Boys volleyball has begun to make an appearance in the area. As of May 11, boys volleyball has officially become a MSHSAA sport.
   Boys volleyball head coach Annie Zimmerman has been given the opportunity to coach both the boys and girls volleyball team and she’s adjusting to the new pace of the game.
   “[It’s] kind of interesting the girls that I coach here at the high school all of them have played the game for a really long time, so there’s a lot of knowledge that they already bring in with them. The boys, some of them have played and have quite a bit of experience but the majority of them do not,” she said. “Most of them are very athletic and can do a lot of the skills and learn the skills really quickly so it’s just kind of adjusting the approach of introducing the skills.”
   Freshman, outside hitter Jeremiah Golub has been playing volleyball for over a year now.
   “I got introduced by my friends about a year and a half ago and have been playing for about a year and three months,” Golub said.
   Zimmerman sees no major differences between boys and girls volleyball in the rules or setup of the game.
   “It’s the same court area the boys are bigger, longer, they can cover more area, so I think that’ll change my perspective on our defenses a little bit and what we can do with those, but other than that I mean everything else should be the same, the ball’s the same, court’s the same, the net height is the only difference,” Zimmerman said.
   Golub sees a bright future in Nixa boys volleyball and said he is happy the sport is growing.
   “I think it is a great thing that they are making it an official sport because it gives the opportunity to grow the game and another option for people to play,” he said. “I think in the future Nixa will be a great team and we have a lot of potential as a team to unlock.”
   Schools all around the state are opening up teams for the upcoming spring season. The growth of the game is allowing boys everywhere to unlock their full potential in the sport.