Boys volleyball is a new up and coming high school sport in Michigan. Yes, volleyball has been around a long time as a high school sport, but it’s primarily been for girls at that level.

But that’s changing, especially in Dexter. The Sun Times News (STN) learned more about this.

The Dexter team got started because a few students at DHS wanted to create a team. They play for club teams in the area, ( L2 out of the Legacy Center in Brighton – seniors Garrett Anderson and Jack Radcliffe and MiElite Volleyball Club (Pontiac/Livonia) – freshman Liam Tracy), but they wanted to get a Dexter team started like many of the other high schools in the area.

Many high schools in the state have boys volleyball as a varsity sport. Dexter was able to create a unified club team with six boys from Dexter, five from Ann Arbor and one from Pinckney.

Kirsten Korff told STN that “Boys volleyball is the next up and coming high school sport in the state of Michigan.”

Korff got in touch with STN about this team because she’s excited about it and the opportunity it’s brought her son. Her son is Liam Tracy, the lone freshman, and she also coached JV girls’ volleyball in Dexter for 14 years. She stopped when her son was 3.

“There are some high schools in the state of Michigan that have played for about three-four years,” she said. “Mostly on the west side of the state. This is the second year for a team in Saline…This sport is not new to other states. Michigan is one of the few states up to this point that have not offered volleyball as a boys’ high school sport.”

The Dexter team was able to find three other DHS students: seniors Matthew Resende and Logan Chase and sophomore Caleb Hayter. This gave them six players, but they needed a few more to help round out the team. They were helped after getting the “okay” from the Michigan Boys High School Volleyball Association to create a unified team.

This brought on; Colbe Brcic (Pinckney sophomore), Sunil Dhakal (Skyline sophomore), Will Powers (Skyline sophomore), Kai Peters (Pioneer senior), Alexander D’Haene and Zubair Alam (Huron seniors). The team is coached by Kent O’Clair with help from former Dexter High School volleyball players: seniors Allison Bockrath, Lia DeMerell, and Tia Barnes.

STN connected with some of the players.

Hayter said he joined the team because he thought “it would be fun to be part of a team and play a sport that I’ve never really played competitively. I really like the team and those that know volleyball really well are supportive of those of us who haven’t really played that much and those of us who are still learning.”

Tracy said he joined because he loves playing volleyball “and to play for my high school is exciting.”

“I really enjoy playing with this team – my teammates are great and very supportive,” he said.

Radcliffe said he “chose to join the volleyball team at Dexter because it was another opportunity for me to keep playing volleyball during the down time of my club season.”

“It allowed me to stay in contact with the sport so I wouldn’t be cold going into the end of my year for the club,” he said. “Also it is a great opportunity to play with new people from my own school and try to get more students involved that may not have previously known about men’s volleyball. Currently there aren’t a lot of men’s volleyball opportunities in Michigan in terms of high school; however with the formation of Dexter’s new team this year it really is a milestone in what is to come for the sport for Michigan but around the nation as well.”

Radcliffe said he really likes the high school team because he gets to play with people that he previously hadn’t had the chance to play with before from Dexter. In addition, he said he also enjoys spending time going out with his teammates after practice or games whether it be at “DQ or Bdubs.”

“Both on and off the court there is a really good environment surrounding the team and coaches which I think is one of the best attributes that I have enjoyed the most,” he said. “Everyone is very supportive and caring for each other even through some of the droughts most volleyball teams experience during sets. As a group we always encourage each other to become better than the day before which I think has shown in our recent performances.”

What makes this team unique “is that it is a ground breaking team for Dexter with the hope that there will be an option to have this become a varsity sport like many other high schools in Michigan,” Korff said.

As of this writing of this story on May 2, the team was 10-0 in the league with five more league matches left. The team is traveling to the Grand Rapids area this weekend for the Kenowa Hills High School Boys Volleyball Tournament.