The 417 boys volleyball club started pretty green.
“I would say 95 percent of the boys we get have zero experience,” 417 boys volleyball director and coach Layne Louallen. “So they come in not knowing how to play not knowing their rotations, not even knowing how many people are on the court and then we go from there.”
“It was still competitive, but it was like, okay ‘this is how you pass’ and ‘this is how you set properly’,” said 18U volleyball player Garrett Yelvington. “It was nice having like the same level all across and then we could build together and have the same potential.”
That potential turned into a team who is now back to back national qualifiers.
“We are a winning club,” said 18U volleyball player Preston Harris. “It sounds really cocky to say that, but we we do win a lot. We go to Kansas City and Saint Louis and we play in these pretty large Midwest Regionals. Dennis Lafata tournaments with teams from all over the country and we would be able to compete. We got second at Dennis Lofata this year, which has teams from literally everywhere.”
They set the bar high from the get-go.
“Since the beginning of the season, they said no less than a final four appearance,” Louallan said. “They’ve held true. I mean, we’ve played in nine tournaments, they’ve made nine championships, so the 10th one, that’s the goal too.”
This 18U team elevated their skill sets and they are elevating the direction of 417 Boys Volleyball.
“Between their two years, they’ll finish around like 118 as a record,” Louallen said. “If you would have told me that five years ago, there’s no way I would have [believed it]. That may sound negative, but it’s so it’s just just been so surreal.”
The 18U team as well as the 16U team begins their AAU Nationals run in Orlando, FL on Monday, June 30.
