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WI volleyball's different schedule
On the high school sports calendar, the winter activities are giving way to spring sports, but there's one sport that is treated differently in Wisconsin. Tim Van Vooren goes Beyond the Game.
MILWAUKEE - Boys volleyball popularity has spiked by as much as 40% since 2017.
Minnesota became the 25th state to approve the sport at the high school level and will officially start playing in spring 2025.
"Every state except for us and Texas, boys volleyball is in the spring," said Marquette High School head coach Jake Cossons. "I think there are opportunities missed with us being in the fall. Most notably, I think every high school would say that football has the most amount of students. You go down to Illinois, football players are playing high school volleyball. And I think it would be a way for those programs that maybe are running into issues with numbers to be able to raise those numbers by having football kids a part of it."
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Marquette High School is consistently one of the top programs in the state of Wisconsin. Many of the Hilltoppers also play for club teams outside of their high school season, which brings them into frequent contact with players from other states – and those players could also be seen by more college coaches who recruit based on simple percentages.
"Now that the other states are in their high school seasons, I feel that they might get a little more attention from the college coaches, so I might get a couple less looks in this break," said Marquette junior Max Larscheid.
"And my fear is that what's going to start happening is that those clubs in California and Illinois that carry a lot of weight on the boys side are going to stop waiting for Wisconsin teams to be done with their high school season and what's going to happen is that these boys are going to have to make a decision between high school and club," Cossons said.
After the 2018 season, the WIAA consolidated spring and summer baseball into just spring, in part due to players facing decisions regarding club team participation.
In volleyball, as in any sport, competing for a club team may provide better exposure, increased competition and some life experiences, but there is nothing quite like representing your school.
"I feel it's a lot more special playing for high school than it is club because you're playing for your high school, and it's like the guys you grew up with," said Marquette High School senior Miles Von Rueden.
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"I think there's a lot of pride that goes into it, representing your school, representing your parents, also," said fellow senior Jack Fitterer.
"We've always just dominated here at Marquette," Von Rueden said. "We've gone to state the past 30 years, I feel like, but yeah, it's been a really fun time. That's been a big part of my life here at Marquette High."
"It's probably one of the most memorable experiences for me at Marquette High, if not the most," Fitterer said.
According to the WIAA, volleyball was actually a spring sport in Wisconsin for many years before being moved to the fall in the mid-1960's.
There has been no formal presentation made by state coaches to move it back so far, but that may change in the future.