SHELBY TOWNSHIP — Welcome! And it’s about time.
That’s the overwhelming reception boys volleyball is enjoying as the newest sport in 20 years to be sanctioned by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
A girls-only sport since 1976 in Michigan, volleyball is available for boys in 25 states nationwide, including neighboring Indiana and Ohio since 2022, Illinois for more than 30 years and Pennsylvania, which crowned its first champion way back in 1936.
Novi Detroit Catholic Central (current record: 9-3-2) for five years and Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard (2-2) for three years have sponsored boys teams in the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association, whose phenomenal growth from four teams in 2018 to 69 in 2024 certainly figured into the decision by MHSAA officials to add boys volleyball to its lineup of 35 sanctioned sports (16 boys, 19 girls).
The MHSAA announced that 117 schools, classified in Division 1 and 2, will be scheduled to participate in the post-season tournament between May 26-30 at 16 regionals, with winners advancing to quarterfinals on June 2 and then semifinals and finals to be played June 5 and 6, respectively, at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena.
Five Catholic High School League squads are in the mix: Catholic Central and Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice in Division 1, and Warren De La Salle Collegiate, Dearborn Divine Child and Fr. Gabriel Richard in Division 2.
Some 30 boys at Brother Rice showed up when tryouts were announced.
“It’s a work in progress,” coach Andrew Thompson said. “When the school and the students can see how exciting it is, I think in the next five years, you're going to see a lot of boys want to play.”
Thompson has been an assistant coach since 2009 at Farmington Hills Mercy, a powerhouse on the girls side: three state titles, six Final Fours, a dozen league championships. “We want to build something like we have at Mercy.”
The Warriors are off to a 0-8 start. “But the boys game is very different than (the) girls (game),” Thompson says. “It’s much more physical. So I think you’re going to see fewer rallies and more strength and serving. And that’s just the way the boys game is. The boys are enjoying it. I’m having a good time. It’s fun.”
At Divine Child (1-2-1), “We’re excited,” says coach Kirk Engler. “We have only one kid that’s ever even played organized volleyball before. We have kids that do all sorts of varied things: in the band, in the play, at the robotics competition.”
A native of Pennsylvania, Engler played volleyball through high school before moving to Michigan. “When I first came here, I was trying to find places to play.” He adds: “I think, you know, we really got to get past the stigma of volleyball being a one-gender sport. Like, it’s everybody’s sport.”
At De La Salle, coach Erick Acre has 14 boys on his roster whom he said “made a commitment” to faithfully show up and play.
As for the future of boys volleyball, Acre said. “If we can get a feeder system of some type established through middle schools, this sport will grow faster than any other one that's out there. Kids just love it.”
The Pilots overpowered Utica Eisenhower 25-18 25-22 17-25 25-11 for their ninth victory against two losses and a tie in a match April 20 at Eisenhower.
The offense, which was fired up by seniors Glenn Acre (8 kills) and James Spicuzzi (6 kills), paired with a defense dominated at the net by seniors Ben Nunnold and Paul Thacker spoiled any notions the Eagles had of an upset after winning the third set.
Yet, coach Acre said post-match, “I think we’ve taken a step back from where we started off. We played a couple of really big games in the beginning of the year and I think the one thing that we’re trying to fight through is playing to our competition instead of coming out and asserting ourselves.”
The coach’s son, 18-year-old Glenn Acre, is in his second year playing travel volleyball, with Michigan Elite as a junior and now the Legacy Club. He played baseball for two years at De La Salle and four years of tennis. He was named to the Macomb County Dream Tennis Team his senior year. He will be attending Ole Miss majoring in public policy leadership.
The coach’s daughter, Ava, was a 2023 All Stater in volleyball at Macomb Lutheran North. She’s in her sophomore year at Adrian College.
Spicuzzi, also 18, will forgo volleyball to play soccer at Northwood University. He played on the Pilots' 2024 and 2025 state Division 2 soccer champions, scoring what turned out to be the winning goal in a 2-0 victory in 2025.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
