ask him to do, he does it most of the time."

Of course, a new team means needing to find new leaders. While the buck stops with the coaching staff, teams that thrive tend to have a player who can motivate their teammates. For Sumter High, that's been senior Xavier Andrews.

"He's a natural. He fell right into the leadership role, which I really appreciated," Wood-McCray said. "He's very good at communicating with the team. He's very good communicating with us. We can give him instructions, and he makes sure it gets down without us having to chase behind him, which we'll miss because he's a senior, but he'll pass the torch to the up-and-comings."

The Gamecocks are getting stronger with each passing day. The key to long-term success will be constantly replenishing their roster and continuing to drill down the basics of the sport.

"We need to take those skills and make them natural, so that's what they fall back on immediately," the SHS head coach said. "Muscle memory, we talk about that a lot."